Shannon Shorr Nabs Photo Finish Victory At U.S. Poker Open

In what was the poker equivalent of a walk-off home run, Shannon Shorr won the title of 2025 U.S. Poker Open series champion.

The Alabama native took down the $25,000 no-limit hold ’em series finale Thursday evening. He defeated a 73-entry field and Jose “Nacho” Barbero heads-up to win $529,250. He got not one, but two trophies. One for the tournament win and a second, larger gold eagle for the series champ distinction.

But heading into the final day, Matt Wantman was the favorite to win the series champion crown. The Massachusetts native held the lead and just needed neither Shorr nor Barbero to win the final event. Any other results were meaningless, but Wantman’s sweat didn’t even last to heads-up play.

Landon Tice hit the rail in third, leaving Wantman without a rooting interest in heads-up play. Whoever won the final tournament would also win the overall crown.

Ultimately, it was the 39-year-old American who defeated the Argentinian to win his second tournament of the series and third of April. Shorr won the $10,000 no-limit hold’em a few days earlier and took down the World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Las Vegas $1,700 main event at the start of the month.

Those three victories totaled $957,265 in April earnings alone. The nearly $1 million in April brought his lifetime total to over $16.4 million.

“To win a tournament, I always say you have to run good, which I did, but I’m feeling pretty dialed in. I’ve been working really hard on my mental game,” Shorr told PokerGO commentator Jeff Platt after coming out on top.

The Alabama native finished with 538 PokerGO Tour points, topping Wantman’s series haul by just 26 points to secure the $25,000 PGT passport and the Golden Eagle trophy.

“This is awesome,” said Shorr of the sizable trophy. “I can’t wait to show it to my kids.”

This was Shorr’s fifth title and eighth final table of 2025, and we aren’t even a quarter of the way through the year. The 588 Card Player Player of the Year points he earned for Thursday’s victory were enough to move him into first place in the standings. He leapfrogged Jeremy Ausmus by 110 points.

This field generated a prize pool worth $1.825 million, which the top 11 spots earning a payday. with Eric Blair (11th – $54,750), Isaac Haxton (10th – $54,750), Masato Yokosawa (9th – $54,750), and Dylan Weisman (8th – $73,000) all were eliminated inside the money, but before the day came to an end.

The second and final day began with seven players. Barbero held the chip lead, while Shorr lurked in third.

Clemen Deng was the shortest stack when play resumed. He ended up as the first to hit the rail, with his A-8 running into A-Q for two-time bracelet winner Justin Saliba, who made an ace-high straight by the river to get the knockout. Deng grew his career earnings to more than $4.1 million thanks to this $73,000 seventh-place payout.

Sam Laskowitz soon followed. The former lawyer-turned-poker pro three-bet with QQ from the small-blind facing after two-time WSOP bracelet winner Nick Petrangelo raised from the hijack.

The three-bet to 165,000 was met with a four-bet shove from Petrangelo. Laskowitz called off his last 720,000 and was in the lead against Petrangelo’s K10.

That changed when the AK9 rolled off on the flop. The 6 on the turn left Laskowitz drawing to a single out. The 5 on the end was not it, though, and Laskowitz headed to the rail to collect his sixth-place prize of $91,250, increasing his lifetime tournament haul to more than $3.5 million in the process.

Nick Petrangelo four-bet jams into QQ and gets there to knock out @sam_laskowitz in sixth place.

https://t.co/6CkIdL2Fga pic.twitter.com/o39lySGyLF

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) April 17, 2025

A classic preflop coin flip ended Saliba’s tournament in fifth place. He opened from the small blind with A10 and called all-in for 680,000 total once Shorr three-bet shoved from the big blind with 44.

The board came down AQ428 and Shorr’s set of fours came out on top. Saliba is approaching $10.8 million in total earnings after adding $127,750 with this deep run.

Shorr’s surge continued when he forced Tice off of pocket queens preflop via a five-bet shove with A-K. That pot pushed him into the outright lead.

