Following three days of poker action at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino, the 2023 Bar Poker Open Vegas World Championship (BPO) has come to an end with Edward Holt being the last player standing from the 1,053 entry field.
Holt, from the Eastern Poker Tour, defeated New York’s Ryan Surdi in heads-up play to capture the $100,000 first prize, the biggest in the BPO’s history, as well as this year’s title.
Like Holt, the journey for many of these hopefuls started in bars all over the United States, where over one million BPO members took part in daily tournaments online and at their favorite local watering holes for a chance to qualify for the event.
Final Table Results
| Place | Winner | League | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edward Holt | Eastern Poker Tour | $100,000 |
| 2 | Ryan Surdi | No Limit New York | $50,000 |
| 3 | Anthony Lundy | New York Free Poker | $25,000 |
| 4 | Brian Lerner | Deepstacks Poker League | $15,000 |
| 5 | Daena Blyleven | Sunshine Poker League | $11,555 |
| 6 | Saverio Biancardi | Kontenders Poker USA | $10,008 |
| 7 | Jeffrey Bowden | Eastern Poker Tour | $7,307 |
| 8 | John Carr | No Limit Pub Poker Tour | $5,788 |
Action of the Final Day
Eight players returned on Day 3 to compete for the title, and the action was fast and furious from the off. It didn’t take long for the first elimination to take place as John Carr was first to exit the feature table, which was streamed by Gorilla Gaming. Carr’s ace-queen couldn’t overtake the ace-king held by Anthony Lundy.
Moments later, Jeffrey Bowden was ousted by champion Holt after the latter cracked Bowden’s pocket queens with ace-ten.
The place of play then began to slow down at six-handed play until Saverio Biancardi‘s queen-ten was no match for Lundy’s queen-two.
The bust-outs then came in quick succession with fan favourite Dawna Blyleven exiting in fifth. Day 3 chip leader Brian Lerner fell in fourth place, and Day 1a chip leader Lundy departed in third place.
Heads-up play started slowly, which each player feeling the other out until Surdi found ace-jack and ran into Holt’s pocket aces. This left Surdi with less than ten big blinds and made Holt the overwhelming favorite. A few hands later, Surdi called Holt’s jam with queen-ten suited and was up against ace-eight. An ace on the flop was enough, and a safe runout saw Holt seal the victory. He then celebrated the win with his daughter on Facetime and even shared a winner’s photo with his wife.
Bar Poker Open PRO-AM Ongoing
PokerNews are also on the floor for the BPO Pro-Am Event, which sees a mixture of amateurs and pros battle it out. At the time of writing, the amateur players have made quick work of the pros, with Joey Ingram the only player remaining from the pro category.
Day 1 for the tournament is entering it’s twilight hours, but more action is to follow with tomorrow’s Day 2. The second day will play down to a winner so be sure to stick with the live updates.