2016 Coco Poker Open
Seminole Casino Coconut Creek
Coconut Creek, FL
Event #3
$2,500 Championship
Entries: 331
Prize Pool: $1,000,000
September 23-26, 2016

Series headliner concludes with 23-year-old Boca Raton poker pro in the winner’s seat, O’Hara takes early lead in Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year race.

Coconut Creek, Fla. (September 26, 2016) — The Coco Poker Open Championship concluded early Tuesday morning with Ian O’Hara pocketing the tournament’s top prize of $212,830. Marking the headline event of the 2016 series at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, the Championship boasted at $2,500 buy-in and a $1,000,000 guarantee. O’Hara’s victory came at the hands of a 331-entry field, and in addition to the six-figure score, he took the early lead in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year race.

The win was hard fought coming after a 13-hour day and it wasn’t until a heads-up chop that action finally concluded. O’Hara, who hails from Boca Raton, claimed 4,385,000 chips to Kunal Patel’s 3,880,000. The pair quickly agreed to a deal that saw Patel earn $206,170 for 2nd place. O’Hara, meanwhile, pocketed slightly more along with an added $5,250 seat into the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.

“I came into [the][final][day] with about 19 big blinds and immediately won some hands,” O’Hara said. “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 tournament played out over four consecutive days. Flight A began Friday and was followed by Flight B Saturday. A total of 100 players punched their ticket to Day 2 with just 27 advancing to Monday’s final day of action. Patel came into the decisive day with the chip lead. He skidded, and sat fifth by the time play narrowed to the 10-handed final table. One of the shortstacks, Jason Dollinger, was first to go at the finale busting 10th for $12,000. From there, Ivan Starostin of Miami was eliminated 9th and Nash Tran 8th. Matthew Smith, who entered 10-handed play with only 14 big blinds, laddered his way to a 7th-place finish and $31,000 score. After a six-handed stalemate that lasted nearly two hours, Florida’s Sean Shah busted 6th followed by Chad Bradbury in 5th. On the surface, Marsha Wolak’s 4th-place finish might have seemed like the one that got away, but the deep run was actually icing on the cake. By her own account, she was down to less than three big blinds with two tables in play. She rode a hot streak of double-ups all the way to a $70,000 score. After Glenn Becker’s 3rd place finish, O’Hara and Patel wasted little time finding an ICM chop.

In typical South Florida fashion, the game’s best turned out from all over the country for the high buy-in event. While the likes of Vanessa Rousso, Loni Harwood, David Diaz, Aaron Massey and Seminole Hard Rock Poker team members Sheddy Siddiqui and Michael Newman were unable to cash, a slew of notables slid their way into a payday. John Dolan (18th – $8,000), Stu Paterson (20th – $7,000) and Ryan Van Sanford (25th – $7,000) were among those to enjoy a return on their $2,500 investment.

“The tournament was run great,” O’Hara said. “I always love playing [at][Seminole][Casino][Coconut][Creek]. It’s my home casino – one of them.”

The Coco Poker Open began September 21 and runs through October 2. In that time, 15 new South Florida champions will take their thrones. In addition to the Championship, the series is spotlighted by Event 13, a $350 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed event that wraps the action September 29-October 2. Tournament updates as well as the full series schedule, structure sheets and results, are available at SeminoleCoconutCreekPoker.com.

Championship final results:

1st: Ian O’Hara – $212,830 + $5,250 Seat
2nd: Kunal Patel – $206,170
3rd: Glenn Becker – $100,500
4th: Marsha Wolak – $70,000
5th: Chad Bradbury – $50,500
6th: Sean Shah – $40,500
7th: Matthew Smith – $31,000
8th: Nash Tran – $22,000
9th: Ivan Starostin – $16,000
10th: Jason Dollinger – $12,000
11th: Paul Balzano – $12,000
12th: Rinat Haviv – $12,000
13th: Daniel Genachte – $9,500
14th: Brett Bader – $9,500
15th: Jorge Chavez – $9,500
16th: Eric Polirer – $8,000
17th: Javier Sarache – $8,000
18th: John Dolan – $8,000
19th: Rob Kessler – $7,000
20th: Stu Paterson – $7,000
21st: Larry Klur – $7,000
22nd: Jason Caston – $7,000
23rd: Jacob Snider – $7,000
24th: Lascelles Peart – $7,000
25th: Ryan Van Sanford – $7,000
26th: Scott Leventhal – $7,000
27th: Robert Dixon – $7,000
28th: Tim Seidensticker – $6,000
29th: Mike LaRocca – $6,000
30th: Han Winzeler – $6,000
31st: Charles Alexander – $6,000
32nd: David Ward – $6,000
33rd: Paul Steiner – $6,000
34th: Marco Chan – $6,000
35th: Richard Rice – $6,000
36th: Alberto Destrade – $6,000
37th: Zack Milchman – $5,000
38th: Chris Agnello – $5,000
39th: Matthew Wolfson – $5,000
40th: Daren Stabinski – $5,000
41st: Spencer Champlin – $5,000
42nd: Jonathan Jaffe – $5,000
43rd: Seth Gilson – $5,000
44th: David McCord – $5,000
45th: Arno Kruger – $5,000

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 29: 40,000/80,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 331

Holding stacks of 4,385,000 and 3,880,000 respectively, Ian O’Hara and Kunal Patel agreed to a heads up deal. O’Hara takes home $212,830 as well as the $5,250 seat in the 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open while Kunal Patel earns $206,170.

