Lemont, IL's Scott Bohlman earns $122,138 and first WSOP bracelet while logging 60th career WSOP cash
21 June 2018 (Las Vegas) – Scott Bohlman, of Homer Glen, IL, has taken down the win in Event #40 of the 2018 World Series of Poker, $2,500 Mixed Big Bet.
Bohlman, 41, a lifelong resident of Chicago's southwest suburbs and an investor when not playing poker, arrived at Thursday's final table with a commanding lead and closed out his first career WSOP victory in short order. Bohlman's cruise to victory suffered only one hiccup, that during three-handed play when his final two opponents pulled close, only to see Bohlman quickly reestablish control.
Bohlman's $122,138 winner's payday was the largest of his WSOP career, and occurred in his 60th lifetime cash at the WSOP. The six-figure payday exceeds a $108,000 score he notched in the 2009 WSOP Main Event and swelled his lifetime earnings to $859,552.
Bohlman's bracelet win was completed with the ouster of two-time bracelet winner Ryan Hughes. Hughes, 37, of Phoenix, AZ, collected $75,477 while seeing his own lifetime WSOP earnings swell to just under one million dollars.
Third place in Event #40 was claimed by Atlanta, GA's Daniel Weinman. The 30-year-old Weinman, a previous WSOP Circuit ring winner, earned $49,541 for the effort.
Bohlman's cruise to victory culminated with a knockout of Hughes during a hand of Big O, a variant of Omaha hi-lo eight-or-better in which players receive five hole cards instead of four. Most of Hughes' remaining chips, less than 300,000, went in on the turn with the board showing . Hughes' turned out to be dead for the high against Bohlman's for a set of nines, but Hughes still had plenty of outs to a low hand and a chop. Instead, the river brought the , making it a high-only pot and giving Bohlman the win.
The pro from the Chicago 'burbs has been around for a few years, grinding away in several different tourney formats, though his favorites are mixed-games events. Bohlman also took himself off another list – that of the most cashes at the WSOP without a bracelet win. Bohlman entered this summer's WSOP with 46 cashes, and had picked up another five before grabbing the gold in this event. (Bohlman also has eight WSOP Ciircuit cashes, for an overall WSOP grand total of 60).
Bohlman was tied for 17th on that no-bracelet win as the series began and had climbed a couple of spots higher. Yet now he's off of it entirely. “Happy. Relieved,” was all he could muster about finally collecting a bracelet.
“Win it. There was no other option,” said Bohlman, when asked about any plans he might have had for Day 3, given his huge early lead. He admitted to changing his plan of attack only once, switching to more isolation plays after both Hughes and Weinman made a charge toward his lead during three-handed play.
Bohlman joked that he couldn't get into the chip-count leaderboard early on in this event despite leading through much of Day 1, even claiming that he was referred to as “unknown player” in a couple of hand write-ups. Bohlman's ongoing presence in the lead throughout the majority of the event took care of that soon enough, and he's likely to get much more attention going forward.
“At least for a year,” he quipped.
Bohlman also had praise for this event's unique format, which offered plenty of play in a variety of non-fixed-limit formats. “I didn't get to play it last year, and I didn't realize how fun it was. It's reasonably deep, and it's much more fun to play a deeper stack than a smaller one.”
Thursday's finale in this big-bet event, which featured rotating six-hand rounds of Big O; No-Limit Hold’em, No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, No-Limit 5-Card Draw High, Pot-Limit Omaha, and Pot-Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw, began with just five players returning. Late on Day 2, amid a flurry of eliminations, six-time bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro bubbled the final table in seventh.
Lisandro was followed to the rail moments later by Jeremy Harkin, who had already claimed a bracelet in a mixed-games event earlier this series. Harkin's effort to become the 2018 WSOP's first double bracelet winner came up just short, as he collected sixth-place money of $16,329. The exits came amid a rush by Bohlman that saw him end Day 2 with over 60% of the chips in play.
Next out was another bracelet owner, the Netherlands' Marcel Vonk. Vonk exited in a hand of no-limit five-card draw after being whittled down to under 100,000 in chips. Pre-draw action saw Weinman open to 20,000, Vonk move all in for 45,000, and Bohlman come over the top for 220,000. Bohlman drew two while Vonk drew three, and Bohlman then showed his trip aces, which didn't improve on the draw. Vonk had just a pair of kings, and was drawing dead after exposing two of his new cards, a jack and a seven. Vonk's fifth-place showing was worth $23,028.
Bristow, TX's Aaron Rogers finished in fourth. Rogers collected a $33,344 payday after being bounced during the next round of no-limit five-card draw, Rogers called off his last 100,000 from the big blind after Bohlman shoved all in from the small blind. Each player drew three while exposing their holds, Bohlman having pocket jacks to Rogers' pocket tens. The jacks held, as Rogers' draw produced just 6-4-2, and he was off to the pay window.
Rogers' exit began a stretch where both Hughes and Weinman clawed their way back into contention, though neither player quite managed to edge ahead of Bohlman's leading stack. And Bohlman soon reasserted his command of the final, soon pushing both of the others to the brink.
Weinman busted first. In another hand of no-limit five-card draw, he ended up all in against Bohlman for his last 500,000. Bohlman drew two, giving Weinman pause before he drew one himself. Bohlman indeed had the trips he represented, opening his hold, and Weinman needed to catch to his kings-and-deuces keep. Instead, Weinman pulled a four, sending him to the rail while Bohlman and Hughes began a short-lived duel.
This $2,500 Mixed Big Bet event, which debuted last year, drew 205 entrants to build a prize pool of $461,250. 31 players cashed, with a min-cash worth $3,777.
Other Notables:
Among those cashing in Event #40 were Lisandro (7th, $11,898), Ray Henson (9th, $8,915), Dario Sammartino (10th, $8,915), Barry Greenstein (11th, $6,874), John Hennigan (12th, $6,874), Shaun Deeb (13th, $5,460), Mike Matusow (17th, $5,460), Scott Clements (20th, $4,470), Eli Elezra (22nd, $4,470), David “ODB” Baker (23rd, $4,470), Brandon Shack-Harris (24th, $4,470), Bruno Fitoussi (26th, $3,777), and Max Pescatori (27th, $3,777).
Click here for Full Results.
Click here for live updates from Event #40.
Final Table Payouts (POY points in parentheses):
1st: Scott Bohlman, $122,138 (907.8)
2nd: Ryan Hughes, $75,477 (453.9)
3rd: Daniel Weinman, $49,541 (408.51)
4th: Aaron Rogers, $33,344 (363.12)
5th: Marcel Vonk, $23,028 (340.43)
6th: Jeremy Harkin, $16,329 (317.73)