The 2026 Potomac Summer Poker Open at BetMGM National Harbor in Maryland is in the books, and it was a solid series all around.
The action started with the $600 Opener, and seven starting flights brought in a total of 1,508 entries, creating a prize pool of $723,540 – well past the $500,000 guarantee. And in the end, Ivan Tomic won $156,190 for taking it down.
Then the Monumental Stacks tournament, with two flights and a $100,000 guarantee, was far surpassed with 403 entries and the resulting prize pool of $167,245. Andrew Chang took it down for $16,600 (lowest amount of a five-way chop). And there were many more winners throughout the series that wrapped up on August 17.
And as is customary in the PPO series, the Main Event is the big draw, and this one didn’t disappoint.
Three Full Days of Championship Cards at Potomac Summer Poker Open
Many players were warmed up from the early events in the Potomac Summer Poker Open by the time the Main Event began on August 15. The buy-in was $3,000, and the guarantee sat at $750,000. And after two starting flights, the numbers showed up on the board as follows:
- Total entries: 280
- Total prize pool: $756,000
- Paid players: 35
- Minimum payout: $5,754
The field was full of familiar faces and casual players alike, some of the most recognizable players being Faraz Jaka, Christian Harder, Justin Liberto, and Justin Arnwine.
Playing for Final Table Spots
Day 2 of the tournament brought back 58 players, but not long after the first break of the day, the money bubble was in play. Thomas Berry decided to eliminate two players at that point, with Yabetse Wedeneh out on the bubble and James Morris finishing in 35th.
Action was wild at times, with a number of hands eliciting two bustouts, and some players experienced big swings. By the dinner break, only 12 players remained with Nicholas Verderamo holding a slight lead over Justin Liberto, but the latter took over soon after their return by eliminating Day 1B chipleader Waleed Mian. Liberto took that lead all the way to the nine-handed final table, with Kyle Smith following and Verderamo holding on in third.
How to Take the Title and Trophy, per Kyle Smith
A doctor by day and poker player by recreational choice, Kyle Smith decided to play the Potomac Summer Poker Open Main Event and did quite well on Day 1B. He finished third in chips behind Kyle Lin and overwhelming chip leader Waleed Mian. Overall, he started Day 2 in the top five.
Smith got involved enough to maintain his spot near the top of the leaderboard through most of Day 2, sitting fourth in chips at the dinner break. He took down some big pots after the dinner break, climbing to second in chips by the time they reached the final table.
Casey Hatmaker was the first to go from that final table after Smith took a lot of his chips and then Liberto eliminated him. Phong Nguyen stepped in to oust Kevin Kwak in eighth place and Verderamo in seventh. Play stopped for the night with Patrick Martorella in the top spot, Nguyen slightly behind, and Liberto in third. Smith had fallen to fourth place, courtesy of Nguyen, and Jonathan Moritz and Chris Kiani rounded out the table of six.
Smith took two decent pots to start Day 3, and he then doubled up through Martorella to claim the overall lead. Smith then busted Kiani in sixth, though Martorella stayed in to send Moritz out in fifth. By staying aggressive, Smith continued to chip up, eventually eclipsing the 10-million-chip mark by busting Martorella in fourth. Nguyen took care of Liberto in third place.
Nguyen took just 3.4 million chips into heads-up play against Smith, who had 13.4 million. The two played for some time without Nguyen able to make much progress until he finally doubled to 6.8 million chips, leaving Smith with 10 million. Soon after, Nguyen took over the late-stage poker tournament momentum and the lead, though Smith took that lead back. At the first break, the two discussed a chop, came to an agreement, and the tournament ended with Smith as the champion.
- 1st place: Kyle Smith $136,054
- 2nd place: Phong Nguyen $130,000
- 3rd place: Justin Liberto $83,320
- 4th place: Patrick Martorella $60,640
- 5th place: Jonathan Moritz $48,544
- 6th place: Chris Kiani $37,204
- 7th place: Nicholas Verderamo $28,132
- 8th place: Kevin Kwak $20,118
- 9th place: Casey Hatmaker $14,902
All After a Day’s Work
The final deal between Smith and Nguyen gave Smith a bit of a larger sum and the MGM National Harbor trophy, and Nguyen received a very respectable sum and the BetMGM Poker trophy. Then Smith took the winner photos; not a bad way to conclude the work he did at the poker table…after a day’s work at his medical practice in Maryland.
According to the PokerNews live reporting team on the scene, Smith works his day job as a family doctor but enjoys whatever time he can spare for poker. MGM National Harbor has been his go-to place for poker, and his largest score of $51,000 was in the 2023 Potomac Poker Open before this 2026 Main Event took over as his biggest score by far.
Sharpen Those Skills at BetMGM Poker
If you missed out on the Potomac Poker Open but seek some great East Coast live poker in September, the Big Big Series at Borgata is on tap. But the discounted online qualifiers are already getting underway at BetMGM’s online poker tables. Of course, there are also cash games, daily and weekly tournaments, SNGs, and much more – all real money online poker at your fingertips. Just make sure to start your poker journey with the BetMGM online poker welcome bonus, and you can take it from there!
