Benjamin Pollak Claims UPO High Roller Title for $416k

The US Poker Open has completed six out of its eight event schedule at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, with 49 players entering its $26,000 buy-in High Roller tournament to create a prize pool of $1,225,000. Following two days of action it was then Frenchman Benjamin Pollak who would out perform all of his opponents, including Jason Koon heads-up, to claim a first place prize worth $416,500.
Prior to his victory, Pollak also booked an 8th place finish at the $10,500 PLO event for $25,600, and an 8th place finish at the $26,000 Mixed Game Championship for $112,500. As a result, Pollack currently sits at number two on the UPO leaderboard, with just Stephen Chidwick ahead with roughly $1 million in winnings.
In total, Benjamin Pollak has now earned $8,787,282 from live tournaments since his first cash in 2008, making him France’s second most successful player overall, ahead of a third placed Antoine Saout ($7,646,890), but with clear daylight between himself and Bertrand Grospellier out in front on $13,515,252. By far the biggest score of Pollak’s career came only last year after making it all the way through to the $10k WSOP Main Event final table, ultimately hitting the rail in 3rd place for a huge $3.5 million payday.
Having reached the final table of the UPO High Roller, Pollak eventually faced off against Jason Koon heads-up holding a massive lead over his US opponent. Soon after, Koon pushed his remaining 16bbs all-in preflop holding Kc-5c, inducing a call from Pollak with As-3s almost a minute and a half later. The board then ran out 10c-Ks-7s-Qc-6s to consign Jason Koon to a runner-up finish worth $269,500.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Pollak’s flush was good enough to secure for him the title and $416,500 in prize money, after which he commented “I wanted to prove myself that I can beat the best,”
Final Table Results:
1: Benjamin Pollak $416,500
2: Jason Koon $269,500
3: Stephen Chidwick $183,750
4: Isaac Haxton $122,500
5: Brian Green $98,000
6: Elijah Berg $73,500
7: Daniel Negreanu $61,250
Just two tournaments are still left to play at the inaugural US Poker Open, namely a third $25,000 High Roller NLHE event which concludes today, followed on February 9th by the two-day $52,000 Main Event.