Martin Zamani Claims 2023 U.S. Poker Open Championship After Final Event Win

The 2023 U.S. Poker Open went to the wire, but in the end, it was a winning performance from Martin Zamani that won not only Event #10 but the overall leaderboard and $50,000 Championship bonus prize.

With a talented table of six players battling for the title and the overall leaderboard, five different superstars had the chance of becoming the 2023 USPO champion, including Ren Lin. Leading into the 10^th and final event, Lin was not involved, but could still have won if those with a shot of overtaking him fluffed their lines. Sadly for Lin, Zamani was in no mood to relinquish the title.

Early Stages See Smith and Brewer Beaten

With the final day of the last event still to play, an unprecedented five players could still win, and for Dan Smith and Chris Brewer, a win would be enough, but so too would a runner-up finish as long as the other man didn’t win outright. Sadly for them both, they fell well short of glory.

Chris Brewer was short-stacked when he raised all-in pre-flop for 290,000 with ace-three. Sadly for him, the pre-flop aggressor was Zamani with A♦A♣ and he quickly called, happy to see the flop of 10♦8♣4♠ and the K♦ on the turn confirm the bust-out and improve his chances of victory at Brewer’s expense, with Brewer cashing for $92,500 in sixth place.

Dan Smith looked in a prime position to score a vital double when down to 280,000 chips holding J♦J♥. But while it was better than the initial raiser Jeremy Ausmus with 8♠8♥, Martin Zamani’s isolating four-bet with Q♦Q♣ was the last thing ’The Cowboy’ wanted to see.

The flop of J♣10♠2♥ changed that, making Smith an 87% favorite to double up. But the K♣ gave Zamani 10 outs on the river and one hit when the A♣ fell to give Zamani a Broadway straight, sending Smith home in fifth for $148,000. The pot put Zamani into the lead of 2.67 million chips, marginally ahead of the overnight chip leader Justin Bonomo (2.65m) and well clear of Nick Petrangelo (1.47m) and Jeremy Ausmus (600,000).

Ausmus Drops Out of Contention

Four players remained in the hunt for the USPO Event #10 title, but only two of them still had the chance of winning the overall leaderboard. The former chip leader Justin Bonomo was not one of them, so when he was eliminated in fourth place, it came as a shock, with the all-time money list leader and the first man past $60 million in live tournament winnings unable to make the podium places.

Bonomo fell in his quest to win the $666,000 Event #10 top prize when he made an all-in move with 10♦8♦ only to run into Zamani’s A♠10♠. The flop of A♣9♠3♠ was a disaster, and the 6♠ turn ended the hand as a contest, Bonomo’s chips slid over to Zamani as the insignificant Q♥ river fell. Bonomo added another $203,500 to his tournament winnings, but his quest for the title was over after a period of four-handed play that lasted three hours.

Two places from glory, Jeremy Ausmus fell in third place for $296,000 and missed out on the overall leaderboard victory in the process. Over Zamani’s raise with J♥7♠, Ausmus moved all-in with A♣6♠. Zamani made a quick call, knowing that he had the chance to eliminate his Championship rival. The flop of 10♣7♦6♦ put Zamani into the lead and made Ausmus a 4:1 dog in the hand. The turn of 4♣ was of no help to him, and the river of 5♦ saw Ausmus busted in third for $296,000.

Zamani Sees It Out in Style

Zamani held a chunky heads-up lead, holding 4,815,000 chips (120 big blinds) to Nick Petrangelo’s 2,585,000 (64 big blinds). Zamani may have had the lead, but all the pressure was on him, with Ren Lin champion if Zamani fell in second place. Petrangelo had laddered a large proportion of the final table and now had nothing to lose in his pursuit of the smaller Golden Eagle trophy. Zamani was after both the Event #10 version and the much larger Golden Eagle on offer for taking the overall title.

In the end, it took just 20 minutes for Zamani to seal the deal. Petrangelo bluffed on a board of Q♣4♦3♥4♠6♣ with just A♠7♦ and Zamani used time banks on his way to calling with Q♦2♦. That hand gave him a better than 4:1 chips lead and soon after, the final hand took place.

Zamani’s all-in shove with K♣6♥ was called by Petrangelo with Q♠10♥ and the latter was a 44% chance to take the pot. The flop of K♦10♦3♣ gave both men a pair, but Zamani’s was bigger, and after the 4♦ turn, Petrangelo had a one-in-ten chance of a miraculous comeback. The J♦ river signalled the end of both the event and the series, as Martin Zamani became the 2023 U.S. Poker Open champion.

Winning $666,000 on the night to Petrangelo’s $444,000, Zamani’s Event #10 victory was his fourth cash out of 10 tournaments on the 2023 USPO ticket, making his total winnings an eye=-watering $835,800. Over his cashes inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA in Las Vegas, Zamani finished 14^th in the opening event, repeated that position in Event #3, then came third in Event #6. A dry spell in the next three events was ended when he captured the final event and the Championship bonus to boot, joining former USPO champions Stephen Chidwick, David Peters, and Sean Winter in the poker history books.

This article originally appeared on PokerStake.com