Justin Bonomo and Mike Gorodinsky have taken an early lead in the US Poker Open after winning the first two events, and Bill Perkins is boycotting Poker After Dark until they incorporate Twitter into the equation.
Justin Bonomo is fast becoming a masterpiece of living art. The 32-year-old came into the US Poker Open as the early front-runner for the Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year race. It’s not perfect proof of persistence. But he did win $4.5m last year, and the year before that, yes, this man is running hotter than apple crumble.
The opening event was $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em. 68 people entered, and there was only one non-professional seated at the final table. His name was Pierre Nadim. He almost went all the way.
There is a view that the non-pros don’t enjoy competing with the pros at the highest level. It’s one of the reasons the One Drop moved their last million euro event to Monaco and banned them (although a pro won it, go figure).
Boring.
Serious.
But Nadim loved it.
The Lebanese Frenchman was one card away from being the champion when heads-up only for the river to come to the rescue of Bonomo.
But you expect those sort of things to happen when you’re one of the hottest players in the world. The final hand saw the pink-flamed wonder move all-in with K7o, and Nadim made a charitable call with 85cc. However, there was no charity on the flop, turn or river.
“You put me in some really tough spots man.” Said Bonomo before jumping into the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) event, the details of which you can read below.
Final Table Results
1. Justin Bonomo – $190,400
2. Pierre Nadim – $136,000
3. David Peters – $88,400
4. Justin Young – $68,000
5. Stephen Chidwick – $54,400
6. Sam Soverel – $40,800
Other poker prince’s who penetrated this thing hard were Cary Katz (7th), Andy Park (8th), Jake Schindler (9th) and Anthony Zinno (10th).
Mike Gorodinsky Wins Event #2: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha
The former World Series of Poker (WSOP) POY, Mike Gorodinsky, took down Event #2: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) banking $179,200 in the process.
Gorodinsky, a $50k Poker Player’s Championship title holder, eliminated everyone at the final table, including the starting chip leader Richard Kirsch who entered heads-up with a 9:1 mountain to climb.
“It’s hard to complain when you have a set every hand,” said Gorodinsky.
The win places Gorodinsky into second place on the leaderboard, behind Bonomo. Anthony Zinno and Cary Katz are the only two players to finish in the money in both events.
The event attracted 64 entrants.
Final Table
1. Mike Gorodinsky – $179,200
2. Richard Kirsch – $128,000
3. Rainer Kempe – $83,200
4. Anthony Zinno – $64,000
5. Andjelko Andrejevic – $51,200
6. Cary Katz – $38,400
The other four players to cash in this one were Dan Shak (7th), Ben Pollak (8th), Joshua Ladines (9th) and Ben Yu (10th).
Daniel Negreanu Looking Good in Event #3; Bill Perkins Wants Twitter on Poker After Dark
The first $25,000 of the US Poker Open saw 44 entrants make a splash. The first person to re-enter was Daniel Negreanu, and so he will be delighted to get his head down knowing he returns with the second most abundant stack in the room with only six remaining. With $374k up top, his $50k hole doesn’t look that big after all.
One person has already made the money. Nick Schulman’s tournament ended in seventh place for $55,000.
Here are the final table chip counts:
1. Keith Tilston – 1,734,000
2. Daniel Negreanu – 1,700,000
3. Jake Schindler – 999,000
4. Stephen Chidwick – 519,000
5. Seth Davies – 335,000
6. Brent Hanks – 213,000
Make poker fun again!
That’s the battle cry emerging from the mouth of Bill Perkins.
Perkins is refusing to appear on Poker Central’s Poker After Dark unless the poker broadcast giant incorporates a Twitter feed on the screen so the poker fans can have a more immersive experience on the newly spit-polished show.
For Twitter poker fans I am refusing to appear on PAD until we have Twitter on the big screen so players can interact with people watching. #MakePokerFunAgain
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) January 29, 2018
Poker After Dark emerged from the grave in August after six-years of pushing up daisies. Perkins appeared on the show in January, but that might be the last we see of him.
The next Poker After Dark show is scheduled for Feb 15th.
