Stephen Chidwick Captures 10th Career PGT Title in Event #8: $25,200 No-Limit Hold'em

Stephen Chidwick entered the final table of the 2024 U.S. Poker Open with almost 40% of the chips in play and ran through the field to capture his tenth career PGT title and the $429,000 first-place prize in Event #8: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em. 

Chidwick broke a tie with Alex Foxen by reaching his 61st final table, and with his first win of 2024, picked up his eighth cash of the year and 81st all-time, another record, while also giving him the distinction of being the first player to cross the $14 million mark for career PGT earnings. 

Chidwick kicked off the day in style, sending short stack Jesse Lonis to the rail during the first twenty minutes of play. Chidwick's king-jack dominated the Event #1 champion's jack-eight. A jack on the turn left Lonis outkicked, and he collected the $52,000 seventh-place prize. 

The elimination not only secured a ladder for fellow short stack Aram Zobian but also secured the overall player of the series for the Rhode Island native as he finished the series with four cashes for 616 points and the win in Event #6. Zobian secured his fourth and final cash one hand after Lonis's elimination when he too would fall at the hands of Chidwick when his ace-three could not improve to take down the United Kingdom's all-time money leader's pocket tens, finishing in sixth-place for $78,000. 

Chidwick then took a hit to his stack when he doubled Cary Katz, but that was just a bump in the road as Chidwick would river a straight flush against Katz's top pair a few hands later to send the PokerGO founder to the payout desk in fifth-place for $104,000. 

Brandon Wittmeyer came into his first career PGT final table third in chips and made his mark on the field when he sent Dan Smith home in fourth place for $130,000 with ace-ten against the DoubleUp Drive Founders ace-nine. 

Three-handed play lasted nearly an hour as Chidwick continued to stack up the chips without much resistance from Wittmeyer and Andrew Lichtenberger, each dropping close to a million in chips. 

Lichtenberger would find the first chink in Chidwick's armor when he scored a double with ace-ten against Chidwick's jack-ten to cross the two million chip mark. Still, Chidwick quickly sealed the hole when his ace-king out flopped Wittmeyer's pocket tens, sending the Chicago native home in third place for $182,000. 

Chidwick took 73% of the chips into the heads-up match, but Lichtenberger continued to find gaps in his defense and doubled to nearly even in chips when Chidwick's ace-high paid off his rivered pair. 

Now, sitting dead even after the double, all the chips made their way into the middle pre-flop when Lichtenerger picked up pocket tens against the ace-king suited for Chidwick. 

A nine-high flop left Lichtenberger sniffing the title, but an ace on the turn sent him crashing back down to Earth as Chidwick had a commanding lead. A ten failed to materialize on the river, and as the two players shook hands, thinking the tournament was over, a count of the chips revealed Lichtenberger had Chidwick covered by 45,000 as play continued. 

Lichtenberger was all in from the big blind and picked up a pair with pocket threes, but a four on the flop gave Chidwick's eight-four a better pair. When the board failed to come up with a three, the Octopi Poker Co-Founder hit the rail in second place for $273,000. 

Event #8 drew 52 entrants to close out the 2024 U.S. Poker Open and created a prize pool of $1,300,000, with the top eight players finishing in the money. The bubble in event #8 lasted over an hour before Kristen Foxen got the last of her chips in with ace-ten against Chidwick's king-jack. A jack on the flop sealed Foxen's fate as she was denied her second cash of the series. 

David Coleman, the PGT Points leader for the 2024 season, continues his early-season success by picking up a min-cash in Event #8 to further distance himself from second-place Dylan Weissman. He is now sitting with 1,259 points as we head to the season's halfway mark.

Event #8: $25,200 No-Limit Hold'em Payouts

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