Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don't: U.S. Poker Open Edition

Facts and figures. They make the world go around and, more often than not, tell a story without letting opinions or biases get in the way. Which numbers from the U.S. Poker Open tell those stories and what quick opinions do we have?

$1,256,600 – Opening this USPO rundown with anything or anyone other than Stephen Chidwick would be grounds for termination. The British High Roller headlined the entire series, thanks to five final table appearances, five cashes, four podium finishes, three cashes for over $250,000, and two $25,000 event victories. That resume allowed Chidwick to claim the first-ever USPO Championship trophy, with a whopping $1.25 million in series earnings.

$209,500 – When the U.S. Poker Open concluded, only two players finished the series over $1 million in earnings. Stephen Chidwick was one of them, the other was Keith Tilston. The equities trader won the $50,000 Main Event for $660,000 and while the final USPO Championship standings may show that the race for the trophy was close, with an only $210,000 difference at the top, those numbers don’t tell the entire story. Stephen Chidwick dominated from start to finish and, taking nothing away from Tilston or the rest of the USPO field, the race for the trophy was never really close.

3,533 – Over the last week, Daniel Negreanu came close to a USPO victory a few times. Poker’s all-time winningest tournament player made two final table runs and added over $600,000 to his lifetime earnings in the process. Nearly everyone on the planet would consider those results to be a success, but Negreanu mentioned prior to one of his final table appearances that “nothing but a win” would be satisfying. It’s been over 3,500 days, or over 9 years, since Negreanu’s last victory in a Las Vegas event. That is a long time, but based on Negreanu’s performance during the first month of the year, “Kid Poker” will end drought in 2018.

40 – While dozens of the world’s best poker players, Stephen Chidwick and Daniel Negreanu included, were featured during the U.S. Poker Open, there is only one place to watch the action. Event replays are available on-demand on PokerGO and across the eight-event series, over 40 hours of action was streamed live. Subscribe now to watch feature and final table broadcasts from the U.S. Poker Open.