History continues to be made at the PokerGO Tour’s 2026 U.S. Poker Open in Las Vegas. From the PokerGO Studios at ARIA, the $25,000 Main Event held its Day One festivities on Tuesday, and the players came out in droves for the action. At the end of the day, history was made on the felt as a trio of women – Kristen Foxen, Cherish Andrews, and Ebony Kenney – all made it to the seven-handed final table.
How To Burn $25K in a Few Hours
Perhaps noting the intensity of the battle for the overall championship of the 2026 U.S. Poker Open, twenty-four players were in their seats when the call rang out to “shuffle up and deal.” Normally for these PGT tournaments, players will wait until closer to the end of Day One proceedings, taking a chance to scout the field and perhaps get an idea of whether it will be in their best interest to take on the field. That was not the case here, as the early risers were some of the biggest names in the game.
All the contenders for the overall championship – current leader Brock Wilson, Clemen Deng, and Jeremy Ausmus – were locked and ready for action from the start of the tournament. The “usual suspects” of these PGT events, such as Darren Elias, Bill Klein, Jesse Lonis, Sam Soverel, and Joao Simao, were also a part of the mix. With the stage set, the players set off to determine who would be the next Main Event champion of the USPO – and who would be the overall champion.
The first casualty of the 2026 U.S. Poker Open Main Event would be Justin Saliba. In a battle with Andrew Lichtenberger and a board showing 4-2-J-Q-3, Saliba pushed his stack to the center, and Lichtenberger, with more chips, tried to decide if Saliba was telling the truth. After using up one of his precious “time bank” chips, Lichtenberger determined that Saliba was bluffing, and he was correct; Saliba’s complete air of A♠ 9♠ had fanned, while Lichtenberger’s pocket tens ruled as Saliba went to the rail.
The story also wasn’t good for Alex Foxen. A winner of one of the preliminary tournaments on the 2026 U.S. Poker Open schedule, Foxen never could find traction on the day. He would drop some chips to Deng, then would bluff off a majority of his stack to Matthew Wantman. On a 6-7-9-6-3 board, Foxen bet enough chips to put Wantman to the test, and Wantman would prove to have nerves of steel in making the call with only pocket Kings; Foxen’s Q-8 had missed its open-ended straight draw, and he would fail to make the final table.
Ladies Let Their Voices Be Heard
The real story of Day One of the 2026 U.S. Poker Open was the performance of the only three ladies who entered the tournament. Cherish Andrews and Kristen Foxen, who had both won preliminary events during the runup to the Main Event, were joined by Ebony Kenney, and the trio of women would absolutely crush the competition through the day. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the women – Kenney had to rebuy, and Andrews was in danger of being knocked out at one point – but Foxen would be a cudgel against whoever stepped up against her.
In one particular hand, Simao raised out of the cutoff and Foxen would three-bet him to 35K. Simao tried to bully Foxen off her hand (Foxen has become quite known for folding pocket Kings in another tricky situation) with an all-in move, but Foxen wasn’t in the mood for it today. She called off, turned up Big Slick against Simao’s K-Q, and her kicker played on the J-J-8-9-K board to knock Simao out of the tournament.
That hand took Foxen up to 385,000 in chips, and she would continue to climb through the remainder of the night. By the close of business, Foxen was in second place, Andrews and Kenney were at the final table (and cashing in the tournament), and the final table was set with David Coleman holding a slight edge.
1. David Coleman, 1.945 million
2. Kristen Foxen, 1.76 million
3. Richard Green, 1.25 million
4. Darren Elias, 775,000
5. Jesse Lonis, 740,000
6. Cherish Andrews, 545,000
7. Ebony Kenney, 185,000
It may look a bit bleak for Kenney, but she is a skilled professional who knows how to manage a short stack at the table. The same could be said for Andrews, who is now the only player who can take the overall USPO championship from Wilson, but she will have to win the tournament to do so. Everyone at the final table is assured of a $48,000 payday (Kenney will actually have to move up to at least sixth place to cover her two buy-ins), but the real prize is at the top, a $420,000 windfall and the big eagle trophy. Action starts at 12:45 PM (Pacific Time) and will play down on the PokerGO stream until a champion is determined.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO)
