John Riordan overcame a two-time GPI Player of the Year and a self-described ‘King of No Limit Duece’ to win U.S. Poker Open Event #4 ($10,000 Big Bet Mix) on Monday night in Las Vegas.
The tournament featured a rotation of three games; No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, and No Limit Deuce to Seven. Riordan outlasted a final table that included Alex Foxen, who won GPI POY in 2018 and 2019, Jim Collopy, and Sean Perry, who began the final table with the lead, to take home the title and the accompanying $163,200 first-place prize money.
The final table broadcast started five-handed following the elimination of Jeremy Ausmus in seventh place on Sunday and Collopy in sixth on Monday.
It took a half hour of five-handed play before the first player was shown the exit. With blinds of 20,000/40,000 (40,000 BBA), Okin moved all in for 135,000 from UTG with 
before Perry re-raised to 465,000 from the button with 
. The board ran out 
to tease Okin with a Broadway draw before the river bricked to eliminate Okin in fifth place.
Four-handed play lasted more than two hours with multiple lead changes before a hand of Deuce spelled the end for one player. Perry moved all in for 1,880,0000 after he was dealt 
. Coleman was dealt ad]
and decided to call off his last 75,000. Coleman announced he was drawing two and Perry stood pat. Coleman’s first card was the 
and then squeezed to reveal the 
to give him a pair of nines and eliminate him in fourth.
It took 25 minutes and multiple failed deal discussions to lose another player. After Perry folded his button, Foxen moved all in for 1,100,000 with 
only to have Riordan call with . The 
flop kept Riordan ahead. The turn gave Foxen a Broadway draw but the 
completed the board to eliminate Foxen in third place.
Riordan held 57% of the chips when heads up play began and despite having declared himself as the best Deuce player on the planet, Perry failed to win a single hand of Deuce during the heads up play. On the final hand, Riordan moved all in with 
and Perry called with 
. Riordan elected to toss the [6 ]. Perry threw away the and the . Perry drew the 
and 
to make a pair of jacks while Riordan grabbed the to make a pair of sixes to win the hand and the tournament.
This was only Riordan’s second career live victory and comes more than 10 years after he won the WSOP Circuit Main Event at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. He now has more than $800,000 in live tournament earnings.
U.S. Poker Open Event #4 Payouts
- John Riordan – $163,200
- Sean Perry – $105,600
- Alex Foxen – $72,000
- Maxx Coleman – $52,800
- Brian Okin – $38,400 USD
- Jim Collopy – $28,800 USD
- Jeremy Ausmus – $19,200
