David Peters repeated 2019 U.S. Poker Open Championship victory with a come-from-behind victory, winning the final tournament of the series to beat points leader Sean Winter with a buzzer-beating title run.
The USPO wasn’t held during the live poker shutdown of 2020, which made Peters the defending champion when the high-stakes tournament series returned with a 12-event high roller festival in June of 2021. The 34-year-old Las Vegas-based poker pro went on a tear during the second half of the series, winning three titles and making four final tables in a five-day span to give himself the lead with one event remaining. This time around, Peters was the player hoping to hold onto a lead while a player at the final table of the closing event looked to unseat him. Sam Soverel needed a win to overcome Peters, but ultimately finished fifth to see Peters lock up the back-to-back USPO championship victories. For the win, he was awarded $50,000 in added prize money and the Golden Eagle Trophy.
“It feels great. Especially going back-to-back after winning last time. It feels great to do well versus so many great players and it was a very exciting week,” said Peters not long after securing the win. “It’s something that’ll be really cool to look back on someday, to remember that I had back-to-back trophies like this. It’s pretty exciting.”
Peters cashed for $832,950 across his four in-the-money finishes of the series, and managed to win a quarter of the events that were played in the 12-event series that ran from June 3-15.
Peters didn’t play every single event on the schedule, instead opting to skip the mixed games and one of the two pot-limit Omaha tourneys. He didn’t cash in any of the first six events of the series, but emerged victorious from a field of 99 entries to win event no. 7, a $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. He earned $217,800 and 218 USPO points for his victory in that event, which was the largest ever field in a USPO tournament. The day after that win, he finished eighth in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha event for another $25,200 and 25 USPO points. He then did not cash in event no. 9, but emerged victorious in the $10,000 short deck event for his second title of the series. Just one day after from that win, Peters managed to defeat a field of 69 entries to complete the hat trick by winning the $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. The 34-year-old poker pro earned $465,750 for his latest title run.
He now has more than $35.4 million in career tournament earnings, good for sixth place on poker’s all-time money list.
David Peters 2021 U.S. Poker Open scores:
Event |
Place |
Earning |
#1 $10,000 No Limit Hold'em |
1 |
$217,800 |
#8 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha |
8 |
$25,200 |
#10 $10,000 Short Deck |
1 |
$124,200 |
#11 $25,000 No Limit Hold'em |
1 |
$465,750 |
2021 U.S. Poker Open Final Standings:
Rank |
Player |
Points |
Wins |
Cashes |
Earnings |
1 |
David Peters |
646 |
3 |
4 |
$832,950 |
2 |
Sean Winter |
484 |
1 |
2 |
$785,700 |
3 |
Ali Imsirovic |
483 |
1 |
5 |
$482,000 |
4 |
Stephen Chidwick |
427 |
0 |
3 |
$628,700 |
5 |
Dan Shak |
371 |
0 |
4 |
$459,750 |
6 |
Jake Daniels |
323 |
1 |
2 |
$391,000 |
7 |
Sam Soverel |
316 |
1 |
4 |
$382,300 |
8 |
Andrew Lichtenberger |
308 |
0 |
3 |
$308,000 |
9 |
Joe McKeehen |
302 |
1 |
2 |
$302,200 |
10 |
Steve Zolotow |
289 |
0 |
3 |
$289,000 |
2021 U.S. Poker Open Winners Overview
Event |
Format |
Buy-in |
Entrants |
Winner |
Top Prize |
1 |
No Limit Hold'em |
$10,000 |
95 |
Jake Daniels |
$218,500 |
2 |
Pot Limit Omaha |
$10,000 |
65 |
Sam Soverel |
$175,500 |
3 |
No Limit Hold'em |
$10,000 |
77 |
Joe McKeehen |
$200,200 |
4 |
Big Bet Mix |
$10,000 |
48 |
John Riordan |
$163,200 |
5 |
No Limit Hold'em |
$10,000 |
85 |
Joey Weissman |
$204,000 |
6 |
8-Game Mix |
$10,000 |
68 |
Eli Elezra |
$183,600 |
7 |
No Limit Hold'em |
$10,000 |
99 |
David Peters |
$217,800 |
8 |
Pot Limit Omaha |
$10,000 |
63 |
Jared Bleznick |
$189,000 |
9 |
No Limit Hold'em |
$10,000 |
99 |
Ali Imsirovic |
$217,800 |
10 |
Short Deck |
$10,000 |
27 |
David Peters |
$124,200 |
11 |
No Limit Hold'em |
$25,000 |
69 |
David Peters |
$465,750 |
12 |
No Limit Hold'em |
$50,000 |
42 |
Sean Winter |
$756,000 |
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