Joo Simo, a superstar poker player from Brazil, reached the final table in the first U.S. Poker Open tournament. By finishing in eighth place in Event 1: $10,000 NL Hold ’em, he was able to add $42,000 to his bankroll.
Joo, the lone Brazilian competitor, gave the front-runners trouble from the start. With AA in hand, he doubled up on the ITM bubble and played it fearlessly. But, Dylan Linde departed the PokerGO studios empty-handed after losing a jaw-dropping preflop all-in.
Renn Lin, with QQ, called a 3-bet push from Linde, who had 21 bbs. With the flop of JK3 and the turn of a K, Linde’s AK gave him reason to rejoice, but the river Q proved brutal to the American.
John made it to the final because of how quickly the competition was whittled down. He was the first to fall, finishing in second-to-last position with 21 bbs. The two-time World Series of Poker winner ended his career with a 3-bet push from small blind. The ball was kicked back to Justin Young, who then put up AK as payment. John was holding 99 and was dragged across the river of KQQ78.
There will be only one non-American in the Event 1 final. Somehow, by the third round, Nacho Barbero has moved up to third position. The Argentinian stands to win $231,000 in the event of a win.
