Matthew Wantman Claims U.S. Poker Open Win and Series Lead, Zobian Makes a Final
Two U.S. Poker Open events concluded at the weekend, and there were wins for Michael Rossitto and Matthew Wantman, as well as a final table showing for a PokerStake player. With both $10,000-entry events taking place at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA in Las Vegas, the battle was fierce as the 2025 U.S. Poker Open (USPO) reached the halfway stage.
Zobian Battles to Brink of Last Day
A bumper field of 109 entrants competed for a $277,950 top prize in Event #3 of the 2025 USPO, with 16 players paid and a first-time PGT title winner crowned in Sin City. It was Jeremy ‘JBex’ Becker who busted for nothing on the bubble, after he lost a key coinflip to PGT event regular Christian Roberts.
Becker, who was all-in pre-flop and at risk with 
was up against Roberts’ 
and while a flop of 
kept the at-risk Becker ahead, there were a world of outs to fade. The turn of a 
immediately flipped the script and put Roberts ahead. Becker had a re-draw to a straight but the 
wasn’t any help as he departed and the remaining two tables of elite poker players could celebrate profit.
Once inside the money places, there were results for Joey Weissman (16th for $16,350), Eric Blair (13th for $21,800), and Dylan Linde, who won $27,250 for coming 12th. Aram Zobian sold action to the event on PokerStake but ran short, only to double up through Jeremy Ausmus with 11 players left. Pocket jacks were good against Ausmus’ ace-jack.
Ausmus would bust in ninth place for $32,700, the same score as Stephen Chidwick in 10th place, but Aram’s luck ran out on route to the final table, as he lost with ace-queen to ace-king in a cooler of a situation with two tables left. After Bin Duan busted in eighth place for $43,600, Aram lost with 
to Jim Collopy’s 
as Aram lost to the hand that had saved him before, a board of 
seeing his hopes crushed by the turn. Nevertheless, Aram’s return of $43,600 more than multiplied by four times his and his PokerStake backers’ stakes.
Rossitto Reigns as Collopy Can’t Close
With six left, the final day was set in stone, with Collopy leading after his elimination of Aram Zobian. Matthew Wantman lost a coinflip to Andrew Moreno to bust in sixth place for $54,500, but the interesting facet of the hand other than the bust-out was that Michael Rossitto folded pocket tens, which would have won a massive pot after one fell on the flop. Nevertheless, an ace and a king came to help Moreno take out the dangerous Wantman, who would have to wait until the next event for his crowning moment.
Isaac Kempton busted next in fifth place for $70,850 when Roberts’ ace-king beat his queen-jack and at that stage, Andrew Moreno was top of the leaderboard. Michael Rossitto had other ideas, though, and won a series of pots that never saw chips committed to take the lead. Christian Roberts was short stacked when he busted with a flopped pair of jacks against Andrew Moreno’s pocket kings, and Moreno took the lead.
Moreno went from chip leader with three left to out in third place for $125,350, however, losing with 
to Rossitto’s 
after losing a flip against the same opponent.
Heads-up lasted little time, with Collopy shoving the button with 
and Rossitto quickly calling it off with . A flop of 
quickly put Rossitto ahead and after the 
turn and 
river, a straight had handed Rossitto the outright win for a top prize of $277,950, while Collopy took home $174,400.
| PokerGO Tour U.S. Poker Open $10,100 Event #3 Final Table Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Michael Rossitto | Italy | $277,950 |
| 2nd | Jim Collopy | United States | $174,400 |
| 3rd | Andrew Moreno | United States | $125,350 |
| 4th | Christian Roberts | Venezuela | $98,100 |
| 5th | Isaac Kempton | United States | $70,850 |
| 6th | Matthew Wantman | United States | $54,500 |
Wantman Wins Event #4 to Take Half-Time Lead
In Event #4, Matthew Wantman made it to the final hand of the final day and made his opponents pay as he claimed the outright win for $231,300. There were 103 entries in the fourth event of eight this USPO series, with just 15 players getting paid. They included PokerGO owner Cary Katz (13th for $25,750), Event #3 runner-up Jim Collopy (11th for $30,900), and Andrew Moreno, who just missed making back-to-back final tables, exiting in ninth place for the same amount.
At the final table, Yifu He had the chip lead but only by a small fraction, with Wantman and British poker boss Stephen Chidwick close behind. The other three players had smaller stacks and realistically needed a lot to happen for them to get back into contention. Patrick Leonard was one of those short-stacked trio and he was soon on the rail with $51,500. In an all-English showdown, a board of 
had fallen when Chidwick shoved with the bigger stack. Leonard called off all of his chips with 
for two pair but Chidwick showed 
for the turned straight and after using five time extensions, Leonard eventually called to his own doom.
A period of play with a lot of movement ended when Isaac Kempton lost with a dominated king-jack as He held ace-jack and sent his compatriot home with $66,950. Masato Yokosawa followed in fourth for $92,700 when his own ace-jack perished as He’s nine-three caught a three to bust the shortest stack of the final four.
He led, with Chidwick challenging and Wantman fading away, but the short stack doubled up with the help of pocket aces before repeating the trick with a king-high flush against Chidwick’s top pair. Soon after, the Brit hit the rail for $118,450 after his ace-deuce was dominated and defeated by He’s ace-four. A deal heads-up smoothed out the final payjump and soon, the chips were almost even.
On a board showing 
, Wantman’s check-raise all-in on the river was called by He with 
but again, two pair wasn’t good enough, as Wantman turned over 
to win the jackpot with 7-7-7, a top prize of $231,300 slightly more than runner-up He’s cash of $201,300.
With the 2025 U.S. Poker Open at the halfway stage, Matthew Wantman’s win in Event #4 puts him top of the leaderboard with four events to conclude.
| PokerGO Tour U.S. Poker Open $10,100 Event #4 Final Table Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Matthew Wantman | United States | $231,300 |
| 2nd | Yifu He | United States | $201,300 |
| 3rd | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $118,450 |
| 4th | Masato Yokosawa | Japan | $92,700 |
| 5th | Isaac Kempton | United States | $66,950 |
| 6th | Patrick Leonard | United Kingdom | $51,500 |
Want to invest in the remaining PokerGO USPO events? Head to the official staking page for the series.