2018 Fun in the Sun Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 1
$250 Big Stack Re-Entry
Entries: 465
Prize Pool: $97,650
December 26-27, 2018
The opening event of the 2018 Fun in the Sun Poker Open concluded Thursday evening, and it was Ido Ashkenazi who earned top honors after a deal was reached heads up.
The series’ $250 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed prize pool kickoff event drew 465 entries over two starting flights, nearly doubling the guarantee. Ashkenazi accumulated a massive stack on Day 1, bagging a sizable chip lead to lead the remaining 52 players into Day 2. From there, Ashkenazi kept his standing atop the chip counts for the majority of the day en route to his victory. For his win, Ashkenazi not only collects $22,957, but he also earns a $2,500 seat into Event #21 of the 2019 Lucky Hearts Poker Open next month.
This marked Ashkenazi’s third series event win at the Seminole Hard Rock. At the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, Ashkenazi won the $570 NLHE Double Black Chip Bounty for $15,716, defeating 169 entries. Then in 2016, he outlasted 485 entries in a $350 NLHE Deep Stack event during the Everglades Poker Open.
“I wanted another trophy,” Ashkenazi said afterward. “It will be nice to put this on the display case.”
| Place | First Name | Last Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| *1 | Ido | Ashkenazi | $22,957 |
| *2 | Ory | Hen | $16,403 |
| 3 | John | Malczan | $8,879 |
| 4 | James | Hamburger | $7,080 |
| 5 | Sergio | Braga | $5,566 |
| 6 | Raminder | Singh | $4,638 |
| 7 | Nicholas | Avena | $3,711 |
| 8 | Jose | Nigaglioni | $2,832 |
| 9 | Alexander | Michaels | $1,953 |
| 10 | Scott | Efron | $1,269 |
| 11 | Luis | Bastidas | $1,269 |
| 12 | Jason | Brown | $1,269 |
| 13 | Marcin | Plewinski | $977 |
| 14 | Generoso | Barbieri | $977 |
| 15 | Ofer | Peleg | $977 |
| 16 | Martin | Carnero | $771 |
| 17 | Jairo | Velasquez | $771 |
| 18 | Jack | Rolnitzky | $771 |
| 19 | Steven | Zukowski | $605 |
| 20 | Janet | Fitzgerald | $605 |
| 21 | Rene | Esquivel | $605 |
| 22 | Nadeem | Hirani | $605 |
| 23 | Elliott | Zaydman | $605 |
| 24 | Jordan | Kasimow | $605 |
| 25 | Antonio | Monduy | $605 |
| 26 | Kenneth | Kuhl | $605 |
| 27 | Pierrot | Massenat | $605 |
| 28 | Manfred | Rosenow | $537 |
| 29 | Michael | Kopjanski | $537 |
| 30 | Stuart | Greenbaum | $537 |
| 31 | Mitchell | Smith | $537 |
| 32 | Joseph | Levitt | $537 |
| 33 | Joseph | Block | $537 |
| 34 | Leighton | Gaynair | $537 |
| 35 | Iuri | Leite | $537 |
| 36 | Scott | Swatscheno | $537 |
| 37 | Ira | Marcus | $488 |
| 38 | Ricardo | Eyzaguirre | $488 |
| 39 | David | Nathaniel Jr | $488 |
| 40 | Jussi | Mattila | $488 |
| 41 | Carlos | Guerrero | $488 |
| 42 | Marcel | Deschamps | $488 |
| 43 | Gabriel | Sack | $488 |
| 44 | Roni | Zelichonok | $488 |
| 45 | Jorge | Chavez | $488 |
*denotes heads-up deal