U.S. Poker Open 2022 Picks & Predictions

The 2022 U.S. Poker Open starts this week, featuring 12 high-stakes poker tournaments at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. If you’re like us, you’re locked and loaded for nearly two full weeks of elite competition at the game’s highest levels. One of our favorite things to do inside PokerGO headquarters ahead of each big series is sit down and discuss what might happen and who is going to win big. With that, we bring you our 2022 U.S. Poker Open picks and predictions.

The U.S. Poker Open is part of the PokerGO Tour (PGT) and several players have made some moves as of late. Let’s take a look at some of the players we are predicting to shine at the 2022 U.S. Poker Open.

Sean Perry Retakes Top PGT Leaderboard Spot

When Sean Perry finished in eighth place in the Wynn Millions $10,000 Main Event, he earned enough PGT leaderboard points to move into first place. Perry was later surpassed by Tony Sinishtaj and Isaac Kempton after they went on to finish in first and second place, respectively, in that same event. That said, we’re predicting Perry to retake the top spot on the PGT leaderboard at some point during the 2022 U.S. Poker Open series.

Perry has two wins and nine cashes in PGT events this season, and he’s finished in the top three on four occasions. With a 12-event schedule on tap for the U.S. Poker Open, look for Perry to continue to shine with his unique and exciting style of play. We’ll peg him for one victory and three cashes during the 2022 U.S. Poker Open.

Ali Imsirovic Books Another PGT Win

Ali Imsirovic is coming off a Wynn Millions series that saw him win one high roller event and cash in two others, which pushed him to more than 1,000 PGT leaderboard points. Last season’s PGT Player of the Year, Imsirovic is a threat to win every single high roller he enters. We’re expecting Imsirovic to perform much like he has since bursting onto the high-roller scene and predict he’ll earn at least one tournament victory at this year’s series.

Brock Wilson Gets First PGT Win of 2022 Season

With seven cashes in PGT events this season, Brock Wilson enters the 2022 U.S. Poker Open in eighth place on the leaderboard. He’s one of only three players in the top 10 without a victory. The other two are Kempton and Alex Livingston. We think this is the series that Wilson breaks through with his first PGT victory of the season.

Wilson finished runner-up on two occasions at the PokerGO Cup earlier this year and has placed in the top seven in six of his seven PGT cashes this season. Wilson is certainly knocking at the door of a victory and he’ll have 12 opportunities to get one during the 2022 U.S. Poker Open. We like his chances.

More Success for Negreanu

After a long break from poker following the 2021 WSOP, Daniel Negreanu got back on the grind at the PokerGO Cup. He almost defended his PokerGO Cup series title with a victory and a deep run in the final event, and then Negreanu went on to cash two ARIA High Roller tournaments and win a Wynn High Roller during the Wynn Millions. It’s clear that Negreanu is as focused and determined to perform at a high level as he’s ever been, and he’s been vocal on social media about chasing the PGT’s $500,000 prize that will go to this season’s champion. We expect him to be out playing every single event at the 2022 U.S. Poker Open and think he’ll find plenty of success during the series.

One edge we believe Negreanu has is with the two mixed-game events on the U.S. Poker Open schedule – Event #4: $10,000 Big Bet Mix and Event #6: $15,000 8-Game. In recent years, Negreanu has shown us that he’s capable of competing with the best in no-limit hold’em, which this series has plenty of, but the two mixed game tournaments might be just what he needs to separate himself from the pack and push towards the overall U.S. Poker Open title. Expect plenty more success from Negreanu during this series and he should very well be in the mix for the overall series title.

Who Will Be Crowned 2022 U.S. Poker Open Champion?

The U.S. Poker Open has taken place three times, but it only has two series champions. Stephen Chidwick was the first winner in 2018, then it was David Peters going back to back in 2019 and 2021 (no event was held in 2020 due to the pandemic). If we look further into the U.S. Poker Open history books, we find that Sean Winter finished second on the series leaderboard in 2019 and 2021. Winter is our pick to become 2022 U.S. Poker Open champion.

Winter has had a “quiet” start to his 2022 PGT season, but it’s really only been quiet because he hasn’t landed himself in the winner’s circle just yet. Winter does have eighth PGT cashes in 2022, and all eight have been top-six results. We’re predicting that Winter gets himself into the PGT winner’s circle in at least one of the 2022 U.S. Poker Open events, and we wouldn’t be shocked if he wins multiple tournaments during the series. Add in a few final table runs and we’re picking Winter to become the 2022 U.S. Poker Open champion.

The 2022 U.S. Poker Open takes place March 16-28 at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. The full series schedule can be viewed here. Daily live streams of final table action start March 17 on PokerGO.com.

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