Shannon Shorr Wins U.S. Poker Open Event #1 for $213,900

Shannon Shorr is the first winner from the 2022 U.S. Poker Open series. Shorr topped a field of 93 entries in Event #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em to win $213,900. Shorr also picked up 214 points for the series leaderboard.

Shorr defeated Ren Lin in heads-up play, with Lin taking home $148,800 in prize money for his second-place finish.

“It was a blast,” Shorr said. “All of these events inside the PokerGO Studio are so much fun, and the names at the final table – Joseph Cheong, Erik Seidel, Daniel Negreanu – they speak for themselves. It was a blast to be here and I’m glad I could come out on top.”

Shorr has been around the poker scene for quite some time and now has more than $9,600,000 in career live tournament earnings, according to HendonMob.com. His first live tournament cash came back in 2006 and he’s been grinding year in and year out ever since. Now married and a parent, Shorr still finds time to play poker but does so with the help of his wife, who he gave a lot of credit.

“It definitely gets a bit tricky,” Shorr said of judging family life and poker. “Luckily, my wife is incredible. She’s just a total boss woman. She set our house and our life up in a way where she can raise our daughter when I’m away playing poker, so that’s working out pretty well so far. I’m trying to do what I can when I can. In addition to playing full time, it’s definitely a full plate.”

If you recall the 2021 Poker Masters series at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, Shorr won the first tournament of that series. Now that he picked up the first title in this U.S. Poker Open series, he was asked about his secret coming into events.

“Generally going into a big series like this, I’ll try and push myself extra hard in the gym and with meditation,” Shorr said. “I try to be really ready to play poker for when a long grind comes in. I did a bit of that and maybe there’s something to it.”

2022 U.S. Poker Open Event #1 Results

Event #1: $10,000 NL Hold’em drew a field of 93 entries, creating a prize pool of $930,000. The top 14 places reached the money. All players that cashed also earned PokerGO Tour (PGT) leaderboard points.

Shorr’s Road To Victory

On Day 1 of the tournament, Shannon Shorr knocked out Vikenty Shegal in Level 9 to boost his stack to more than 600,000 in chips. Tamon Nakamura then doubled through Shorr shortly thereafter to push him back under the 600,000 mark.

Fast forward to Level 12, and that’s when Shorr doubled through Ren Lin when his pocket aces held against Lin’s ace-nine. Shorr moved to more than 1,000,000 in chips with the double up, and then it was time for Alex Foxen to bust on the bubble.

Following the eliminations of Nakamura in 14th place, Phil Hellmuth in 13th place, Dan Shak in 12th place, Ivan Zufic in 11th place, and Sean Perry in 10th place, the final nine players combined to one table. Shorr was fourth in chips.

Lin busted Rok Gostisa in ninth place, and then Shorr knocked out Nick Schulman in eighth place. After that, Daniel Negreanu took out Kristina Holst in seventh place to end play for Day 1. When played ended, Shorr was second in chips behind Masashi Oya.

At the live-streamed final table on Day 2, Joseph Cheong was the first player to bust out. Oya raised all in from the small blind and a short-stacked Cheong called all in from the big blind with queen-jack. Oya had ace-nine of clubs and held.

Erik Seidel was next to bust, falling in fifth place at the hands of Oya. Seidel moved all in with pocket sevens and Oya called with ace-king. Oya flopped an ace and held from there to send Seidel to the rail.

After Seidel’s exit, it was Negreanu next to bust. He jammed all in for 715,000 with king-queen over a raise to 150,000 from Lin. Lin had ace-six and made the call. Negreanu could not find the help he needed and was eliminated in fourth place.

Oya would fall next, and it was Shorr who busted him by making a big call on the river with two pair. Shorr had ten-six on a board of ace-queen-six-ten-four. The pot was 2,960,000 and Oya moved all in for 2,150,000 after Shorr checked. Oya had queen-three and his shove sent Shorr into the tank. Shorr eventually called and saw that he was right, eliminating Oya to get heads up with Lin.

Heads-up play saw Shorr start with 9,500,000 to Lin’s 2,125,000. To start the duel, Lin was a flurry of pots to take the chip lead, but Shorr fought right back as the two exchanged blows back and forth. The chip lead changed hands a few times, and Lin even pushed his stack to more than 9,000,000 in chips. Shorr ended up finding a double up when his king-two beat Lin’s jack-five. The money went in on a jack-six-two-two board and Shorr won to double into the lead. Then the final hand came up when Lin’s king-jack ran into Shorr’s ace-king. Shorr flopped and ace and Lin was drawing dead after the turn.

Shorr Takes Early USPO Leaderboard Lead

Shorr is now $213,900 richer and sits atop the 2022 U.S. Poker Open leaderboard with 214 points. Lin is second with 149 points, and then Masashi Oya is third with 112 points. The player to earn the most points over the course of the 12-event series will be crowned the 2022 U.S. Poker Open series champion and win the $50,000 championship bonus that comes with the golden eagle trophy.

“I think I’m going to be compelled to play quite a few of these now and to go after the $50,000 bonus,” Shorr said of his plans for the rest of the U.S. Poker Open.

2022 U.S. Poker Open Leaderboard Top 10

Sinishtaj Remains Atop PokerGO Tour Leaderboard

The 2022 U.S. Poker Open is part of the PGT. On the overall PGT leaderboard, Tony Sinishtaj, the recent winner of the Wynn Millions $10,000 Main Event, remains on top with 1,250 points. He’s trailed by the player he beat in heads-up play in that event, Isaac Kempton.

2022 PGT Leaderboard Top 10