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The online legend banked $187,600 at the $10,000 event for his first cash of the series. In the meantime, Stephen Chidwick seems to like the USPO so much, he doesn't want to leave any tournaments until they're over.
The final table
"I wouldn't come if the buy-ins weren't big."
- said Ben in his winner's interview.
Tollerene started the tournament with some difficulties, he needed all of the three bullets allowed. At one point, Ben had less than five big blinds but eventually managed to turn the table and come back to win the whole thing. The less familiar player also made the final table. Rodger Johnson finished 6th for $40,200, while recreational player Kristina Holst - a software engineer - got 5th for $53,600, which is her biggest cash ever as of this time. After her bust out she said: "These guys are some of the best in the world. They play a lot more tournaments than I do, It's fun to come out and play against them."
The remaining four were all well-known high-roller regulars. Cary Katz, who founded, PokerCentral, the company which organizes the festival, made 4th for $67,000. This score was not even close to Cary's biggest live cash, he has a number of seven-figure prizes, with the biggest being a $1,929,203 worth 5th place finish from the 2016 $1,000,000 One Drop Extravaganza. Katz has $13.8 million in live earnings. He busted in a cooler situation, when he made a backdoor flush, against Ben Tollerene, who held a higher flush.
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2013 WSOP Main Event winner, Ryan Riess finished 3rd. Ryan put his last chips into the middle from the small blind, holding Jack-seven suited and got called by Ben, who had Ace-nine in the big. The heads-up play started with a slight chip lead in Tollerene's favour, but Jake Schindler managed to take the lead by winning a few pots.
The most important hand of the tournament saw both players flopping trips, with Ben having a better kicker and he doubled into a sizeable chip lead. Only two hands later, Ben finished off Jake holding pocket rockets, against the top pair of Schindlers. Ben made $187,600 for his win, while Jake got a nice compensation himself in form of a $134,000 paycheck.
Final results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ben Tollerene | Unites States | $187,600 |
| 2nd | Jake Schindler | Unites States | $134,000 |
| 3rd | Ryan Riess | Unites States | $87,100 |
| 4th | Cary Katz | Unites States | $67,000 |
| 5th | Kristina Holst | Unites States | $53,600 |
| 6th | Rodger Johnson | Unites States | $40,200 |
Stephen crushes
In the USPO #06 - $25,000 NLHE event there are only six players left. Stephen Chidwick was already leading the money-list of the series with $810,900 in total winnings but he's likely to further the distance as he made his third final table and this time he even has the chip lead, holding 1,348,000. However, his ride to the win will not be easy considering that Benjamin Pollak and Isaac Haxton follow him closely, with a chip stack of 1,197,000 and 1,132,000. The three had already tangled at a final table of the USPO before, as both Ben and Isaac sat in the finale of the $25,000 Mixed Game Championship, one of the two events Chidwick conquered.
It will be interesting to see if Stephen will be able to make his third win in only 6 tournaments.
(photo credit: pokergo)