2018 World Series of Poker Circuit
Seminole Casino Coconut Creek
Coconut Creek, Florida
Event 8
$365 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Buy)
$25,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 39
Rebuys/Add-Ons: 191
Prize Pool: $30,800
February 14, 2018

Event 8 was the only non-Hold’em game on the World Series of Poker Circuit schedule and it drew a smaller but talented field. It was structured as a two-day event but after a long day of play, Greg Kolo earned his first career WSOP Circuit ring along with $13,860.

The $365 Pot Limit Omaha tournament featured a $25,000 guaranteed prize pool and offered $100 rebuy/add-on options instead of the standard re-entry format. The tournament drew 39 players who hit the rebuys and add-ons 191 times to push the prize pool over $30,000.

There were a lot of chips in play under those circumstances and the tournament played out at a deliberate pace. There were three tables remaining at dinner break and they did not reach the final table until midnight. Former WSOP Circuit winner Matt Stout was one of the big stacks but Kolo took the lead after he knocked out Event 2 runner-up Karthik Ramakrishnan in third place.

Stout battled back with two double ups but he was unable to fade a flush draw on the final hand to finish the tournament in second place. Kolo earned a WSOP Circuit ring to go along with his WSOP Pot Limit Hold’em bracelet from 2014.

It was a redemption of sorts for the Cleveland circuit regular after he finished second in a WSOP Circuit Pot Limit Omaha tournament in October.

“I made some mistake in Hammond,” he commented. “I wasn’t quite ready but I should have won.”

Kolo did not begin the final table with the chip lead but he ran hot once it started.

“I had aces or kings four or five times,” he laughed. “So that helped.”

Kolo defeated a tough final table and now he can be called a WSOP Circuit champion as well as a WSOP bracelet winner.

Event 8 results:

1st: Greg Kolo – $13,860 + Gold Ring
2nd: Matt Stout – $9,240
3rd: Karthik Ramakrishnan – $4,620
4th: Bob Garlic – $3,080