It has been an outstanding start to the 2024 tournament poker season for David Coleman. Leading the way in the Player of the Year race (the CardPlayer one, as the Global Poker Index is not “live” yet), Coleman added some more points to his 2024 resume by taking down Event #6 at the 2024 PokerGO Cup. In winning the tournament, Coleman also took over the lead in the race for the overall championship in the PokerGO Cup race, which will probably come down to the last two events on the schedule.
Coleman Tops Dylan DeStefano, Seth Davies, on Way to Title
Dylan DeStefano was the overwhelming chip leader from the 63 entries that were received in the event. At the final table, DeStefano was the only player over the two million mark in chips. Coleman was in second but, with only 1.24 million in chips, he had some work to do if he was going to catch up. He also had to contend with Michael Brinkenhoff (1.14 million) and Jeremy Ausmus (895,000) who would pass him with the right play. With Seth Davies (795K), Justin Saliba (555K), and Aram Zobian (360K) rounding out the table, it was a true test of poker skills for all involved.
DeStefano went on the attack to start the action at the final table. He took down Ausmus in seventh place early in the play, but Brinkenhoff issued a twin killing by eliminating Saliba and Zobian in the same hand to get in the mix. After Saliba started the betting at 120K (with a minuscule amount behind), Zobian three-bet the action to 270K off the cutoff, and DeStefano showed restraint in sending his cards to the muck.
In the small blind, Davies made the call, as did Brinkenhoff and Saliba, and the flop came down 10-5-4. Davies checked his option, then quickly folded after Brinkenhoff fired again for 550K. Zobian, however, came along for the ride and, with Saliba all in, the cards were turned up:
Saliba (UTG): K-Q
Zobian (Cutoff): pocket Jacks
Brinkenhoff (Big blind): pocket fours
Brinkenhoff had caught one of the two cards that would save him in giving him a set, but he still had to dodge some cards. A six on the turn eliminated Saliba from contention and another ten on the river only improved Brinkenhoff to a full house as Zobian went down. Once the chips were counted, Zobian was found to have more chips than Saliba, meaning Zobian took fifth place and Saliba took sixth.
DeStefano Still Dominant
Even with the win, Brinkenhoff was way behind DeStefano. In fact, Brinkenhoff, Coleman, and Davies total accumulated stacks (3.79 million) didn’t total up to what DeStefano sat behind (4.1 million). As the saying goes, that’s why they play the game, as the fortunes quickly shifted.
Davies doubled twice, first through DeStefano and then through Coleman, leaving Coleman with only scraps to play with. Coleman went on the charge, however, doubling up not once but FOUR times to pull into second place. After DeStefano dispatched Brinkenhoff in fourth place and Coleman eliminated Davies in third, the twosome was much closer together, with DeStefano’s 4.1 million stack not much larger than Coleman’s 3.775 million.
It took Coleman all of seven MINUTES to seal the deal. He took the lead after betting DeStefano out of a pot on a Q-9-5-Q-A board, then left DeStefano on fumes after his pocket rockets stood up to the missed gutter ball straight draw of DeStefano. On the final hand, Coleman’s J♦ 4♦ turned a flush and, just that quickly, the tournament was over.
1. David Coleman, $302,400 (302 points)
2. Dylan DeStefano, $189,000 (189)
3. Seth Davies, $132,300 (132)
4. Michael Brinkenhoff, $94,500 (95)
5. Aram Zobian, $70,875 (71)
6. Justin Saliba, $51,975 (52)
7. Jeremy Ausmus, $37,800 (38)
With the win, Coleman surged to the lead of the overall race for the PokerGO Cup. The 302 points that he earned for winning Event #6 shot him past the entire Top Ten and into the pole position. He will have to fade the final two tournaments – or win one of them himself – to be able to hoist the Cup come Saturday night.
1. David Coleman, 347 points
2. Jonathan Little, 277
3. Cary Katz, 252
4. Dylan Weisman, 240
5. Justin Zaki, 232
6. Dylan DeStefano, 189
7. Alex Foxen, 185
8. Stoyan Madanzhiev, 184
9. Aram Zobian, 176
10. Joey Weissman, 175 The final table of Event #7, the $15,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, is underway as we speak, as is the Main Event of the 2024 PokerGO Cup, a $25,000 tournament. Both of those events will go a long way to determining who might be the overall champion of the 2024 PokerGO Cup come Saturday night.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO.com)
