Repeat US Poker Open champion claims Golden Eagle trophy
The money is nice, but David Peters is also building a legacy to reflect on one day.
The Las Vegas poker pro secured his second straight overall title at the U.S. Poker Open on Tuesday at the PokerGO studio by the Aria. Peters won in 2019, and the series was not held last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Peters won three of the 12 events and cashed in another for a total of $832,950. He clinched the Golden Eagle trophy for the overall title when Sam Soverel, the last player who could catch him in the points standings, was eliminated in fifth place in the $50,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em Main Event eventually won by Sean Winter.
“It’s nice having those accolades or securing your legacy,” Peters said, “or just having those memories to look back on when I’m 70 or whatever, to think about how cool that was. It means something to me for sure.”
Peters, 34, has two World Series of Poker bracelets and more than $34 million in tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database.
Peters finished with 646 points in the U.S. Poker Open. Winter moved up to second with 484, just ahead of Ali Imsirovic with 483.
The U.S. Poker Open tournaments all had buy-ins of $10,000 or greater. Peters made a late surge with three victories in five days in events 7, 10 and 11 — $10,000 No-limit Hold’em, $10,000 Short Deck and $25,000 No-limit Hold’em.
All of the events featured elite fields of fewer than 100 players, and Peters said that appeals to him.
“I enjoy the competition of playing against great players,” he said. “It’s also more of a fun atmosphere when you’re playing against people who you play with all the time. You have more things to talk about.”
Winter gets ‘unstuck’
Winter took home $756,000 for winning the Main Event on Tuesday, and he needed it.
Asked on the PokerGO broadcast what the victory meant to him, Winter said, “Means I got unstuck for the week.” (Poker players are “stuck” when they are losing.)
Winter said he had put in almost the maximum amount of buy-ins and re-entries and needed to get third place or better to get even. (Fourth place paid $231,000.)
In the final hand, Winter, holding a slight chip lead, made two pair on the river and called Stephen Chidwick’s all-in with top pair.
“Try not to let the numbers bother you, and it’s just cards at the end of the day,” Winter said in an interview. “You’re going to have stretches where you lose, and you’ve gotta just deal with it, and it’s part of the game.”
After his win, Winter immediately jumped into another $25,000 buy-in event.
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.