US Poker Open Wraps Today as Main Event Champion to be Crowned
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For the second time during the 2018 US Poker Open, Keith Tilston will kick off a final table with a big chip lead. This time, his lead just happens to be in the $50,000 Main Event. Tilston returns to action this afternoon at noon local time at the Aria Resort & Casino seeking his first USPO title but a star-studded lineup that includes Daniel Negreanu, Jake Schindler, Tom Marchese, and Dan Smith stand in his way.
Final Table Lineup:
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keith Tilston | United States | 2,273,000 | 227 |
| 2 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 1,146,000 | 114 |
| 3 | Jake Schindler | United States | 669,000 | 67 |
| 4 | Dan Smith | United States | 299,000 | 30 |
| 5 | Tom Marchese | United States | 564,000 | 56 |
There is still a whole lot of play to go as the players return with an average stack of 100 big blinds. Tilston is in a familiar position as he brought the chip lead into his first final table in the USPO #03 - $25,000 NLHE. He'll be looking to one-up his previous result falling heads-up to the US Poker Open Champion, Stephen Chidwick.
Tilston has three cashes already during the series tallying $397,100, guaranteed his fourth later today. Sitting at just over $1.5 in career live-recorded tournament earnings, with a win, Tilston will climb over the $2 million mark.
The man sitting in the two-spot needs no introduction. Negreanu is the all-time winningest tournament player with over $36 million earned. Negreanu's notched cashes in five of the eight events but has not made it deeper than a third-place finish in the same $25,000 event Tilston finished runner-up in.
Like Tilston, Schindler is also banking his fourth cash of the festival. Schindler is a regular in the Aria high roller circuit and has career earnings in access of $14 million. Schindler also made the final table of USPO #03 finishing fourth and has more history with Tilston as the two final tabled a Bellagio $25,000 NLHE event in December during the WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic where Tilston prevailed in a heads-up battle between the two.
Impressively, Marchese was one of the three players who sat down with a fresh stack on Day 2 and made the most of his second bullet. Marchese is also an Aria high roller grinder and has racked up almost $17 million since his first cash in 2010.
Coming in with the short stack is Dan Smith, though, with 30 big blinds, there is lots of room for Smith to maneuver. Smith brings over $19 million dollars worth of experience to the table but this is his first cash of the US Poker Open.
There are still 38 minutes left in Level 14 with blinds at 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 big blind ante.
Main Event Payouts
| Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|
| 1st | $660,000 |
| 2nd | $429,000 |
| 3rd | $264,000 |
| 4th | $165,000 |
| 5th | $132,000 |
Some of the game's best are clashing at this final table of the $50,000 Main Event at the US Poker Open, starting at 4pm ET on PokerGO. Live updates will be provided by PokerNews in case you can't watch it all, but if you have the time, sign up for PokerGO and see the first big televised mixed game final table of the year!