It didn’t take long for Shorr to get involved in another big clash. On the very next hand he raised from under the gun with 65 and Petrangelo defended his big blind with K9. The flop came down Q94 and Petrangelo check-called 55,000 from Shorr. The 2 saw Petrangelo check a second time with second pair.

Shorr fired again with his flush draw and newly-added gutshot, sizing up to 300,000 into 340,000. Petrangelo called and the 10 appeared on the end. A third check from Petrangelo prompted Shorr to bet enough to put Petrangelo at risk for his last 810,000. After plenty of time in the tank, Petrangelo went for the hero call with third pair, only to be shown Shorr’s winning flush.

With that Shorr extended his chip lead heading into three-handed play, while Petrangelo surpassed $40.1 million in career cashes via this fourth-place showing for $173,375.

A set-over-set cooler totally reshaped the leaderboard not long into three-handed play. Shorr raised 85,000, just slightly over the minimum, with 44 on the button and Barbero three-bet to 260,000 with JJ from the big blind.

Shorr called and the J84 flop gave both players sets. Barbero check-called to the tune of 225,000 and the turn brought the 10. Barbero checked again and Shorr bet 675,000 into the pot of 1,030,000. Barbero just called and the K completed the board. Barbero’s third check prompted a 1,600,000 river bet from Shorr. A quick call sent the massive pot and the chip lead to Barbero, leaving Shorr as the short stack.

Set over set clash between ShannonShorr</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/nacho_barbero?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Nacho_Barbero!

https://t.co/6CkIdL2Fga pic.twitter.com/5dhBhatKQi

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) April 18, 2025

Over the course of the next hour, the stacks leveled out considerably. Tice then won a big pot with a rivered straight to hop out in front, only to have his pocket aces cracked by the pocket fives of Shorr to see the chip counts flatten out again.

The final three fought it out on for nearly three hours before the next knockout blow landed.

Shorr had pulled back out in front, with Barbero in second and Tice on the shortest stack with just shy of 25 big blinds. Barbero min-raised to 200,000 on the button with K3 and Tice defended his big blind with 109. The flop came down 1083 to give Tice top pair.

He checked and Barbero bet 150,000 with his bottom pair. Tice called and the K hit the turn. Tice checked again and Barbero fired 450,000 with his kings up. Tice came along to see the 2 on the end. He checked a third time and Barbero moved all-in for an effective bet of 1,550,000. Tice went deep into the tank before electing to make the big call with second pair to finish third. Tice earned $246,375 for his podium showing, the second-largest score of his career.

Heads-up began with 5,600,000 for Shorr and 5,350,000 for Barbero. The early action favored the Argentinian, but a bluff attempt that ran into Shorr’s deuces full of jacks saw his lead disappear and then some.

Two hands later, the two tangled in another big pot. Shorr limped for 100,000 from the button with 106 to start and Barbero raised to 500,000 with AJ out of the big blind. Shorr called and the flop came down 1062. Barbero bet 325,000 and Shorr called with his top two pair. The turn brought the Q to give Barbero a gutshot broadway draw. Barbero checked and Shorr fired 700,000. Barbero called and the 7 rolled off the deck on the river. Barbero checked again and Shorr went for the home run, moving all-in for a roughly pot-sized effective shove. Barbero thought about it for a bit with his ace high and then flicked in a single chip to indicate a call. Shorr revealed his tens up to win the pot and the title.

Barbero earned $346,750 as the runner-up. He ultimately ended up in third place in the series points race, with three cashes totaling $540,150. The bracelet winner from Buenos Aires now has more than $23.1 million in lifetime earnings under his belt.

ROLL TIDE! nacho_barbero</a> attempts the ace-high hero call only to be shown two pair from <a href="https://twitter.com/ShannonShorr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">ShannonShorr.

With that, Shorr is champion of the 2025 U.S. Poker Open presented by @official_glp!

https://t.co/6CkIdL2Fga pic.twitter.com/hcyCiRxqph

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) April 18, 2025

Final Table Results

USPO Points Race Top Ten

Photo credit: PokerGO.