2018 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open 
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 
Hollywood, Florida
Event 10 
$360 Mixed Omaha   
Entries: 66
Prize Pool: $19,800  
November 20, 2018 

Zack Milchman had several close calls at a Hard Rock trophy, but never found himself taking it home at the end of the night. That changed in the early hours of Wednesday morning when Milchman took home his first trophy in the $360 mixed Omaha event.

The poker pro from South Florida earned $5,032 in a three-way ICM chop with Gabriel Ramos and Mike Beasley, defeating a 66-entry field in the process.

Ramos is a familiar face at the Hard Rock and has won multiple trophies, all in mixed game events. Milchman has always been deep with him, but this time, he outlasted Ramos.

“I normally don’t care, but for some reason I just wanted one tonight,” said Milchman about his desire to take home the trophy. “Probably just because Gabe was needling me that I always come in second.”

With Ramos and Milchman, if one of them is at the final table, it seems like the other is right there with him.

“I have no idea. Every time I final table, he’s there, and every time he final tables, I’m there. It’s crazy,” said Milchman.

Milchman has a few wins to his name, including a WSOP Circuit ring in a pot-limit Omaha hi-lo event in 2013. He also finished runner-up in the 2014 $3,000 Omaha hi-lo event that was won by Phil Hui.

Hui is another South Florida pro that is one of the state’s best mixed game players. When asked about why the same faces are regularly at the final table in mixed events, he pointed towards field size and key differences in the structure of the game compared to no-limit hold’em.

“I would say mainly because the fields are small,” said Milchman. “I think I have more of an edge in these games than hold’em. Stuff like that. I I think I have a better chance here. There’s no antes and I’m not all in as much.”

The tournament was comprised of three games, all of which were pot-limit Omaha variants. There was Big O, pot-limit Omaha hi-lo and pot-limit Omaha. With his expertise in limit mixed games, it’s not a surprise which game Milchman was the most comfortable in.

“Big O. I like Big O the most,” said Milchman. “This was an interesting tournament though because I bought in at 4:30 p.m. and I didn’t get to play a hand until like 5:15 p.m. I was elsewhere and I got blinded down. So the fact that I got lucky enough to win it is pretty funny.”

The 66-entry field paid out the top nine spots. Leif Force made his third final table of the series, but was the first one eliminated from it, finishing eighth for $710.

Here are the full results:

1st: Zack Milchman – $5,032*
2nd: Gabriel Ramos – $4,205*
3rd: Mike Beasley – $3,973*
4th: Andrew Woodmancey – $1,935
5th: Joshua Zur – $1,405
6th: Scotter Clark – $1,065
7th: Michael Soroka – $850
8th: Leif Force – $710
9th: Kevin Love – $625

*Reflects adjusted payouts to reflect an ICM deal