Alex Foxen Wins U.S. Poker Open Event #7: $15K NLHE ($283,500)
Alex Foxen can now cross off winning a U.S. Poker Open title off his bucket list after defeating Chino Rheem heads-up in Event #7: $15,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $283,500 at the PokerGO Studio at the ARIA Resort and Hotel.
This was the third cash for Foxen at the 2022 U.S. Poker Open after previously finishing in sixth place in Event #2: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for $46,200 and exiting in 11th place in Event #3: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $26,400.
Foxen entered the final table in the middle of the pack but took control with five players remaining by single-handedly eliminating each of his opponents en route to victory.
“I feel good,” Foxen said to the PokerGo Tour. “It’s actually been a bit of a rough stretch in the PokerGO Studio. I feel like I’ve had a lot of good opportunities and haven’t followed through on any of them, so it feels really good to get one closed out and have a good shot at the U.S. Poker Open championship.”
2022 U.S. Poker Open Event #7 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Alex Foxen | United States | $283,500 |
| 2 | Chino Rheem | United States | $210,000 |
| 3 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $136,500 |
| 4 | Thomas Boivin | Belgium | $105,000 |
| 5 | Joseph Cheong | United States | $84,000 |
| 6 | Dan Smith | United States | $63,000 |
Event #7 attracted 70 players to generate a $1,050,000 prize pool. The top 10 players were each guaranteed a min-cash of at least $31,500.
Final Table Recap
PokerGO televised on delay with hole cards exposed the official final table of six players. Stephen Chidwick kicked off the action as the table captain with Thomas Boivin not too far behind.
Chidwick lost some of his chips early into the action and could have been the final table's first casualty despite his initial chip lead. The British poker phenom three-bet jammed with queen-ten and Dan Smithcalled off his stack for just a few blinds less than Chidwick with pocket kings. Both a queen and a ten hit the board and Smith hit the rail on a bad beat.
Foxen was the table terminator from then on. His first victim was Joseph Cheong when his ace-queen was good against ace-nine. Boivin hit the rail shortly after when his queen-seven proved to be no match for Foxen’s jacks.
Foxen then doubled into the chip lead when his pocket rockets held against Chidwick’s tens. Chidwick stack was decimated and was on the rail shortly after leaving Foxen with nearly double the stack of Rheem to begin heads-up action.
Foxen finished out the tournament in style after flopping a set and improving to a full house with eights. Rheem bet all three streets including a jam on the river with ten-seven suited after flopping a gut-shot straight draw, gaining a flush draw on the turn, and improving to top pair on the river. Foxen called all the way to win his first U.S. Poker Open title.
2022 U.S. Poker Open Leaderboard
The 2022 U.S. Poker Open leaderboard winner will be crowned the 2022 U.S. Poker Open champion, which comes with an additional $50,000 top prize.
Japan’s Tamon Nakamura is on top of the leaderboard for the second straight day after winning his second title on Tuesday evening in Event #6. Meanwhile, Alex Foxen has catapulted his way to second place ahead of Event #5 champion Jeremy Ausmus with five events remaining on the 12-event schedule.
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
| 1 | Tamon Nakamura | Japan | 462 |
| 2 | Alex Foxen | United States | 356 |
| 3 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 333 |
| 4 | Shannon Shorr | United States | 302 |
| 5 | Adam Hendrix | United States | 276 |
| 6 | Ren Lin | United States | 235 |
| 7 | Chino Rheem | United States | 210 |
| 8 | Justin Young | United States | 200 |
| 9 | Rok Gostisa | Slovenia | 192 |
| 10 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 190 |
*Images courtesy of the PokerGO Tour.
