Super Seniors Event Ends in a Nine-Way Chop
Phillip Murphy took the biggest share after the $330 Potomac Summer Poker Open event reached an ICM deal at MGM National Harbor.
The $330 Super Seniors event at the Potomac Summer Poker Open ended with a nine-way ICM deal at MGM National Harbor, and chip leader Phillip Murphy took the biggest share at $6,088. The tournament was open to players 60 and older and drew 153 entries for a $50,490 prize pool.
The final table had been set to play for a $13,750 first-place payout, but the players flattened the payouts instead. Michael Mathers took $5,832, Lawrence Zerolnick $5,591, Frederick Narding $5,133, and Pepper Rodgers, the shortest stack, $2,881. The original ninth-place payout was only $1,357, so even the smallest chop share came out ahead of the posted finish money.
PokerNews’ strategy explainer says an ICM deal assigns cash value to chips based on each player’s stack and their chances of finishing in the remaining spots. In a normal chop, the clock stops while players discuss a deal, and once everyone agrees, the tournament ends and the prize money is distributed under that agreement.
The final table also moved quickly by series standards. PokerNews said several events at the Potomac Summer Poker Open ran into the early morning, but this group was out of the poker room by around 9 p.m. Justin Arnwine said he and other players had already predicted a nine-way chop, and he summed up the mood with, “It’s 9 p.m., time for bed!”
Arnwine finished fourth in the $600 Opener for $36,157, while Ivan Tomic beat Atharv Kumar heads-up to win the trophy and $156,190. PokerNews also noted that the Super Seniors deal was not the only large chop this summer, pointing to an 11-way split in a July Monster Stack event at Grosvenor Goliath and a 15-way chop in a 2024 Ladies Event at Wynn Las Vegas.
