Aram Zobian Wins U.S. Poker Open $15,100 No-Limit Hold’em Event

Aram Zobian outlasted a field of 62 entries in event no. 6 of the 2024 U.S. Poker Open to earn $264,290 and his second career PokerGO Tour. This was the third-largest score of Zobian’s career, trailing only the $1.8 million he earned as the sixth-place finisher in the 2018 World Series of Poker main event and the $529,000 he secured for a fifth-place finish in a $25,000 high roller at the 2020 WSOP Online series. The bracelet winner from Rhode Island now has nearly $6.4 million in lifetime tournament earnings after this latest win.

This was Zobian’s third top-three finish of the festival. He placed second in event no. 2 for $163,350 and third in event no. 4 for another $107,900. With 569 PGT points and $535,540 in earnings accrued so far at this USPO festival, Zobian sits atop the series-long points race standings.

Zobian climbed into third on the seasonal PGT leaderboard thanks to this win, with 1,001 points and $839,590 accumulated across seven in-the-money finishes. He also moved into 17th place in the Card Player Player of the Year race standings, which are presented by Global Poker.

The strong turnout for this $15,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament built a prize pool of $930,000. The top nine finishers made the money, with Daniel Negreanu (9th – $27,900), John Riordan (8th – $37,200), and Jesse Lonis (7th – $37,200) being eliminated late on day 1 after the bubble burst.

Day 2 began with Sam Laskowitz in the lead and Zobian in second chip position. Joey Weissman briefly overtook the lead after knocking out John Andress (6th – $51,150) with pocket aces against A-K. Zobian soon surpassed him in the chip counts during five-handed action.

Dan Shak spent most of the day on an extreme short stack. He eventually got all-in with 10-9 suited trailing the A-10 of Brock Wilson and was sent to the rail in fifth place ($69,750) when Wilson flopped a pair aces and held from there.

The next big clash saw Zobian river a straight against the turned trip sevens of Weissman. He moved all-in on the river and Weissman called, ending his run in fourth place ($93,000).

Wilson’s stack dwindled during three-handed action. He eventually got all-in for just a few big blinds with 9-7, only to run into A-9 suited for Zobian. Both players made nines and threes by the river, but Zobian’s ace kicker earned him the knockout. Wilson cashed for $130,200 as the third-place finisher.

Heads-up play began with Zobian holding 6,570,000 to Laskowitz’s 2,085,000. The two battled for a bit, with Laskowitz making up some ground before the two paused the action to hash out a deal. They eventually agreed to redistribute the prize pool a bit, leaving the title and $20,000 on the side to play for.

Zobian picked off a bluff with king high to win a key pot, leaving Laskowitz with just over 21 big blinds. In the final hand, Laskowitz limped in for 60,000 total from the button with K8 and Zobian raised to 255,000 from the big blind holding J10. Laskowitz called and the flop brought the AK7. Zobian bet 90,000 and Laskowitz called. The 4 turn saw Zobian size up to 445,000. Laskowitz called and the K rolled off on the river. Zobian moved all-in with his rivered flush and Laskowitz called with his rivered trips. He was awarded $219,310 as the runner-up, the second-largest score of his career.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.