Because the grind of the ultimate day on the PokerStars Open Philadelphia collection wore on, Edward Leonard insisted that profitable was not his focus within the $1,100 Principal Occasion.
All 146 returning gamers had been seeking to make a deep run at Reside! On line casino & Lodge Philadelphia, and it took greater than 18 hours of play to achieve the ultimate three contenders. The trio paused the clock to have a look at a deal, one which left Leonard lastly realizing what he had simply completed.
After reaching an settlement with Guan Huang and Frank Funaro, it was time to let all of that exhaustion and emotion out.
“I really feel fairly nice,” the newly topped champion advised PokerNews after the deal was concluded. “It’s a been a reasonably sick begin to the 12 months for me, undoubtedly didn’t anticipate this one however I imply, I ran fairly pure.”
That begin to 2025 features a pair of high 10 finishes in Atlantic Metropolis, however this rating of $147,806 marks the most important of his profession thus far.
“It feels good to take down a giant one,” Leonard continued. “I’ve had loads of smaller dwell wins however it is a massive one.” The seasoned poker professional outlasted 1,154 entries within the inaugural occasion, taking residence the most important share of the $1,107,840 prize pool.
$1,100 PokerStars Open Principal Occasion Last Desk Outcomes
*Denotes Three-Means Deal
Marathon Day 2
The motion started Sunday at 11:15 a.m. native time, and Leonard needed to wait till 5:45 a.m. Monday morning to get his fingers on the PokerStars Principal Occasion trophy. He was among the many bigger stacks to start the day, and understood navigate this huge discipline.
“You sort of have to concentrate and determine individuals out, after which simply operating sizzling is all the time a good suggestion.” Requested about his capability to remain robust mentally in the course of the marathon ultimate day, Leonard had a method for that too. “A bit of little bit of caffeine, not an excessive amount of, I used to be standing up rather a lot in between fingers making an attempt to remain awake, something to maintain the blood flowing.”
Play was deep all day lengthy, with many notable names bowing out alongside the way in which. That included PokerStars Ambassador Maria Konnikova, who survived into Stage 20 earlier than getting her quick stack in towards massive slick.
As the sphere started to skinny, Leonard insists that he by no means envisioned taking down the title right here in Philadelphia. “These fields are so massive you simply by no means take into consideration profitable, even the ultimate desk, profitable shouldn’t be the main target, you simply sort of take it because it goes.”
Last Desk Motion
The ultimate desk was decided simply earlier than midnight, and Leonard scored the primary knockout by catching two pair towards Joseph Barrett.
From there, Leonard battled his technique to the entrance of the pack earlier than profitable the ultimate hand of the early morning, taking down a flip towards William Beer to take a commanding chip lead.
After the ultimate three agreed on a deal, Leonard received a have a look at his latest piece of poker {hardware} and was instantly impressed.
“It’s attractive,” he exclaimed. “This one goes to be rather a lot larger than the remainder of them, so I might need to discover a particular spot for it.”
Josh Noy
World Reside Occasions Assistant Supervisor
