Dan Smith Grows Career Earnings To $54.7 Million With U.S. Poker Open Win

Dan Smith emerged victorious from a field of 84 entries in event no. 3 of the 2024 U.S. Poker Open, earning $235,200 as the champion of the $10,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. The score increased the 35-year-old poker pro’s lifetime earnings to more than $54.7 million, the sixth-highest total in the history of the game.

This was Smith’s 29th recorded tournament title and 267th lifetime in-the-money finish. He now has five PokerGO Tour wins to his name to go along with his World Series of Poker bracelet and World Poker Tour championship.

This was the second title and fourth final-table finish of the year for Smith, who took down a $50,000 bounty event at the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju festival last month for $951,000. With 2,235 total Card Player Player of the Year points and nearly $1.6 million in to-date POY earnings, Smith has climbed inside the top 20 in the 2024 standings presented by Global Poker.

The win also moved smith into third place in the USPO series-long points race. This was his third qualifying score for the seasonal PGT points race. He now sits in 22nd place on that leaderboard.

While 84 entries turned out to the PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas for this event, only the top 12 saw a return on their investment. Day 1 action concluded shortly after 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth was knocked out in eighth place ($33,600).

David Stamm bagged up the lead heading into day 2, with Smith sitting in third chip position among the final seven. Jesse Lonis, who was just one day removed from his win in event no. 2 of this series, scored the first knockout when his pocket aces held up against the K-J suited of Bill Klein (7th – $33,600).

Rodger Johnson overtook the lead when he turned sevens full against the flopped trips of Stamm. He then knocked out Dylan Linde (6th – $42,000) with A-Q besting J-10 to extend his advantage.

David Coleman was the next to fall. The 2024 Card Player Poker Tour Venetian main event winner got all-in with pocket tens, but was outrun buy the K-Q of Johnson. Coleman earned $58,800 as the fifth-place finisher. This was his ninth final-table finish of the year, with three POY-qualified titles already earned in 2024. He is now ranked third in the POY standings and second in the PGT points race.

A classic coin flip spelled the end of Lonis’ run. His A-Q was unable to beat out the pocket sixes of Johnson, sending him packing in fourth place. This was his tenth final table showing of the year, with two titles won. This score moved Lonis into first place in the POY standings, giving him a 170-point lead over second-ranked Punnat Punsri. Lonis also climbed to eighth place in the PGT rankings for the season, and remained atop the USPO rankings with two cashes and one title won.

Stamm was left as the clear short stack going into three-handed action. He was soon all-in with A-5 facing the pocket deuces of Johnson. The board brought four spades, and the deuce of spades in Johnson’s hand gave him a flush for the win. Stamm was awarded $109,200 as the third-place finisher.

Heads-up play began with Johnson holding 6,250,000 to Smith’s 4,250,000. Smith was able to edge into the lead early on, and then began to pull away. In the final hand of the tournament Smith shoved with A9 from the button and Johnson called with A4. The board came down K103J9 and Smith’s pair of nines earned him the pot and the title. Johnson walked away with $151,200 as the runner-up. This was his third cash of the series, having also placed tenth in the kickoff tournament and fourth in event no. 2.

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

Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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