Jordan Fishman Victorious After Marathon Heads-Up Match in Eastern Poker Open High Roller

The 2025 Eastern Poker Open $1,650 High Roller began with 86 entrants, and on Saturday, the final table of nine returned to compete for a share of a $129,000 prize pool.

Jordan Fishman, a retired professor who is well-known in local poker circles, began the final table as the chip leader, and while he didn’t go wire to wire, he still managed to close it out after a three-hour heads-up marathon against poker pro Steven Tabb.

Fishman was cheered on by his girlfriend, Linda Swears, whom he met on the Eastern Poker Tour. They’ve known each other for 15 years but became a couple two years ago. It’s around that time that both of their poker games started to improve dramatically.

“She had a more conservative style, and I was more aggressive. We meshed our games together,” said Fishman, a retired professor who now travels with Linda to play poker. “Without her, it wouldn’t be as much fun.”

Fishman continued: “This is the best poker I’ve ever played. I’m ready to tackle anything. This is by far my biggest poker accomplishment.”

2025 Eastern Poker Open High Roller Results

It marked a new career-high score for Fishman, who had $112,564 in career earnings prior to the win, according to The Hendon Mob. That included a prior career-best $13,589 for finishing as runner-up in the 2018 Bar Poker Open Championship. More recently, Fishman finished third in February’s Gate City Winter Open $350 No-Limit Hold’em for $10,850.

Final Table Action

One of the bigger storylines coming into the final day was the fact that last year’s runner-up, Justin Carey, and champ, Brian Haughey, were both in contention. Unfortunately for them, there would be no rematch, as both bowed out fairly early.

In Level 19 (20,000/40,000/40,000), Mike LaMontagne moved all in for his last 95,000 from early position and Ron Scott jammed over the top for 795,000 from the cutoff. Haughey then called off for 215,000 from the small blind and all three hands were turned up.

Mike LaMontagne: Q♠Q♥
Brian Haughey: 7♦7♣
Ron Scott: A♣K♠

Scott had a chance at a double knockout and the 5♠K♦5♥ flop paired his king to give him the lead. Neither the 5♣ turn nor 8♥ river changed a thing and Scott scored the double elimination.

In the next level, Carey three-bet jammed from the small blind with ace-nine only to run into the two red jacks of Scott in the big. The pocket pair held and Carey saw his run come to an end in sixth place.

From there, Adam Johnson, Dennis O’Hare, and Scott all hit the rail to leave Fishman and Tabb to battle heads-up in what turned out to be a marathon affair. Fishman began with a big chip lead, but Tabb doubled and eventually pulled out in front. That set off three hours of back-and-forth play that saw the duo take turns in the driver’s seat.

As the blinds escalated, every hand proved more impactful, and eventually, Fishman secured a double into the lead before delivering the knockout blow when his ace-eight held against Tabb’s jack-ten.

“You measure yourself against better players,” Fishman said of Tabb, “and this was a great way to measure myself. He’s a tough player and played a great tournament.”

The Eastern Poker Open Championship

While the $1,650 High Roller is done, there is still one more day left in the 2025 Eastern Poker Open. The invite-only $34,000 Championship – a tournament that supports local charities, with a portion of the proceeds going to causes in the community – saw the top 16 players from Day 1 advance to Day 2.

On Sunday, April 6, the final round will be televised, and the top 16 players will be joined by Monthly Championship winners, Regional Winners, and Wild Card Spots from the “Open” Charity Tournaments.

PokerNews will be there to live report all the action, so be sure to join us then.

Remaining Eastern Poker Open Schedule

PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

Follow on