Chidwick and Negreanu Highlight the Event 7: $25,000 No Limit Hold'em Final Table
"This is the week of Chidwick," said Brian Greeen yesterday at the final table of the Event 6 where English pro Stephen Chidwick eventually notched the third-prize, adding to his fifth place from the opening event and to his fabulous back-to-back victories in the $25,000 NLH and 8-Game events.
Already riding on Cloud Nine at the inaugural US Poker Open, Chidwick is far from being done at the series. His spectacular performances are set to elevate to an even higher dimension tonight. After making it to three podiums in the last four days, Chidwick tortured his opponents yet again in the Event 7: $25,000 No Limit Hold'em.
Chidwick returns for his fifth final table of the series, already guaranteed to eclipse $1 million in US Poker Open earnings. More importantly, he is coming back with the largest stack among the six remaining contenders. He bagged up 1,745,000.
US Poker Open - Event #7: $25,000 NLH final table:
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Tollerene | United States | 270,000 | 9 |
| 2 | Sean Winter | United States | 1,510,000 | 50 |
| 3 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 640,000 | 21 |
| 4 | Keith Tilston | United States | 745,000 | 25 |
| 5 | David Peters | United States | 1,340,000 | 45 |
| 6 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 1,745,000 | 58 |
It seems to be Chidwick's trademark to fall into the last position before rising to the top here at US Poker Open. He followed the pattern yesterday on Day 1 when he cruised through the 50-strong field to enter the stone bubble with the shortest stack. Not only that he survived, he went on a rampage and scored several doubles to vault to the chip lead. Chidwick is gunning for the $400,000 first prize that would almost lock up the US Poker Open Trophy for him.
"I'm feeling really good right now. I would love to win the trophy, even though it might be awkward to pack," Chidwick said on Monday after topping the first $25k NLH event. Now there remain only a few players who can still fend him off the throne, and they all have just a slim chance to do so.
However, one of those who can still catch Chidwick is Daniel Negreanu who's notched three cashes for $282,500 so far. He will increase that number today as he's set to face off against Chidwick on the final table. Negreanu was down to only two big blinds with seven players left but bounced back and found his way to the finale with 640,000.
Negreanu may be fifth in chips but the stacks are overall shallow and a little stroke of fortune can quickly flip the switch and catapult him towards the lead.
Yesterday was a gruelling day with a lot of doubles extending the play to over 12 hours before the final table was finally reached. There are two minutes left to play in level 20 with the blinds at 15,000/30,000 and a 30,000 big blind ante so the players might sneak in one or two hands before the stakes move higher.
At that point, only Chidwick's initial final table stack will be worth more than forty big blinds. Sean Winter (1,510,000) and David Peters (1,340,000) are also in safe waters but the bottom half of the table will be forced to a re-shoving mode. Negreanu, Keith Tilston (745,000) and Ben Tollerene (270,000) will have to make some moves early to stay afloat.
It's been standard for US Poker Open final tables to see at least two players bust before the first break so make sure you tune to PokerGO straight from the first hand of the final table cards-up broadcast which kicks off at 1:00 P.M. PST. Additionally, PokerNews will once again bring you the pen-and-paper coverage following the live stream.
Remaining payouts and results so far:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | ||
| 2 | $262,000 | ||
| 3 | $175,000 | ||
| 4 | $125,000 | ||
| 5 | $100,000 | ||
| 6 | $75,000 | ||
| 7 | Matt Hyman | United States | $62,500 |
| 8 | Isaac Haxton | United States | $50,000 |