3-Putts and Bohn Among Canterbury Park 2018 Fall Poker Classic Winners
Over the weekend, Minnesota’s Canterbury Park wrapped up its annual Fall Poker Classic series, which this year was comprised of 22 events. The premier tournament was the $1,100 Championship Main Event, which attracted 409 entries over two starting flights and created a $396,730 prize pool.
On Sunday, Nghia Le, who is better known as “3-Putts” in the Midwest poker community, emerged victorious after striking a four-way ICM chop. At the time, 3-Putts held a big chip lead and locked up $69,798 and the title. Meanwhile, Kenny Haider and Rich Alsup finished in second and third place respectively for $49,000 each, while Scott Drill took fourth for $41,679.
The win marked 3-Putts' largest career score, surpassing his prior best of $41,816 for finishing 108th in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. Other highlights on his poker résumé include $35,386 for taking second in the 2009 Twin Cities Poker Open, third in the 2013 WSOP Circuit Cherokee $365 NLH for $23,220, and $22,415 for finishing as runner-up in the 2009 Midwest Poker Classic. All told he now has $434,990 in live tournament earnings.
Others to cash the 2018 FPC Main Event were MSPT Season 5 Ho-Chunk champ Jason Sell (12th - $6,348), 2016 MN Mag Player of the Year Saad Ghanem (18th - $4,364), Dan “DQ” Hendrickson (32nd - $2,380), and Minnesota Poker Hall of Famer and Poker is Fun Tour (PIFT) founder Mike Schneider (40th - $2,182).
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nghia “3 Putts” Le | $69,798* |
| 2 | Kenny Haider | $49,000* |
| 3 | Rich Alsup | $49,000* |
| 4 | Scott Drill | $41,679* |
| 5 | Justin Thurlow | $21,820 |
| 6 | Jeremy Dresch | $16,663 |
| 7 | Umut Ozturk | $13,092 |
| 8 | Blake Bohn | $10,315 |
| 9 | Steven Wazwaz | $7,538 |
| 10 | Jodene Jensen | $6,348 |
*Denotes four-way ICM chop
Laying Claim to FPC Titles
The 2018 Fall Poker Classic kicked off in a big way back on October 5 with Event #1: $250 Tag Team NLH. Prior to the event, poker pro Blake Bohn, who finished eighth in the Main Event, took to Twitter to reveal that any winnings he and his partner, Lisa Whited, might earn would be donated to charity. Fittingly, they wound up as the last of 124 teams (448 total entries) standing to claim the title, which meant the $10,754 top prize was donated to a pair of charities – Loaves and Fishes and Secondhand Hounds.
The most expensive event on the schedule was the $3,500 buy-in High Roller, which attracted a modest 15 runners. Justin Thurlow took it down for $24,187, while the red-hot Aaron Johnson finished second for $14,513 and Bohn third for $9,675.
Meanwhile, Event #16: $550 NLH drew 137 entries and saw Rob Wazwaz, who earlier this year won a MSPT title at Canterbury Park, prevail to win an $18,603 top prize, while Jesse Donner bested an 87-entry field to win Event #17: $235 Pot-Limit Omaha for $5,093.
In one of the last events of the series, Paul Ratajczyk of Champlin, Minnesota navigated a 135-entry field to win Event #18: $340 6-Max NLH for $10,887. Others to win titles during the 2018 FPC were Sam De Silva (Event #4: $235 NLH for $10,483), Gerald Cunniff (Event #5: $235 Seniors for $12,322), and Chopper Vail (Event #7: $235 Limit Big Mix for $4,501).
Images courtesy of Canterbury Park
