Hero Fold Propels Shannon Shorr To Victory At U.S. Poker Open

Shannon Shorr made a huge laydown at the final table of the fifth event of the 2025 U.S. Poker Open.

The Alabama native got away from trip nines with a seven kicker when he was up against Yifu He’s trip nines with a 10 kicker. Shorr’s hero fold propelled him forward en route to winning the $10,000 no-limit hold’em event.

The 39-year-old poker pro out of Las Vegas secured $220,400 as the champion, growing his career earnings to over $15.9 million.

Had Shorr called He’s river bet with trip nines instead of folding, he would have been left with just 1,285,000 (21 big blinds). Instead, the two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner’s impressive fold kept him above 30 big blinds ahead of a rush of cards which surged him into the lead.

ShannonShorr</a> tha gawd with a magnificent laydown!<br><br>Watch the U.S. Poker Open presented by <a href="https://twitter.com/official_glp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">official_glp on PokerGO.

https://t.co/DN30aJ3bDV pic.twitter.com/OiBxDTVgGU

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) April 14, 2025

This was Shorr’s fourth title and seventh final-table finish of 2025. This victory and the 420 Card Player Player of the Year points that came with it moved him into second place in the POY standings. He only trails Jeremy Ausmus by 478 points in the year-long race.

Just two weeks before this triumph, Shorr took down the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Las Vegas main event for $207,615.

The fifth event of the USPO drew a 76-entry field, generating a prize pool of $760,000 paid to the top 11 spots.

Big names like Stephen Chidwick (11th), Cary Katz (10th), Jim Collopy (9th), Darren Elias (8th), and Chino Rheem (7th) all made the money only to hit the rail late on day 1.

Day 2 action began inside the PokerGO Studio with just five players in contention. Two-time Super High Roller Bowl champion Isaac Haxton was out in front, while Shorr was second.

Brock Wilson was the first to fall, with his A-5 suited running into the pocket aces of Eric Blair. Wilson paired his five on the flop but was unable to improve any further and was eliminated in fifth place ($53,200). This was his fourth final table of the year, and third in the past two weeks.

Before this deep run, Wilson recorded a pair of third-place showings in high roller events at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, which combined for a total of more than $433,000.

Shorr’s previously discussed hero-fold during four-handed action helped preserve the majority of his stack ahead of a big preflop cooler that saw his pocket kings hold against the pocket queens of Haxton. A five-bet preflop confrontation got all the chips into the middle. Shorr’s pair held up and he moved into the chip lead.

Haxton was soon all-in with A5 facing the KJ of Blair. The flop came down A65 to connect with both players in a major way. Haxton led with two pair, but Blair had the nut flush draw and backdoor straight possibilities.

The 2 turn was a blank, but the 8 completed Blair’s flush and sent Haxton packing in fourth place ($72,200). Haxton’s latest cash gave him more than $53.9 million in career cashes, which is good for ninth place on poker’s all-time money list.

He was eliminated after Haxton in third place. His last 10 or so big blinds went in with K9 from the small blind, and Blair called with A8. Neither player connected with a queen-high runout and He headed to the payout desk to collect $102,600 for his podium finish.

This was his fourth cash and second final-table finish of the series, having been the runner-up in event no. 4 for $201,300. With 319 PGT points earned across those scores, He now sits second in the USPO series standings.

Yifu He eliminated by Blizair1</a> to get it down to heads-up play. He finishes back-to-back final tables with a combined $303,900 in prize money. <br><br>Tune in now to watch the U.S. Poker Open presented by <a href="https://twitter.com/official_glp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">official_glp on PokerGO.

https://t.co/DN30aJ3bDV pic.twitter.com/XnukH4GkQv

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) April 14, 2025

Heads-up play began in a virtual dead heat, with Blair holding 4,825,000 to Shorr’s 4,675,000. The two traded the lead back and forth before Shorr seized the advantage for the final time. In the last hand of the tournament, he open-shoved from the button with Q9 and Blair called off his last 13 big blinds with A2.

The board came down 7323Q and Shorr spiked one of his few non-spade pair outs on the end to lock up the pot and the title.

Blair took home $144,400 as the runner-up. He has now cashed in all five USPO events, with two final-table finishes ending in podium showings. With $330,975 in total earnings and 331 PGT points accrued thus far, Blair now sits atop the USPO series leaderboard heading into the final three events.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: PokerGO.

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