Final report for Event 12 which finished Thursday at about 2:30am
2016 Coco Poker Open
Seminole Casino Coconut Creek
Coconut Creek, FL
Event #12
$130 No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 258
Prize Pool: $30,000
September 28, 2016
Chip leader Thomas Millward earned the top spot in last night’s $130 buy-in, $30,000 guaranteed Coco Poker Open Event 12. The tournament drew a tough field of 258 entries and played out over the course of about eight hours before the final four players agreed to a chop. Millward and his pile of chips went home with $5,500 while Vito Polera and Peter Chin each pocketed $4,750 and short stack John Holley earned $3,945.
Millward is a 52-year-old sales manager from Boca Raton. His tournament resume is modest, but boasts a handful of cashes in the South Florida region. The $5,500 score in Event 12 marks his largest reported in-the-money finish to date.
The late stages of play in the $130 were headlined by Rafael Indriago Salazar. Salazar has played four events this series and final tabled each of them. He followed up a victory in Event 2 with a runner-up finish in Event 7 and an 8th-place finish in Event 8. He kept the hot streak going in Event 12, but was eliminated shy of a second title. He ended up busting 5th good for a $1,710 score.
In addition to his prize money, Salazar has been rewarded with the Coco Poker Open leaderboard points lead. The 15-tournament race awards points for all entries and bonus points for tournament buy-in, field size and place finished. Following the conclusion of the Coco Poker Open, the top 10 points earners pocket prizes with the leader earning a $1,200 bonus.
There was some talk of chop early in Event 12, but with nine players remaining nothing materialized. It wasn’t until Salazar’s 5th-place finish that Millward and Holley — somewhat reluctantly — agreed to a deal shortly after 2:30am. Millward’s $5,500 score amounts to hourly earnings of just under $650 an hour. Not a bad haul for Wednesday night’s work.
Event 12 final results:
1st: Thomas Millward – $5,500
2nd: Vito Polera – $4,750
3rd: Peter Chin – $4,750
4th: John Holley – $3,945
5th: Rafael Indriago Salazar – $1,710
6th: Barry Price – $1,320
7th: Andrew Turzak – $1,020
8th: Misty Abeln – $750
9th: David Jalava – $540
10th: Evan Dollinger – $420
11th: Howard Goodsite – $420
12th: Robert Transue – $420
13th: George Davila – $360
14th: Wanlop Phonphornwithoon – $360
15th: Tomislav Krizanic – $360
16th: Rinat Haviv – $315
17th: Lance Goldenberg – $315
18th: James Oliver – $315
19th: Marc Zeitlin – $270
20th: Jill Rukeyser – $270
21st: Mark Carattini – $270
22nd: Albert Efremoff – $270
23rd: David Poces – $270
24th: Steve Raeman – $270
25th: Monroe Collins – $270
26th: Marc Levy – $270
27th: James Salmon – $270