Bethesda Doctor Kyle Smith Wins Potomac Main Event
Smith went to work before the final table, then turned an early double through Patrick Martorella into a title run
Bethesda family doctor Kyle Smith won the Potomac Summer Poker Open $3,000 Main Event after a heads-up deal with Phong Nguyen, and the published recap said he took home $136,054. He also left MGM National Harbor with the trophy after closing out a six-handed final table.
As reported yesterday, Patrick Martorella had gone into the final table with the chip lead after a first-hand double-up, but Smith changed the picture almost immediately. Smith started the day fourth in chips with 2.84 million, behind Martorella’s 3.805 million, Nguyen’s 3.75 million and Justin Liberto’s 3.53 million. The six finalists returned at 1 p.m. local time, and each had already locked up $37,204 from a $756,000 prize pool.
According to PokerNews, Smith said he had gone to work that morning before coming back for the final table and described himself as a recreational player. He said his live earnings were around $90,000 before this event, and his biggest previous score was $51,000 from a second-place finish in a $320 Mystery Bounty event at the 2023 Potomac Poker Open.
Smith’s first big swing came on one of the opening hands, when he called Martorella’s turn all-in with a pair of eights and then spiked a straight to bust Chris Kiani in sixth place. Martorella recovered some chips by calling Jonathan Moritz’s shove with two fives, but Moritz, who earned his seat through a BetMGM online qualifier, fell in fifth when he could not improve against Martorella. Martorella then lost a key pot to Smith and finished fourth, leaving Smith with about 60 percent of the chips in play three-handed.
Liberto, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner with more than $8 million in live earnings, entered the table as the most accomplished player left and went out in third after his last million went in from the small blind. Heads-up, Smith led 13.4 million to 3.4 million, but Nguyen kept pushing, first declining an extra $12,000 on top of the $112,048 second-place payout and later taking the lead after back-to-back hands that gave him a flush and then a nut straight. Smith briefly answered with kings over Nguyen’s pocket tens and later retook control when his ace-ten beat Nguyen’s queen-ten on a board with two tens, before the two reached a later deal that put Nguyen around $130,000 and Smith around $137,000 and left Smith with the glass MGM National Harbor trophy while Nguyen took the black BetMGM trophy.
