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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