Koray Aldemir beat Ryan Riess heads-up to win the 2019 US Poker Open Event #9 on Friday night (Drew Amato / PokerCentral)

All of the final tables at the 2019 US Poker have been stacked and Friday’s $50,000 No Limit Hold’em event was a perfect example of that. A former World Series of Poker Main Event champion, two former GPI Players of the Year, and one of the two hottest players at the USPO all fell by the wayside as Koray Aldemir picked up the win and the second biggest score of his career – $738,000.

Seth Davies started the final table with a little more than 10 big blinds and it took just eight minutes for him to find a hand to seek a double up with. Unfortunately for Davies, it had a terrible outcome. From the hijack, Davies moved all in for 270,000 with AdQd and Alex Foxen called from the big blind with AcQc. The KcTc6d flop left Davies hoping for a chop. The 5s turn was a safe one for Davies but the 2c river gave Foxen a flush and eliminated Davies in sixth place.

Nearly 45 minutes later, Foxen went back to work as table executioner. David Peters opened to 60,000 from the cutoff with 8c8d before Foxen re-raised to 255,000 from the big blind with AcKd. Peters responded by moving all in for 815,000 and Foxen called. The Ah7s3c flop put Foxen ahead and he stayed there following the Qc turn and Qd river to send Peters out in fifth place.

Despite being responsible for two eliminations in the first hour, the next two hours didn’t go so well for Foxen. Down to just 11 big blinds, Foxen moved all in from the button for 880,000 with Ac8c only to have Ryan Riess call from the big blind with Ah9h. The board ran out As6s3d2hJc to keep the kickers in play and eliminate Foxen in fourth.

Riess kept the pressure up and 40 minutes later sent another player to the rail. Sean Winter, who was at his fifth final table of the 2019 USPO, raised to 430,000 from the button with Js9s. Ryan Riess moved all in from the button with AdKc and Winter called all in for his last 430,000. The QdTh3d4c4s runout meant Winter’s run was over with a third place finish.

Despite picking up two eliminations, Riess began heads up play trailing Aldemir by 1,000,000 chips. Over the next half hour, Aldemir never relented and eventually busted Riess to win the event. With 10 big blinds left, Riess moved all from the button with Kh7s and Aldemir looked him up with KcQh. The TdTs6h flop opened up some chop possibilities for Riess but the Jh turn and Qs river were of no help and he was out in second place.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Koray Aldemir – $738,000
  2. Ryan Riess – $492,000
  3. Sean Winter – $328,000
  4. Alex Foxen – $205,000
  5. David Peters – $164,000
  6. Seth Davies – $123,000

Winter’s third-place finish moved him into a tie with Stephen Chidwick for total USPO points earned with just the $100,000 No Limit Hold’em still left on the schedule.

USPO Top 10 After Event #9

PLAYER CASHES PRIZE MONEY POINTS
1. Sean Winter 5 $747,400 540
2. Stephen Chidwick 4 $705,950 540
3. Nick Schulman 2 $390,000 410
4. Brandon Adams 3 $314,750 365
5. Koray Aldemir 2 $897,200 340
6. Cary Katz 3 $580,200 340
7. Bryn Kenney 2 $477,000 240
8. Lauren Roberts 2 $263,400 240
9. Jordan Cristos 2 $206,200 240
10. Ali Imsirovic 1 $442,500 200

 

The final table for the final event, Event #10: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em, takes place on Saturday.

USPO Streaming Schedule On PokerGO

DATE EVENT TIME (ET)
02/22/19 Event #9: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em Final 5 p.m.
02/22/19 Event #10: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Early 7:30 p.m.
02/23/19 Event #10: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Final 5 p.m.

If you don’t have a subscription to PokerGO, sign up today using the promo code “POCKET5S” for $10 off the PokerGO annual plan.