Ian O'Hara Wins 2016 Coco Poker Open Championship
October 4, 2016 1:44 pmThe 2016 Coco Poker Open took place from September 21st to October 2nd at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in Florida, with the series featuring 15 primary events. One of those was the $2,500 Championship tournament which included a $1 million guaranteed prize pool, with the flag-ship event eventually won by Ian O’Hara for $218,080.
O’Hara is no stranger to poker success, though, and last year finished runner-up at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open High Roller for $527,313. Following his latest victory which pushes his career earnings to $1,572,241, O’Hara commented:
“I came into [the final day] with about 19 big blinds and immediately won some hands. I caught a pretty big bluff early on and just never looked back. I’m pretty exhausted from about 40 hours of poker in the last three days, but the adrenaline keeps you going.”
The Coco Poker Open $2,500 Championship attracted 331 players, and amongst the notable pros seeing a return on their buy-ins was Jonathan Jaffe (42nd), Spencer Champlin (41st), Hans Winzeler (30th), Ryan Van Sanford (2th) and John Dolan (18th).
At the final table, O’Hara (A-9) then busted Ivan Starostin (K-K) in 10th, before being dealt A-J and doing likewise to Sean Shah (7-7) in 6th. O’Hara (J-10) followed up by eliminating Chad Bradbury (A-9) in 5th, and last woman-standing Marsha Wolak in 4th, while Kunal Patel took care of Glenn Becker in 3rd to set up the final battle against O’Hara for the title.
As the time approached 2 a.m, O’Hara (4.385m chips) and Kunal Patel (3.88m chips) then agreed to split the prize money $218,080 to $206,170 respectively, with O’Hara also receiving a $5,250 seat to next summer’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.
“The tournament was run great. I always love playing [at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek]. It’s my home casino – one of them.,” commented O’Hara after his winning performance.
Final Table Results:
1: Ian O’Hara $218,080
2: Kunal Patel $206,170
3: Glenn Becker $100,500
4: Marsha Wolak $70,000
5: Chad Bradbury $50,500
6: Sean Shah $40,500
7: Matthew Smith $31,000
8: Nash Tran $22,000
9: Ivan Starostin $16,000
10: Jason Dollinger $12,000