A full report on the tournament will be posted shortly. In the meantime, here’s a look at the final table results:

1st: Ian O’Hara – $212,830 + $5,250 Seat
2nd: Kunal Patel – $206,170
3rd: Glenn Becker – $100,500
4th: Marsha Wolak – $70,000
5th: Chad Bradbury – $50,500
6th: Sean Shah – $40,500
7th: Matthew Smith – $31,000
8th: Nash Tran – $22,000
9th: Ivan Starostin – $16,000

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 29: 40,000/80,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 331

It seemed like a casual pot between Kunal Patel and Glenn Becker. They were heads up when Patel check/called 300,000 from Becker with the board reading .

Patel checked the river and Becker moved all-in to get the very definition of a snap call. It was bad news for Becker; his flopped straight with turned into a flush but Patel was better with to send him out in 3rd place.

Ian O’Hara – 4,385,000 (55 bb)
Kunal Patel – 3,880,000 (49 bb)
Glenn Becker – Eliminated in 3rd place ($100,500)

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 29: 40,000/80,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 331

In a three-way raised pot, the board is . Glenn Becker checks from the small blind and Ian O’Hara bets 300,000 from the big blind. It’s on Kunal Patel on the button and he calls. Becker folds.

O’Hara and Patel see the river. O’Hara leads for 400,000. Patel calls.

“Ace-high,” O’Hara says.

Patel tables for a straight and wins the pot.

Kunal Patel – 2,750,000 (34 bb)
Ian O’Hara – 3,900,000 (48 bb)

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 29: 40,000/80,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 331

Kunal Patel pulled some of his chips back from Ian O’Hara but they did not stay away for very long. Those two were in a battle of the blind and limped to the flop.

O’Hara check/called 100,000 from Patel then check/called another 240,000 after the turn. One last check from O’Hara after the river and Patel bet 420,000. After a few minutes, O’Hara tossed in a call and was good with for the straight against Patel’s flopped two pair .

Ian O’Hara – 5,000,000 (63 bb)
Glenn Becker – 1,650,000 (21 bb)
Kunal Patel – 1,575,000 (20 bb)

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 29: 40,000/80,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 331

Ian O’Hara opened the button for 175,000. Kunal Patel called from the small blind.

Flop: — Both players checked.

Turn: — Patel lead for 230,000 and O’Hara called.

River: — Patel lead for 450,000. O’Hara raised to 1,100,000 which marked a large portion of Patel’s remaining stack. Patel folded and O’Hara won the pot.

Ian O’Hara – 4,475,000 (55 bb)
Kunal Patel – 1,375,000 (17 bb)

Coco Poker Open Championship
Heading to Level 29: 40,000/80,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 331

Ian O’Hara – 3,915,000 (48 bb)
Glenn Becker – 2,350,000 (29 bb)
Kunal Patel – 2,000,000 (25 bb)

1st: – $264,000 + $5,250 Seat
2nd: – $155,000
3rd: – $100,500

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 28: 30,000/60,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 331

Marsha Wolak was working her short stack all, finding timely doubles/triples when needed to ladder up the payouts. She was down to 165,000 in the big blind when Ian O’Hara put her all-in.

Wolak called without looking and her was live against O’Hara’s until he popped the flop. Any miraculous comeback was cut short when O’Hara improve to a full boat on the turn to send the 2011 WSOP Ladies Champ out in 4th place.

This $70,000 cash is her biggest after the WSOP win and her second recent big score. Wolak finished 3rd for nearly $53,000 in the huge $1,100 No Limit Hold’em event that was part of the 2016 SHRPO Big 4 in August.

Ian O’Hara – 4,300,000 (72 bb)
Marsha Wolak – Eliminated in 4th place ($70,000)

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 28: 30,000/60,000/10,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 331

Chad Bradbury opened to 135,000 from under the gun and Ian O’Hara called in the big blind to the flop. O’Hara followed up with a 200,000 bet and Bradbury announced all-in for ~500,000.

O’Hara quickly called with top pair/open-ended straight draw and Bradbury was behind with middle pair . Bradbury had five outs after the turn and whiffed the river to exit in 5th place.

Ian O’Hara – 4,130,000 (69 bb)
Chad Bradbury – Eliminated in 5th place ($50,500)

Coco Poker Open Championship
Level 27: 25,000/50,000/5,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 331

Sean Shah was short after doubling up Kunal Patel and put his last 365,000 in the middle from the cutoff. Ian O’Hara called in the small blind and Chad Bradbury released his big.

Shah:
O’Hara:

Shah needed to hold to stay in the game, the flop was no danger but the turn hurt. Shah couldn’t catch the river to go out in 6th place.

Ian O’Hara – 3,300,000 (66 bb)
Sean Shah – Eliminated in 6th place ($40,500)