Jeremy Ausmus defeated 66 entrants in last Monday's 2022 U.S. Poker Open (USPO) Event No. 5. It was a $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em competition with a $178,200 grand cash prize.
It was the 42-year-old poker pro's second title and 11th time to reach the final table this year. He was February's PokerGO Cup winner and participated in the PokerGO Tour (PGT).
Ausmus informed PGT reporters that he would be thrilled to win back-to-back major titles even though David Peters has won the USPO twice. Yet, he doesn't think there is another player who has ever won the majors back-to-back. He is learning more about the essence of having major simultaneous wins as he ages, and his children believe that is cool.
Winning many trophies can help Ausmus improve his poker standings. He started his hot streak last fall as he has won almost $3.4 million since September after cashing 31 times. Besides, the pro has won four titles and had 20 final-table finishes during the same period.
This impressive run has helped Ausmus lead in the 2022 Card Player Player of the Year (POY) race. His recent victory earned him 2,902 points which gave him a 502-point margin over Tony Sinishtaj in POY's overall standings, which Global Poker sponsors. He garnered 178 PokerGO Tour rankings that have improved his PGT points race standings to sixth place.
The USPO Event No. 5's Final Day
There were six players left at the beginning of the final day, with Nick Petrangelo leading. Ausmus had the second-shortest stack but got an early pot. He didn't get a showdown, and the pot improved his leaderboard standing.
Petrangelo's A-Q failed to beat Ali Imsirovic, a 2016 Card Player POY award champion's pocket kings and made him lose the lead in an all-in preflop confrontation. Imsirovic is the current PGT and Card Player Player of the Year. He climbed after a huge clash occurred before the flop.
Imsirovic raised A-Q suited and placed a small four wager after David Peters re-raised A-J suited. The latter made a five-bet shove, as Imsirovic called. Yet, none of them improved as Peters exited the event in sixth place.
Imsirovic won $39,600 in the recent deep run and increased his poker career earnings to over $41.4 million. Petrangelo was the next player to leave the final table. He won $52,800 and finished in fifth place.
This was his eighth time to qualify for a final table this year, and he has already won three titles this year. Statistics state that Petrangelo has over $2.6 million POY earnings in 2022. He is fourth in the PGT race and eighth in the Player of the Year race.
Chris Brewer Battles It Out With Ausmus
Chris Brewer got an early double-up in a four-handed play through Imsirovic when he used A-5 to spike an ace on the river. Both players met in the final table's next key hand, and Brewer did a pocket eight raise. Imsirovic placed a three-wager and held A-Q while Brewer shoved a four-bet.
Imsirovic called and did a classic coin flip in an attempt to get the chip lead. Even so, he won $66,000 after finishing fourth and reaching his tenth final table in 2022. The player has almost $1.5 million POY earnings and is third in this year's POY rankings.
Ren Lin shoved Q-9 suited from a small blind that ended his run as Brewer used A-9 to call from a big blind. They flopped a nine, but the river and turn didn't have any impact. Lin finished third and won $85,800 after qualifying for his fourth final table this year.
Brewer had a 3:1 chip lead in a heads-up play against Ausmus, who had over 30 big blinds. The latter had a huge lead margin after a huge hand was picked. Brewer used AClub Suit7 to make a big raise on the button while Ausmus placed a three-bet with 7Heart Suit7Club Suit.
Ausmus used the 10Diamond Suit10Club Suit to raise in the final hand as Brewer limped in with the ADiamond SuitQSpade Suit. The former then called as the latter moved all-in. Brewer finished second and received $132,000 and is still in strong form this year.
