U.S. Poker Open Event #5 Won by Jeremy Ausmus for $178,000

The latest U.S. Poker Open event has been won by PokerGO Cup winner Jeremy Ausmus, after he negotiated a final table packed with stars to go from fifth in chips at the start of play to champion in under three hours.

Ausmus, whose recent record in Vegas high rollers is the envy of some of the best players ever to take a seat in the game, beat PokerGO series regular Chris Brewer heads-up to take the title, winning the top prize of $178,200.

The Route to the Final Table

The odds were stacked against Jeremy Ausmus winning when the final table of six players kicked off inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA in Las Vegas, but that was a long way into the journey. The $10,000-entry NLHE event had 66 total entries, meaning 10 players made the money.

The first of those to do so was the appropriately named Peter Placey, who min-cashed for $19,800. He was followed from the felt by three more players who made profit, those being Alex Livingston (9^th for $26,400), Umang Dattani (8^th for $26,400) and Tamon Nakamura (7^th for $33,000), who had won the 4^th event of the series over the weekend in fine style.

When the final table kicked off, everyone had a chance to leapfrog the early U.S. Poker Open pacesetter Shannon Shorr who, since winning the opening event, has not claimed another victory in the five events since. Ausmus came into play fifth in chips, with his route to that final table a path full of twists and turns. After his pocket jacks beat Kristina Holst’s ace-queen he eliminated Jake Daniels in the same hand to get some traction and followed this up with the bust-outs of Vikenty Shegal and Dan Shak in consecutive hands.

Ausmus was to suffer a setback of sorts as a few players went past him on the approach to the money bubble then the final table, as Masashi Oya and Alex Foxen were both busted and others such as the aforementioned Brewer and David Peters leapfrogged Ausmus in the counts.

Early Levels Let Ausmus Back In

Ausmus was a bystander as the big drama at the start of the final table allowed him a way back in. Ali Imsirovic started at short stack, but went on the kind of blistering run that has become his signature move at ARIA in PokerGO events, as the 2021 PGT Player of the Year went on a heater. It took just 14 minutes of play for Imsirovic to take the chip lead with a crucial hand seeing him double through Nick Petrangelo as pocket kings beat ace-queen.

It was David Peters who fell first at the final table, cashing for $39,600 in sixth place when his ace-jack was dominated by Imsirovic’s ace-queen. Petrangelo was the next player to depart, however, as the American’s pocket sevens were crushed by the Bosnian-American’s pocket queens, which rivered a full house to send Petrangelo home with $52,800 and reduce the field to four.

In a shock twist, however, it was Imsirovic himself who missed out on the podium places, a result which will lead to consternation for the reigning PGT champion when it comes to overall leaderboard points. Imsirovic went from having half the chips in play with just three opponents to beat to on the rail in fourth for $66,000. Eventually, he lost his final chips with ace-queen unable to hit against Brewer’s pocket eights, as the two men participated I two coinflips, both of which went the American’s way.

Brewer Overtaken at the Last

“The turn is the case seven!”

Ren Lin was the player who busted in third place, cashing for $85,800. He lost out with queen-nine as Chris Brewer’s ace-nine held through the board with all the chips in pre-flop. A nine came on the flop, but no queen arrived to help Lin survive and that pot gave Brewer a better than 3:1 chip lead heads-up, with 6.2 million to Ausmus’ 2 million.

Ausmus looked in big trouble in what turned out to be a pivotal winning hand for the PokerGO Cup winner. With pocket sevens, Ausmus bet the flop of A-Q-J against Brewer, who called with ace-seven. The turn card of a seven saw Jeff Platt sum up the hand beautifully on commentary.

“The turn is the case seven!”  he exclaimed and Ausmus’ c-bet was raised all-in by Brewer, who saw the bad news and had to laugh. “He has nothing to say with that face and that mullet!” quipped Brent Hanks at the stunning turnaround, with the pot giving Ausmus 5.2 million to Brewer’s 3 million chips.

The final hand saw Brewer limp with ace-queen and Ausmus raise it to 330,000. Brewer shoved for 2.7 million and Ausmus called it off to leave the men in a race to the river. The flop of J-8-7 kept Ausmus ahead but the turn card of an ace flipped Brewer into the lead. That was a change to the script, but the screenwriters ripped up every page as a nine on the river filled in the straight for Ausmus and gave him victory and the $178,200 top prize, leaving Brewer licking his wounds on the rail with $132,000.

“It would be really cool to win back-to-back majors,” Ausmus said after the win, in reference to taking the U.S. Poker Open title to add to the PokerGO Cup he won earlier this year. “I know [David Peters] won the U.S. Poker Open twice, but I don’t think anyone has won back-to-back. The older I get, the more important it is to me. My kids think it’s cool. If I win trophies, they can see me way up in the standings.”

Ausmus is now out in front in the race for the Golden Eagle Trophy and added $50,000 in prize money, sitting three points ahead of the former leader Shannon Shorr with five of the 12 events in the bag.