Stacked Final Table of Event #5: $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Begins at 12:00 PM
Welcome back to the final day of Event #5: $10,000 No Limit Hold'em of the inaugural US Poker Open. After an 11 hour grind on Day 1, the final six players were finalized and what a lineup we have for you today.
Jake Schindler, a regular on the high-stakes tournament scene, comes into the day as the overwhelming chip leader. Schindler bagged an impressive 2,380,000 chips as he enters his second final table of the series. After finishing in fourth place in Event #3, the American poker pro will look to make better on his second attempt.
Following him is none other than 2013 WSOP Main Event champion, Ryan Riess with 1,375,000. Riess had a slow start to the series, failing to cash in the first two hold'em events, but looks to be in fine form heading into today. Ben Tollerene rounds out the top three with 1,265,000 chips and, like Schindler, is mostly known for competing in the nosebleed tournaments. Tollerene had a rough start to the tournament, finding himself in for the maximum amount of entries, but turned things around in the last few levels of the day.
Not only is the final table packed with highly-skilled players, but there are some unknowns as well. Everyone knows Cary Katz, founder of Poker Central, who comes into the day with 490,000 chips, but how will he match up against some of the world-class players. Well, Katz is coming off a win in the $100,000 Super High Roller at the 2018 PCA for just under $1.5 million so there should be no issue there.
Rodger Johnson, the short stack at the table with just 350,000, is a Vegas locale who can be mostly found playing tournaments in the $1,000 buy-in range. However, Johnson took a shot to play with some of the high rollers this week and it appears to be paying off as he has demonstrated all of the skills needed to crack the top six.
The final question mark would be the lone female to enter the tournament, Kristina Holst. When the action got underway on Day 1, Holst was ready to duke it out with her male counterparts and she showed no fear whatsoever. Holst has proven she is not shy to three-bet, four-bet, and put her opponents to the test with the best of them. Over the course of her career, the native of California has taken some shots at the $5,000 and $10,000 tournament range but has yet to find much success with her largest cash being around $44,000. Maybe this is the moment Holst has been waiting for.
Final Table Seating
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Tollerene | 1,265,000 |
| 2 | Kristina Holst | 840,000 |
| 3 | Jake Schindler | 2,380,000 |
| 4 | Ryan Riess | 1,375,000 |
| 5 | Rodger Johnson | 350,000 |
| 6 | Cary Katz | 490,000 |
The action is set to get begin at 12:00 P.M. PST inside the Aria Resort and Casino. There will be 17 minutes remaining in level 18 with the blinds at 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. The players will receive a fresh set of three 60-second time extensions at the start of play. The final six players are all guaranteed to at least pocket $40,200 but will be in search of the top prize of $187,600. Here is a look at the payouts thus far:
Prize Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $187,600 | |
| 2nd | $134,000 | |
| 3rd | $87,100 | |
| 4th | $67,000 | |
| 5th | $53,600 | |
| 6th | $40,200 | |
| 7th | Ben Yu | $33,500 |
| 8th | Brent Hanks | $26,800 |
| 9th | Keith Tilston | $20,100 |
| 10th | David Peters | $20,100 |
Although the winner won't have much impact on the overall standings, they will be able to set themselves up for a big push down the final stretch. With just three tournaments remaining to be played, there is still a lot of money up for grabs. Everyone is currently chasing money leader, Stephen Chidwick, who has racked up over $810,000 in the first half of the series. Chidwick has made three final tables and won two of the opening $25,000 events. Here is a look at the leaderboard.
If you are looking to keep an eye on the final table, you can catch all of the action on a 30-minute delay on PokerGO. The live-stream will be taking place throughout the entire final table with the hole cards being shown. The action will begin at 1:00 P.M. PST and continue until a winner is crowned.
You can also follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team as we will be bringing you hand-for-hand coverage from start to finish.