Nacho Barbero has a perfect record of three wins in the U.S. Poker Open.
The Argentinean’s accomplishment goes beyond just finishing in the money or even reaching the final table. After his Day 2 qualification, the former Pokerstars Team Pro has been aiming for no lower than sixth place throughout the tournament, and that’s the case once again in the still-open Event #3 NLHE $10,000.
After finishing in fifth place in the first round, Nacho faced a completely new field of 100 players on the second day and won $231,000 in a heads-up match. A PokerGO Tour NLHE event with a $10,000 buy-in set a new record for attendance over the course of two days.
The Argentine was eliminated by Ren Lin, who rescued himself from elimination in sixth place with a hook on a two-outer after his 77 lost to Erik Seidel’s AJ on an ace-high flop.
Lin had already amassed five times as many chips as Barbero by the time the latter was forced to respond. The winner needed only hope for a thrust to pay off with an ace.
Nacho’s involvement in the USPO isn’t without its flaws, chief among being his inability to seal the deal with a win against David Peters, Sean Winter, Alex Foxen, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, and Phil Hellmuth.
Even at today’s final table, things don’t seem promising for him.
It’s true that, if he doesn’t move in a few of orbits, he may start to be the one who gets singled out, but in principle, he shouldn’t perform worse than the fifth place he earned in the opening event, since Kristen Foxen’s 8bb will have the attention of the whole table.
Wilson Brandon 4,510,000
2,250,000 Sam Sovereign
2,150,000 for Chris Brewer
1.4 million, fifty-thousand
860,00 for Nacho Barbero
Foxen, Kristen 400,000
There were still 93 submissions for the third round of the USPO, but the cash rewards were reduced. The participants are still in the running for $213,900, of which $55,800 is insured.
If only Raul Martinez could take Nacho Barbero’s place in the headline. The Spaniard has taken part in all three competitions. Even though he was in the pre-bubble of the first event, he has now been removed from the official monitoring network, and Event #4 is focused only on Pot Limit Omaha, thus his situation is unlikely to change. It’s Lautaro time!
