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Thursday, February 15, 2018 5:29 PM Local Time
Bracelet winner adds a Circuit ring to his collection, $13,860 to the bankroll
Greg Kolo came to Seminole Casino Coconut Creek chasing points for the season-long leaderboard. He’ll leave with his first WSOP Circuit ring.
Kolo topped a tidy field of 39 players in the $365 Pot-Limit Omaha event to earn the top prize of $13,860. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds, though. The 39 players were responsible for 191 reubys at $100 apiece, averaging nearly five per player.
The 40-year-old champ from Ohio is no stranger to success in WSOP events. Kolo won a bracelet in Pot-Limit Hold’em in 2014, defeating 556 other players to snag a six-figure score. He has more than $200,000 in total WSOP earnings, plus more than $150,000 on the Circuit.
These days, though, Kolo has his eyes set on qualifying for the WSOP Global Casino Championship. That’s the season-ending, invitation-only event that awards a bracelet to one of the Circuit’s standout players. The season’s top 50 points earners get seats, and Kolo figures to be among them. He certainly plans to, at least.
He entered this event with 92.5 points spread across four stops, needing to get to about 140 to have a shot. A small-field tournament in a game that suits him seemed like a good chance to rack up some more. “This is a good event for [point chasing],” he confirmed.
His previous results this season include a runner-up finish in the $580 PLO event at Horseshoe Hammond, an occasion about which he’s still a little miffed. It came up during his postgame interview after this win.
“I mean, I should have probably won the Hammond tournament,” he said, still scowling. “I screwed up a hand for a lot of chips, so…” he trailed off.
Kolo got his redemption early Thursday morning. There were just two players remaining when the scheduled end of day arrived, so the two battled on to try to settle the matter.
Ring winner Matt Stout was the man on the other side of the table, but Kolo began the duel with a chip lead he would not relinquish. Right around 3 a.m., he put Stout at risk with a pair and a flush draw and two cards to come. The turn brought the fifth heart Kolo needed, and Stout could not improve on the river. It was over, with Kolo clutching the ring.
The victory also earned him another 50 points, bringing him to 142.5 on the season. That’s going to be very close to the number needed to qualify for the Championship, with a few months left to pad his stats.
Thursday, February 15, 2018 3:10 AM Local Time
The two finalists, Greg Kolo and Matt Stout, reached the end of Level 18. That was scheduled to be the stopping point for the day, but they elected to play one more level to try to settle the score. It only took a few minutes to do so.
The chips went in postflop on the final hand. Stout was in front with two pair and a straight draw, working against a pair and a flush draw on the other side.
Kolo promptly filled his flush on the turn, and a blank on the river ended the match right around 3:00 a.m. He snagged the ring, the first of his career, and the top payout of $13,860.
More about Kolo's win will be published later Thursday.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018 11:38 PM Local Time
The final 10 players are now gathered around one table. Here's the remaining lineup:
Seat 1: Bob Garlick - 93,100 (39 bb)
Seat 2: Karthik Ramakrishnan - 77,800 (32 bb)
Seat 3: Greg Kolo - 90,000 (38 bb)
Seat 4: Joseph Irgon - 111,000 (46 bb)
Seat 5: Jose Rosenkrantz - 17,100 (7 bb)
Seat 6: Jordan Dhanani - 83,700 (35 bb)
Seat 7: Matt Stout - 83,100 (35 bb)
Seat 8: Joe Rahman - 78,800 (33 bb)
Seat 9: Harry Eisenberg - 20,000 (8 bb)
Seat 10: Chris Conrad - 35,400 (15 bb)
Greg Kolo is a WSOP bracelet winner, looking to add a Circuit ring to his collection. Chris Conrad has a pair of rings already, Matt Stout has one, and the rest of the finalists are hunting their first.
Blinds are 1,200/2,400 in the current level, so the average stack is around 24 big blinds. Only the final four players will finish in the money.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018 8:28 PM Local Time
Registration is closed for this PLO event, and the numbers are in.
This event ended up with 39 players, which doesn't sound like a ton. They were responsible for 191 rebuys and add-ons, though, which was enough to meet the guarantee. The prize pool closed at $30,800.
That money will be shared by the final four players like so:
1st: $13,860
2nd: $9,240
3rd: $4,620
4th: $3,080
Action is scheduled to continue until the end of Level 18 tonight, but there's a very real chance that it plays all the way out.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018 4:10 PM Local Time
The cards are in the air for the start of Event #8.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018 9:56 PM Local Time
