Chernigoff Leads Final Eight Players of the 2020 PWPO $3,000 Main Event with McKeehen Still in Contention
Day 2 of the 2020 Potomac Winter Poker Open $3,000 Main Event start at 3 p.m. local time and has come to an end after just over 11 hours. A total of 294 entries were collected over the three starting days and 67 players returned to battle it out for their share of the $781,746 prize pool where the winner will walk away with $189,965 while 30 players got paid at least $5,081. At the end of the day, only eight players made it through to the final day here at the MGM National Harbor.
Claiming the day 2 chip lead is Glenn Chernigoff with 3,455,000 in chips which will be worth 86 big blinds when they resume play. This is already Chernigoff’s biggest live cash ever according to The Hendon Mob with his previous five cashes all originating from here in Oxon Hill. Only two big blinds behind him is Ulises Roman with 3,360,000 in chips. Roman only has one recorded cash on his profile so will be recording a new record here too. Completing the podium is Jeromy Bittan with 2,410,000.
Alison Lewis Leslie is going for another deep run after finishing in 25th place in the Opening Event as she bagged 1,645,000. But the biggest name at the final table is Joe McKeehen as the 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion will return to the felt with 1,560,000 in chips. The final table also features Matthew Sesso (1,300,000), Jeff Esterling (775,000), and David Olshan with 200,000 in chips as the absolute short stack worth five big blinds.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ulises Roman | United States | 3,360,000 | 84 |
| 2 | Matthew Sesso | United States | 1,300,000 | 33 |
| 3 | Jeromy Bittan | United States | 2,410,000 | 60 |
| 4 | Glenn Chernigoff | United States | 3,455,000 | 86 |
| 5 | Joe McKeehen | United States | 1,560,000 | 39 |
| 6 | Jeff Esterling | United States | 775,000 | 19 |
| 7 | David Olshan | United States | 200,000 | 5 |
| 8 | Alison Leslie | United States | 1,645,000 | 41 |
Sesso was the one to burst the bubble when Stephen Deutsch was forced all-in from the big blind. The day 1c late entry held eight-four and was up against pocket eights. No help on the board so the 30 remaining players were all in the money. The Day 1a chip leader Nils Tolpingrud had been tangling with Bittan all day and ended up four-bet shoving his aces into the ace-king suited of the latter. Bittan flopped trips to take him out.
Bracelet winner James Anderson also fell victim to Sesso when he ran his queen-nine into Sesso’s tens. Cordero Hines finished in third place in the Opening Event and now fell in 17th place. Ryan Tamanini made an ill-timed bluff against McKeehen and got caught before losing the remainder of his stack to Sesso too when he five-bet shoved his ace-king suited into aces.
MGM National Harbor Poker Room Ambassador John Auville was short throughout most of the day, doubling up a few times before he ran his eights into the kings of Olshan to get eliminated in eleventh place. Justin Arnwine left the tournament in tenth place and earned some points for the leaderboard for a spot into the Borgata Fall Poker Open/MGM Resorts East Coast Poker Tour $2,000,000 Guaranteed Championship.
Galen Hall made the final table was but the only one to not make it to the final day when he just couldn’t win any all-ins during the latter stages of the day. He went into the dinner break with the chip lead but lost every heads-up battle where all the chips went in after it. McKeehen was the one to deal the final blow when Hall shoved his last seven big blinds with ace-ten into the kings of McKeehen.
When play resumes at 1 p.m. local time in the High Limit Poker Room in the Casino, Level 23 will start with a small blind of 20,000, big blind of 40,000, and a big blind ante of 40,000. Level duration will increase to 75 minutes each and it is assumed that a 10-minute break will take place after every level. Play will continue until there a winner has been crowned and PokerNews will be there bring you all the action as it happens.