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While several tournaments at the 2026 Potomac Summer Poker Open stretched into the early morning, the Super Seniors event at MGM National Harbor wrapped up remarkably early. All nine finalists agreed to an ICM-based chop, allowing them to head home by around 9 p.m.
The $330 buy-in event, restricted to players aged 60 and older, attracted 153 entrants and generated a prize pool of $50,490. Chip leader Phillip Murphy, who would have earned $13,750 for a win, instead settled for $6,088 under the deal.
Other players near the top also secured payouts around the $5,000 mark, including Michael Mathers ($5,832), Lawrence Zerolnick ($5,591), and Frederick Narding ($5,133). Short stack Pepper Rodgers benefited most proportionally, taking home $2,881 compared to the $1,357 scheduled for ninth place.
News of the chop spread quickly through the poker room, reaching players competing in the concurrent $600 Opener event. Justin Arnwine, who later finished fourth in that tournament for $36,157, joked that he and others had predicted the early finish, quipping, “It’s 9 p.m., time for bed!”
The $600 Opener itself concluded with Ivan Tomic topping Atharv Kumar heads-up to claim the title and $156,190 first-place prize.
Large-scale chops have become increasingly common in major tournaments this year. In July, an 11-way deal settled a £100,000 guaranteed Monster Stack event at the Grosvenor Goliath festival, while a 2024 Ladies Event at Wynn Las Vegas famously ended in a 15-way split.
