Benjamin Pollak took down the #6: $25,000 NLH event for $416,500 but everyone is talking about 3rd place finisher, Stephen Chidwick.
Pollak a 34-year-old pro from France made his name in the community when he got 3rd in the 2017 WSOP Main Event, for a whopping $3,500,000. He started to play the bigger buy-in tournaments after that and proved that his big score at the Main Event was a well-deserved compensation for years of hard work. Since last summer, he accumulated another $2.5 million in live earnings making a total of $8,787,282 in lifetime cashes.
This was his third cash at the USPO and second final table, but this time he managed to take down the event against high-roller regular, Jason Koon. Benjamin only needed 87 hands on the final table to get things done. In the final hand, the chips were put into the middle before the flop. Jason shoved with King-five and Ben made the call, holding Ace-three. Even though Koon hit top pair on the flop, Pollak managed to fulfill on the river, hitting the nut flush and things were over.
US Poker Open – Event #6: $25,000 No Limit Hold’em final results:
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1 | Benjamin Pollak | $416,500 |
| 2 | Jason Koon | $269,500 |
| 3 | Stephen Chidwick | $183,750 |
| 4 | Isaac Haxton | $122,500 |
| 5 | Brian Green | $98,000 |
| 6 | Elijah Berg | $73,500 |
| 7 | Daniel Negreanu | $61,250 |
However, the biggest story of the week is Stephen Chidwick, who’s already taken down two events and got third in this event for $183,750. He’s currently leading the US Poker Open Championship leaderboard. Stephen’s performance is already incredible, but he’s currently sitting at the final table of yet another USPO event, the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em with the biggest stack.
USPO crusher, Stephen Chidwick
Final Table Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Chip count |
| 1 | Ben Tollerene | 270,000 |
| 2 | Sean Winter | 1,510,000 |
| 3 | Daniel Negreanu | 640,000 |
| 4 | Keith Tilston | 745,000 |
| 5 | David Peters | 1,340,000 |
| 6 | Stephen Chidwick | 1,745,000 |
As usual at the series, the final table is full of top-notch players, so Stephen’s way to the glory will not be an easy one, but as he proved before he’s not afraid and capable of outsmarting the bests in the world. If he manages to scoop this event too, his total USPO winnings will reach almost $1.5 million.
US Poker Open Championship Standings:
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $994,650 |
| 2 | Benjamin Pollak | France | $554,600 |
| 3 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $291,250 |
| 4 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $282,500 |
| 5 | Jason Koon | United States | $269,500 |
(photo credit: pokergo)
