Eric Afriat proved yet again he can walk the walk as the Canadian businessman added a US Poker Open title to his trio of WPT titles, taking down the penultimate event of the series for a $288,000 payday.
A field of 64 had assembled for the seventh event of the eight-tournament high-roller series. It was the second $15k buy-in and one of the last chances to make a move on the Golden Eagle leaderboard.
With only 10 spots paid, the money bubble was the first port of call and Clemen Deng was on the wrong end of a brutal river king when his pocket 10s were overtaken by Joey Weissman’s big slick. England’s all-time number one, Stephen Chidwick, came into the final table with the biggest stack, with Afriat in third, and hoping to improve on his runner-up finish in Event 1 to Erik Seidel.
There was to be no luck for Bill Klein, Sean Winter and Sam Laskowitz, who fell in that order with Laskowitz’s bustout notable.
Laskowitz: 
Chidwick: 
Laskowitz raised the button against Chidwick’s big blind and they checked through the 
flop. The turn was the 
, where a check-raise from Chidwick was called. When the 
fell, Chidwick shoved, sending Laskowitz into the tank. When he came out again, it was to call and end his tournament in fourth.
Chidwick, who had cashed in the two opening events, had to settle for third when his flopped set was rivered by Weissman’s gutshot, leaving Weissman – also with his third cash of the series – to deal with Afriat heads-up.
Afriat, who made his money from clothing import and export before turning to real estate, is no stranger to closing out poker tournaments. A 10-6 heads-up record, including those three WPT titles, held him in good stead as he extended his chip lead and then found the perfect spot to close out the win.
Afriat: 
Weissman: 
On the button, Afriat called Weissman’s pre-flop 3-bet to see the 
flop. Afriat called again to see the turn. Afriat shoved, Weissman snapped it off with two pair, and saw the bad news. The river bricked and Afriat claimed his first US Poker Open title.
2024 US Poker Open Event 7 results
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Eric Afriat |
$288,000 |
| 2nd | Joey Weissman |
$187,200 |
| 3rd | Stephen Chidwick |
$129,600 |
| 4th | Sam Laskowitz |
$96,000 |
| 5th | Sean Winter |
$72,000 |
| 6th | Bill Klein |
$52,800 |
As for the Golden Eagle leaderboard, which brings with it a $25,000 PGT Passport bonus, Afriat’s victory launched him back into second spot, though still well behind leader Aram Zobian.
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Aram Zobian |
569 |
| 2nd | Eric Afriat |
378 |
| 3rd | Jesse Lonis |
369 |
| 4th | Joey Weissman |
344 |
| 5th | Sam Laskowitz |
320 |
| 6th | Rodger Johnson |
301 |
| 7th | David Coleman |
291 |
| 8th | Matthew Wantman |
269 |
| 9th | Erik Seidel |
255 |
| 10th | Dan Smith | 235 |
Event 8, the $25k US Poker Open Championship, is down to its final table and both Zobian and Lonis are in the mix, although the latter needs a win and for Zobian to fall in sixth or seventh to overtake him.
Chidwick holds the chip lead, with Andrew Lichtenberger in second, and the finale kicks off at 2pm PT, with Ali Nejad and Maria Ho in the booth for the PokerGO livestream beginning at 4pm PT.
Images courtesy PokerGO (Antonio Abrego)
