Darren Elias is a talented player with many achievements at the World Poker Tour (WPT). He has won four titles in the tour, made 46 money finishes, and reached 13 final tables. Still, the poker pro has won more than $1,000,000 from WPT tournaments.
The 36-year-old player beat 86 players on march 31 to win the 2023 U.S. Poker Open (USPO) $15,000 buy-in no-limit Hold'em tournament. He received the $313,200 top prize and his maiden PokerGO Tour (PGT) title. Even so, it was Elias' fourth biggest payout in his career.
It increased his lifetime poker earnings to over $11,600,000. Elias amassed 576 Card Player Player of the Year (POY), this being his second POY-qualified final table finish in 2023 after finishing fifth in a recent $10,500 buy-in no-limit Hold'em tournament.
Elias has three cashes in the series. He finished ninth in its kickoff tournament. Records show that he has $399,200 accrued total earnings.
The player garnered 399 PGT points and is second after Sam Soverel who has 457 points in the USPO Player of the Series points race. Still, he holds the 16th position in the PGT standings. PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino hosted the two-day tournament.
What Were the Final Table's Prizes?
- Darren Elias-$313,200; 576 POY points and 313 PGT points
- Sam Soverel-$221,850; 480 POY points and 222 PGT points
- Brandon Wilson-$156,600;384 POY points and 157 PGT points
- Masashi Oya-$130,500;288 POY points and 131 PGT points
- Sean Winter-$104,400;240 POY points and 104 PGT points
- Chris Brewer-$78,300;192 POY points and 78 PGT points
Day 2 Highlights
Chris Brewer got busted first at the final table after Elias' pocket jacks beat his Q-10 suited. The former finished sixth with $78,300 and is among the top ten players in the 2023 POY race.
Sean Winter, the defending USPO winner, followed Brewer in fifth place after Brandon Wilson's pocket tens defeated his A-K and flopped the middle set. Still, Winter had a straight draw. The river improved Wilson to quads and ended Winter's run.
Oya got busted next after losing a big pot in the four-handed action. He used a kick kicker and top pair to move all-in but Elias showed them a turned seven-high straight.
The former used one card to draw dead and left the table in fourth place. Wilson lost part of his stack and was at the bottom of the chip standings. He used A-Q to make a big blind all-in call and dominated Elias' A-2.
Elias had made a small blind open shove and got the lead from a deuce on the flop. He sent Wilson packing in third place. Elias had an over 4:1 cheap advantage over Soverel before they began their heads-up action.
Soverel used 7Heart Suit7Diamond Suit to make a button limp and Elias used ADiamond SuitKHeart Suit to make 17 big blinds effective all-in move. The board ran out KSpade Suit8Spade Suit6Heart Suit2Diamond SuitQClub Suit earning Soverel the title and pot as Soverel finished second with $221,850.
