Justin Young Wins U.S. Poker Open $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Event For $200,200

Justin Young defeated a field of 77 entries to take down event no. 2 of the 2022 U.S. Poker Open, a $10,0000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha tournament. The 42-year-old poker pro based out of Henderson, NV earned $200,200 for the win, the fifth-largest score of his live tournament career. The 2016 World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown main event champion now has more than $5.8 million in lifetime earnings to his name.

“I’ve been playing way more cash the past three years and have really felt like getting back into tournaments the past two or three months,” Young told PokerGO reporters after capturing this, his first title in a PokerGO Tour event. “This justifies my desire to get back into them and I’ll probably be playing a lot more.”

“This means a million times more than anything I’ve ever done in this room, cash games or otherwise,” Young said. “Just to play with the best of the best in this room just means the world to me.”

In addition to the title and the money, Young also secured plenty of rankings points for this win. The 420 Card Player Player of the Year points he was awarded for his first final-table finish of the year were enough to put him within reach of the top 200 on the 2022 POY leaderboard. He also secured 200 PokerGO Tour points, which saw him shoot up the standings and into 35th place in that race.

The final day of this event began with two-time World Series of Poker PLO bracelet winner Tommy Le holding a sizable lead with 4,160,000, with Young firmly in second place with 2,100,000 and the other four remaining competitors all below a million in chips.

Short stack Alex Foxen was the first to fall with his double-suited A-Q-J-5 failing to beat out Young’s pocket kings with a single suit. The last of the money went in after Young flopped top set. Foxen earned $46,200 and 140 POY points for his eighth final-table finish of the year.

Young also scored the second knockout of the day, with his flopped six-high straight besting the flopped wheel of bracelet winner Dylan Weisman (5th – $61,600). With that win, Young pulled into a virtual tie for the lead with Le.

Damjan Radanov’s run in this event came to an end when he called allin on a K92 flop with AQ74. Le had put him all-in holding J1087. The 5 didn’t change much, but the Q on the river gave Le a king-high straight and the pot. Radanov took home $77,000 as the fourth-place finisher.

Three-handed play continued for roughly two hours. Dan Shak was ultimately the next to hit the rail. All of the chips went in on a 986K turn. Le bet 250,000 and Shak raised the pot. Le then moved all-in and Shak called with 8753 for a flopped nine-high straight. Le had the A765 for the same straight and a flush draw. The 9 on the river gave Le the nut flush and the masive pot. Shak took home $100,100 for his third-place showing, increasing his career earnings to more than $12.5 million.

Le held more than 7 million after that hand, while Young had slid down to just shy of 2.5 million. Young found a crucial double up with pocket kings and some suited side cards against the A-J-8-7 of Le, with nut diamonds. After fading plenty of outs for Le, who flopped a pair and an open-nded straight draw, Young chipped up and closed the gap considerably.

The next big all-in confrontation also saw Young holding pocket kings. He bet pot on a queen-high flop with his overpair. Le, who had flopped bottom two pair in the bloated pot, got it all-in and Young called. The board brought a running pair of nines to give Young a superior two pair for the double up and the lead.

In the final hand Young raised to 300,000 from the button with AQJ5 and Le called with JJ73. The flop came down K92 and Le check-called a bet of 350,000. The turn brought the 10 to give Young the king-high straight. Le bet 800,000 and Young just called with the nuts. The A on the end saw Young make broadway. Le, holding two of the jacks that are crucial to making the nuts, opted to fire another barrel. He moved all-in and Young made the call to secure the pot and the title. Le was awarded $146,300 as the runner-up finisher.

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

Winner photo credit: Enrique Malfavon / PokerGO._

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