The second event of the US Poker Open (USPO) is now in the books and overtaking the 64-entry field at the event to clinch his first USPO title was Jordan Cristos (cover image). Best known for his 2013 WPT Legends of Poker victory, Cristos banked a cash prize worth $179,200 at the event, taking his total live earnings to $2,508,316.

The former WPT champion had entered the final table as the chip leader and one-by-one eliminated all his final table competitors including eventual runner-up Germany’s Manig Loeser to win the title. This is his second cash at the series following his 11^th place finish in the $10K NLH for $27,000. With this win, Cristos has taken an early lead in the USPO leaderboard points race.

A total of ten places were assured payouts which included names like Brent Roberts (7^th for $32,000), Dan Shak (8^th for $25,600), Ben Yu (9^th for $19,200) and Anthony Alberto (10^th for $19,200).

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Jordan Cristos – 2,445,000

2. Cary Katz – 1,525,000

3. Manig Loeser – 1,295,000

4. Martin Zamani – 1,180,000

5. Adam Hendrix – 900,000

6. Sean Winter – 760,000

Final Table Recap

From the very start of the final table Jordan Cristos began to dominate the field. After the winning the very first pot against Martin Zamani, Cristos went ahead to claim his first victim on the final table in Sean Winter. Winter, who had recently finished runner-up in the $10K NLH, was looking to redeem himself by taking down his first title of the series, but it was just not meant to be. His fell short to Cristos’ which bettered to a spades flush on the runout , leading to Winter’s sixth place exit.

Cary Katz had recently taken down the A$100K Challenge at the 2019 Aussie Millions and was in the hunt for his maiden USPO title, but Cristos, who was in peak form, ended his deep run in fifth place. Katz’ were overthrown by Cristos’ as the latter turned a full house on the runout .

Less than 10 minutes later, Adam Hendrix joined Katz at the rail. Hendrix, who was already short-stacked, raised to 240,000 from small blind and was met with a 3-bet from Cristos who was in the big blind. Hendrix called with his remaining stack and both players tabled their cards.

Adam Hendrix

Jordan Cristos

The community cards spread out and while Hendrix picked up a pair of aces, it was no match for Cristos’ set of treys.

Down to three-handed play, Cristos raised from the small blind with and Martin Zamani moved all-in for 500,000 holding . Cristos turned a boat on the rundown forcing Zamani to walk out in third place.

Zamani’s elimination set the heads-up finale between Jordan Cristos (5,905,000) and Manig Loeser (2,100,000) in motion. Following a short break, the final showdown resumed between the two pros. While Cristos had started off with the more commanding stack, the chip lead exchanged hands a few times before the final hand was dealt.

On the final hand of the event, Cristos raised to 750,000 with and Loeser called with . The flop fell and Loeser checked, while Cristos led out for 600,000. Loeser check-raised and then moved all-in for 2.38 Million. Cristos who had his opponent covered made the call to see the and completing the rundown. Both players had two pairs but Cristos’ hand was stronger and just like that he claimed his career-first USPO title along with $179,200 in prize money.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Jordan Cristos – $179,200

2. Manig Loeser – $128,000

3. Martin Zamani – $83,200

4. Adam Hendrix – $64,000

5. Cary Katz – $51,200

6. Sean Winter – $38,400

Content & Image Courtesy: PokerNews/Poker Central

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