Jake Daniels Wins U.S. Poker Open Event #1 for $218,500

The 2021 U.S. Poker Open kicked off on June 3 and crowned its first champion a day later on June 4. Jake Daniels is that champion after he outlasted 94 opponents in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em event.

Day 1 saw the 95 entrants whittled down to the final table of seven. This meant the money bubble burst because the top 14 finishers shared the $950,000 prize pool. Alex Foxen was the unfortunate soul who burst the money bubble. Foxen got his stack in with Ks-Qs and found himself against Stephen Chidwick holding 8h-8d and Aram Zobian having Ah-9s. The board ran 7h-Qh-5d-9c-6s to gift Chidwick a hand-winning straight.

Junichi Nakanowatari busted in 14th and received $19,000. John Riordan, Sam Soverel, Bin Duan, Johan Guilbert, Shannon Shorr, and Zobian fell by the wayside before the final table.

Daniel Second in Chips Going Into the Final Table

Dan Shak was the chip leader going into the final table courtesy of his 2,570,000. However, both Daniels (2,120,000) and Steve Zolotow (2,100,000) were hot on the American’s heels.

Seventh place and $47,500 went to Tim McDermott. The seventh-place finisher was down to only six big blinds when he crashed out. McDermott got his short-stack into the middle with an open-ended straight draw, but neither the turn nor river came to his rescue.

Sergi Reixach may have eliminated McDermott, but he was still the next star out of the door. He shoved his last five big blinds with 9s-5s, and Barry Hutter called with pocket sevens. Reixach paired his five but could not find any other outs.

Poker veteran and two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Zolotow was next out of the door. Zolotow found himself nursing a short stack for most of the final table before three-betting all-in with ace-king after Hutter opened with nine-seven. Hutter called, spiked a seven, and sent Zolotow on his way.

Davies claimed his first scalp of the final table, that of the legendary Chidwick. Daniels raised with pocket fives, Chidwick three-bet all-in for six big blinds with pocket threes, and Daniels called. Those pocket fives held thanks, in part, to improving to a set on the turn.

Heads-Up Set; Shak Leads Daniels

Heads-up was set when Hutter busted at the hands of Shak. Hutter raised with suited king-seven from his 13 big blind stack, and Shak defending his big blind with five-four. A ten-seven-four flop saw Shak check, but a flurry of bets resulted in Hutter’s stack being in the middle. Shak caught a four on the turn before a three on the river sent Hutter to the showers.

Shak held a 7.2 million to 4.6 million chip lead over Daniels going into the one-on-one encounter. A cooler hand where both players made a straight on the river reversed the stacks. The final hand saw Shak shove his king-seven into the ace-three of Daniels and the rest, as they say, is history.

U.S. Poker Open Event #1: $10,000 NLHE Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Jake Daniels	United States	$218,500
2	Dan Shak	United States	$152,000
3	Barry Hutter	United States	$114,000
4	Stephen Chidwick	United Kingdom	$95,000
5	Steve Zolotow	United States	$76,000
6	Sergi Reixach	Spain	$57,000
7	Tim McDermott	United States	$47,500

Daniels has cashes dating back to June 2014, including a $165,000 score in 2016. His victory in the $5,200 WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic in December 2019 set him on the path to high-stakes greatness.

He won $203,263 for his WPT victory and followed it up with some incredible results. Daniels finished third in a $25,500 event in Uruguay for $150,000 two months after his WPT win. He followed that up with victories in a $10,000 event at Aria and a $25,500 WPT L.A. Poker Classic High Roller for $117,000 and $281,390, respectively.

A second place in another $10,000 buy-in event at Aria saw $128,000 hit Daniels’ bankroll.

His rise to stardom is fascinating, and we are confident we will see Daniels bag another six-figure score in the not too distant future.

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.

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