Ahead of the Game – Reigning Champ Aram Zobian Returns to the U.S. Poker Open
In 2024, Aram Zobian’s list of successes in poker reached their peak when the Armenian-American took down the U.S. Poker Open on the PokerGO Tour. Taking home over $600,000 in prize money, Aram’s triumph in Event #6, the $15,100-entry No-Limit Hold’em event won him $264,290, with finishes in second, third, and sixth in three other events. By the final event, Aram had already sewn up the title and he heads back to the PokerGO Studio this April to defend his title.
We caught up with the proud PokerStake player as he attempts to go back-to-back in Las Vegas from next week.
Back to the Scene of Success
“It’s a good feeling to win money for others when things are going well.”
Last year, Aram conquered some of the best players in the world to take down the 2024 USPO and win the overall title. Looking back, he ranks the achievement very highly across what is turning into an incredible poker career.
“It still stands as my biggest poker success,” says Aram. “Hopefully that won’t be the case for much longer!”
Heading back to the PokerGO Studio on the Las Vegas Strip will bring back happy memories for Aram, who looks back on his efforts in 2024 with real pride. This year he is once again selling action to his events on PokerStake after doing so 12 months ago.
“I’ll be selling action to all events during USPO,” he says. “It’s a good feeling to win money for others when things are going well.”
Recently, Aram sat down with the Table 1 Podcast presenters Art Parmann and Justin Young to discuss how he went from selling weed to selling action at the poker felt, and his epic first visit to Las Vegas as he took on the WSOP Main Event.
Staying at the Highest Level
“I thought I did a good job being present last year during USPO.”
Over the past few years, Aram has made huge money on the live poker circuit, banking almost $6 million, including a $1.8 million top score and four cashes in 2025 already, all of which were on the PokerGO Tour. Getting to the top is hard in poker but maintaining that level even more so.
“It for sure takes maintenance, but so much of my life was dedicated to reaching a high level of play within poker,” explains Aram. “As long as I study, treat my mind and spirit right and play somewhat consistently I’m confident I’ll be good to go.”
We know from speaking with Aram about his career up to last year’s USPO victory that he has battled lust and greed in his life. He is driven to avoid lower fruit on each tree he sees, always reaching for higher ground. It turns out that, almost a year on, being present in his own life and working on his mind and body are still just as important.
“I thought I did a good job being present last year during USPO,” Aram says. “I was coming off of a very zen four weeks in Japan. This time around I’ll be returning [to the USPO] from Armenia after six weeks of learning, servitude, and being super present. Let’s see how it goes!”
WSOP Plans and ARIA Love
“You can expect to see some exciting high stakes events!”
Over recent years, Aram’s experience of the legendary PokerGO Studio is akin to something of a love story. He wins there so often, and its clear that from speaking with him about the famous poker venue that love is only growing over time.
“The PokerGO studio will be hard to beat in my rankings of poker venues,” he says. “Low rake, great staff in an intimate and focused environment. What’s not to love?”
This year will see Aram return to action after the USPO in the 56th Annual World Series of Poker. Today, we’re just eight weeks away from the big kick off at Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas. He’s just as excited about it as we are and that constant desire to push ahead in his own personal development is evident.
“I’m unsure how much live I’ll play until the summer, but you can expect to see some exciting high stakes events posted during WSOP!” he grins. “The $25K 6-max and 8-max events come to mind.”
With Aram’s action and others now live for the forthcoming U.S. Poker Open that takes place from April 8th – 19th inclusive in Las Vegas at ARIA, you can back him now. Fancy taking a look at Aram’s PokerStake in general? Dive into his incredible success by heading directly to his official player page, with almost $2 million in staked winning, and the biggest win of $282,000 – a 28x return on his entry fee in that tournament alone!
The U.S. Poker Open winner from 2024 is hungry to go back-to-back and stay ahead of the game.
