Justin Bonomo's Big Stack Leads $10K High Roller Final Table

The first-ever U.S. Poker Open began Thursday, with Day 1 of the opening $10,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller drawing 68 entries. After ten hours of play, the dust settled and the final six bagged for Friday’s live streamed final table.

Justin Bonomo entered the day as the 2018 GPI Player of the Year front-runner and although we are just one month into the new year, he has another shot to add to his early point total. Bonomo controls the Event #1 chip lead, after bagging just over 1.6 million. Boutros Naim and Sam Soverel are each on Bonomo’s heels, as both bagged opposite sides of 1.5 million.

Below the seven-figure mark are three very experienced tournament professionals, including 2016 GPI Player of the Year David Peters. The High Roller extraordinaire bagged 623,000, which puts him behind Justin Young, who finished Day 1 with 841,000, and just trailing Stephen Chidwick, who bagged 655,000.

Those six players will return to play to a winner on Friday and the entire final table will be live streamed on PokerGO, beginning at 4:00 PM ET. The final table will play for the lion’s share of an over $650,000 prize pool, but a few players already opened their U.S. Poker Open accounts on Day 1.

Event #1 paid out 10 spots, meaning four players recorded scores on Thursday. Those hands won’t be viewable on PokerGO, but three-time World Poker Tour champion Anthony Zinno finished 10th and Super High Roller Bowl runner-up Jake Schindler finished 9th. They each earned $20,400 for their respective places, while Andy Park earned $27,200 for 8th. Cary Katz bubbled the broadcast final table in 7th, but did pick up a $34,000 score.

Some big names came close, but missed out on USPO scores in Event #1. Bryn Kenney finished a few spots off the money and WSOP Main Event winner Ryan Riess bubbled in 11th place. Both “King Kenney” and “Riess the Beast” will have plenty of opportunities to make up for those close calls. The U.S. Poker Open is just getting started and seven more events remain.

Before we look ahead to Friday’s $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha event and the rest of the USPO series, the Event #1 final table needs to crown the first-ever USPO champion. That will happen live on PokerGO, beginning at 4:00 PM ET.

The Event #1 final table seat draw, along with player chip counts, is provided below:

1. Stephen Chidwick – 665,000
2. Boutros Naim – 1,581,000
3. Sam Soverel – 1,461,000
4. Justin Young – 841,000
5. David Peters – 623,000
6. Justin Bonomo – 1,610,000

A list of the remaining Event #1 payouts is also provided below:

1. $190,400
2. $136,000
3. $88,400
4. $68,000
5. $54,400
6. $40,800

Subscribe now to watch the world’s best players compete in the eight-event U.S. Poker Open on PokerGO.