Eli Elezra and David Peters Take Down USPO Events

The 2021 U.S. Poker Open continued marching towards a thrilling conclusion with Eli Elezra and David Peters both securing titles. Elezra triumphed in the $10,000 8-Game event, with Peters triumphant in the latest $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament.

Elezra Shines in Mixed Game Format

Eli Elezra was a regular on High Stakes Poker but it is non-hold’em events where the Israeli really shines. Two of the four WSOP bracelets Elezra owns came in Seven-Card Stud, one in 2-7 Triple Draw, and one in Stud/8. This latest title put his mixed game knowledge to a serious test.

8-Game sees players fight it out across eight poker variants in rotation. They are, in order of rotation:

• 2-7 Triple Draw
• Limit Hold’em
• Omaha Hi-Lo
• Razz
• Seven-Card Stud
• Stud Hi-Lo
• No-Limit Hold’em
• Pot-Limit Omaha

David “ODB” Baker was the chip leader at the final table, yet the first player out of the door. Daniel Negreanu doubled through Baker before Steve Zolotow got his hands on the rest of Baker’s stack during the No-Limit Hold’em round.

Nick Guagenti busted in sixth at the hands of Elezra during a Stud Hi-Lo round.

Online poker legend Erik “Erik123” Sagstrom fell in fifth during a PLO orbit. His Qx-Qx-4x-4x losing to Negreanu’s Ax-Kx-9x-3x when the latter flopped two pair.

Negreanu sent Richard Sklar to the showers in fourth-place during a NLHE round. Negreanu’s ace-jack improved to a pair of jacks on the flop to beat the pocket eights of Sklar.

Heads-up was set when Elezra stacked Negreanu in a PLO hand. The chips went in on a 3x-8x-3x flop, Negreanu holding Ax-7x-5x-5x, and Elezra the Kx-Qx-Jx-9x. The 7x turn kept Negreanu ahead, but the Qc river sent him home.

Elezra secured the title by defeating Zolotow in a Stud/8 orbit, Elezra’s favorite game.

Elezra Wins the $10,000 8-Game Mix Event For $183,600

Place	Player	Prize	Championship Points
1	Eli Elezra	$183,600	184
2	Steve Zolotow	$136,000	136
3	Daniel Negreanu	$88,400	88
4	Richard Sklar	$68,000	68
5	Erik Sagstrom	$54,400	54
6	Nick Guagenti	$40,800	41
7	David “ODB” Baker	$34,000	34

Reigning Champion Peters Gets The Job Done

Peters won the 2019 U.S. Poker Open at the death and could do the same two years later. He won the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for $217,800 after outlasting 98 opponents.

Dan Shak, who finished as runner-up to Jake Daniels in Event #1, crashed out in seventh. Ivan Zufic and the dangerous Alex Foxen followed Shak to the rail, the latter recording his third U.S. Poker Open cash.

Fourth place and the last five-figure prize of the evening, $89,100 to be exact, went to Brock Wilson. Wilson got the last of his short stack in the middle with ace-five against Peters’ ace-ten on a 5x-7x-Kx flop with two hearts. Peters called and turned a flush to bust Wilson from the event.

Andrew “Lucky Chewy” Lichtenberger busted in third for $118,800. Peters open-shoved for 16 big blinds effective with jack-ten, and Lichtenberger called with Ax-7x. Peters flopped a full house, leaving his opponent with only 0.3% equity! It was game over for Lichtenberger on the turn.

Jared Jaffee and Peters fought one-on-one for the title with neither player making any headway. A big pot went Peters’ way when he made a full house against Jaffee’s trips, overbet the river, and was called. That left Jaffee with 12 big blinds, which he shoved with king-deuce. Peters called with ace-eight, the board ran dry, and Peters won yet another tournament.

Place	Player	Prize	Championship Points
1	David Peters	$217,800	218
2	Jared Jaffee	$158,400	158
3	Andrew Lichtenberger	$118,800	119
4	Brock Wilson	$89,100	89
5	Alex Foxen	$79,200	79
6	Ivan Zufic	$59,400	59
7	Dan Shak	$49,500	50

McKeehen Leads Through Seven Completed Events

Joe McKeehen leads the race for the $50,000 top prize with seven of a scheduled 12 events completed. He enjoys a 13 point lead over Zolotow right now. Peters’ victory pushed him up to sixth, with Elezra occupying tenth place right now.

The leaderboard is wide open, especially as there is a $25,000 and $50,000 event still to come.

Place	Player	Points	Wins	Cashes	Earnings
1	Joe McKeehen	302	1	2	$302,200
2	Steve Zolotow	289	0	3	$289,000
3	Dan Shak	236	0	3	$235,500
4	john Riordan	222	1	3	$221,800
5	Jake Daniels	219	1	1	$218,500
6	David Peters	218	1	1	$217,800
7	Sam Soverel	214	1	3	$214,300
8	Joey Weissman	204	1	1	$204,000
9	Alex Foxen	184	0	3	$183,700
10	Eli Elezra	184	1	2	$183,600

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

View Articles