A few of the world’s top poker players have made a habit of shining bright in the short history of the U.S. Poker Open. Sunday night in Las Vegas, another of those players added yet another title to his growing collection and moved to within striking distance of the current leaderboard leader.
David Peters topped the 27-entry field in Event #10 ($10,000 Short Deck) to collect his second U.S. Poker Open title of the year and $124,200. Peters won Event #7 ($10,000 No Limit Hold’em) earlier in the week. The win moved him 116 points behind the current U.S. Poker Open leaderboard leader Ali Imisirovic – who also happened to be his heads-up opponent late Sunday night.
The second day of play started with just four players remaining and Peters holding 66% of the chips in play. It didn’t take Peters long to add to his lead. On the first hand of play on Sunday, Peters moved all in for 4,370,000 from early position with 
and Thomas Kysar called off his last 360,000 with 
. The 
flop gave Peters middle pair and left Kysar needing one of the four jacks or four tens to stay alive. The 
turn changed nothing and the 
river sealed his fate with a fourth-place finish and a min-cash for $27,000.
The final three players battled for another 23 minutes before Imsirovic sent the tournament to heads up. Cary Katz opened by moving all in for 315,000 with 
. Imsirovic called with 
and then stayed ahead through the 
runout to send Katz out in third.
Heads up play began with Peters holding 75.3% of the chips in play. Over the 90 minutes that followed, Peters never gave up the chip lead and it took
Imsirovic called the additional 25,000 with 
as the first to act and Peters checked with 
. After the 
flop, Imsirovic bet 100,000 and Peters called. The turn was the and this time Imsirovic bet 450,000 and Peters called again. The 
river completed the board and Imsirovic moved all in for 1,560,000. Peters asked the dealer for a count and tanked for nearly two minutes before making the call to end Imsirovic’s run and earn his second U.S. Poker Open title of the week and the fourth of his career.
U.S Poker Open Event #10 Payouts
- David Peters – $124,200
- Ai Imsirovic – $75,600
- Cary Katz – $43,200
- Thomas Kysar – $27,000
Imsirovic leads the U.S. Poker Open leaderboard with just two events remaining. Imsirovic has 483 points thanks to his five cashes. Peters, who now has three cashes, sits in second with 367 points and Andrew Lichtenberger, who also has three cashes, is in third place with 308 points.
