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Allan Le earned his first U.S. Poker Open title when he topped a 77-entry field in U.S. Poker Open Event #4: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha to take home $200,200. Le defeated Ronald Keijzer in heads-up play and conquered a final table that included Daniel Negreanu, Damjan Radanov, and Dylan Weisman to earn his victory.
Le's victory comes a few months after a final table appearance at the Poker Masters where he finished 5th in Event #3 for $64,800. Le said that appearance helped to shake of the nerves for his victory at the U.S. Poker Open.
"Experience helps," he said. "It definitely got rid of my jitterbugs and I just kind did my thing."
Le began the final day of play second in chips, but with nearly 100 big blinds he had plenty of room to maneuver. Ronald Keijzer started the day with the chip lead and was coming off a victory in Event #9 of the PGT PLO Series though, so it was still a tough battle for Le to reach the podium. Despite that, Le was able to climb the ladder and finish on top to close out the win.
"You try to just stay in your lane and play your game," Le said about playing at the tough final table. "Don't let the smoke and mirrors distract you. Just stay in the zone."
Daniel Negreanu was another player who was looking to claim his first U.S. Poker Open title, and it was looking good for his chance when he eliminated Damjan Radanov to start the day. In the hand, Negreanu flopped top set against Radanov's flush draw and held on through the turn and the river for the elimination.
But Negreanu's heat didn't last for long as he quickly found himself in the danger zone. Negreanu mixed it up with a jack-high double-suited connector against Dylan Weisman and would flop a pair, but it was Weisman who flopped better with top-two. Negreanu was unable to improve and found himself as the shortest stack of the final four.
Despite bobbing and weaving his way to a couple double ups, Negreanu's day would end in fourth place. Ronald Keijzer made trips on the turn of a queen-high board against Negreanu's top pair and Negreanu couldn't find a river queen to stay alive. His fourth-place finish would earn him $77,000 and 77 PGT points.
Weisman headed to the rail next when he fell in a blind versus blind battle to Le. Le raised with kings from the small blind and Weisman defended his big blind with a single suited queen-high. Weisman found one pair on the flop, and looked good to double when he found a second pair on the turn, but a river gave Le a winning set of kings as well as the chip lead heading into heads-up play.
Le and Keijzer would trade blows with the chip lead exchanging hands more than once over the course of the match, but in the end, it was Le who stood on top. In one of the crucial hands of the match, Le flopped top two pair and a flush draw against Keijzer's inferior two pair and flush draw. Le boated up by the river and that earned him the double back into the lead. Le held a 3-1 chip advantage after the double and would close out the match shortly after.
In the final hand, Le put Keijzer all in on ten-high flop holding two sevens with backdoor and gutshot draws. Keijser called with three overs to the sevens and some draws of his own, but Le's sevens would hold on for the win.
Le comes from a family of well-known poker players that includes his brothers, Tommy and Nam Le. Tommy finished second to Keijzer in Event #9 of the PGT PLO Series. Despite one upping Tommy's finish against Keijzer, Allan said there's no rivalry between the borthers.
"I wouldn't say it's competitive," he said about his relationship with his brothers. "We just kind of support one another and we help one another out when we have a question."
The win pushes Le over $3,500,000 in live tournament earnings, according to TheHendonMob.com and marks Le's first win in the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. A majority of Le's tournament cashes come in Pot-Limit Omaha, which is what he says he mostly focuses on these days.
"It allows you to get creative I think," Le said about Pot-Limit Omaha. "More than No-Limit. I mean, it probably goes both ways, but I guess PLO I'm a little more comfortable with."
The 200 PGT points Le earned for the victory also pushed him inside the top 25 of the PGT overall leaderboard which puts him in a qualifying position for the end of season PGT Championship $1,000,000 freeroll. The win also puts Le into the top five of the U.S. Poker Open leaderboard which will award a $50,000 championship bonus and the USPO Golden Eagle Trophy to the series' top points earner.
Place | Player | Country | Prize | Points |
1st | Allan Le | United States | $200,200 | 200 |
2nd | Ronald Keijzer | Netherlands | $146,300 | 146 |
3rd | Dylan Weisman | United States | $100,100 | 100 |
4th | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $77,000 | 77 |
5th | Damjan Radanov | Serbia | $61,600 | 62 |
6th | Masashi Oya | Japan | $46,200 | 46 |
7th | Edgardo Rosario Figeroa | United States | $38,500 | 39 |
8th | Ben Lamb | United States | $30,800 | 31 |
9th | Sean Winter | United States | $23,100 | 23 |
10th | Peng Shan | United States | $23,100 | 23 |
11th | Steve Zolotow | United States | $23,100 | 23 |
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