Ren Lin had a remarkable week at the PokerGO Studio inside the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, earning three final-table finishes within seven days. The Georgia-based poker player began by securing second place in the 2023 PokerGO Tour Pot-Limit Omaha championship event, winning $352,750 on Mar. 19. Six days later, he took seventh place in the $10,500 buy-in opening event of the U.S. Poker Open, adding another $52,500 to his earnings. He completed his winning streak by winning event no. 2 at the USPO, a $10,500 NLH tournament, the very next day, securing his first PGT major title and winning $231,000. With a total of eight final-table finishes in 2023, Lin received 600 Card Player Player of the Year points, placing him in third place in this year’s POY race standings. He has amassed 3,555 total points so far and earned more than $1.6 million in POY earnings.
Lin also earned 231 PGT rankings points with this win, placing him in first place in the USPO player of the series standings and sixth in the year-long PGT points race with four qualified cashes and $666,250 in earnings on the high-stakes tour.
This event took two days to play out. Day 1 ended with seven contenders remaining, with FiveThirtyEight founder and Editor in Chief Nate Silver in the lead. Lin was third in chips when day 2 began.
Silver initially increased his lead, but Lin quickly rose in the standings thanks to a crucial preflop coin flip. Lin’s pocket sevens beat Erik Seidel’s A-J when he turned a seven and then improved to a full house on the river. Seidel earned $63,000 for his sixth-place showing, increasing his career earnings to almost $44 million.
The final four players were dominated by the two largest stacks, Silver and Lin. They got involved in a massive pot that ended Silver’s run for the title. With a board of QClub Suit10Diamond Suit8Heart Suit7Diamond Suit, Lin bet 250,000 into a pot of 700,000. Silver raised to 850,000, and Lin moved all-in for around 3.8 million total. Silver called with 8Club Suit7Club Suit, but Lin’s revealed 9Heart Suit6Club Suit gave him a ten-high straight. Lin won the massive pot of 8.3 million, while Silver was left with fewer than two big blinds and was eliminated shortly after. Robert Chorlian came in third place with $126,000.
Lin entered heads-up play with 11,000,000 chips to Nacho Barbero’s 2,125,000 chips. Barbero managed an early double up, but Lin soon won with aces up, and Barbero earned $168,000 as the runner-up. With his remarkable performance, Barbero has already accumulated more than $3.2 million in POY earnings in 2023 and has a 1,320-point lead over second-ranked Aliaksandr Shylko in this year’s POY standings.
Final Table Results U.S. Poker Open $10,000 NLH Event:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Ren Lin | $231,000 | 600 | 231 |
| 2 | Jose Barbero | $168,000 | 500 | 168 |
| 3 | Robert Chorlian | $126,000 | 400 | 126 |
| 4 | Nate Silver | $99,750 | 300 | 100 |
| 5 | Aram Zobian | $78,750 | 250 | 79 |
| 6 | Erik Seidel | $63,000 | 200 | 63 |
| 7 | Steven Veneziano | $52,500 | 150 | 53 |
