This Week’s Big Winner: Brian Cox Wins 2020 bestbet Jacksonville Fall Frenzy Main Event

The 2020 bestbet Jacksonville Fall Frenzy $1,500 no-limit hold’em main event attracted a total of 213 entries, creating a $285,420 prize pool. That money was paid out among the top 27 finishers, with the largest share going to eventual champion Brian Cox. The Jacksonville, Florida resident took home $69,349 and the championship trophy for the win after coming out on top of the final table that was broadcast on bestbetLIVE.

This was Cox’s first-ever live tournament title run, with his largest previous score being the $4,092 he earned as the 18th-place finisher in the 2014 Heartland Poker Tour Iowa main event.

The tournament kicked off on Saturday, Oct. 24. The field was narrowed down to a final table of eight players during the course of the first day with Joseph Crosby bagging up the chip lead. Nikhil Sunku started the final table in second chip position, while Cox sat in fifth place when cards got back in the air.

Here are five key hands from the final table.

Tournament: 2020 bestbet Jacksonville Fall Frenzy Main Event
Buy-In: $1,500
No. of Entries: 213
Prize Pool: $285,420
First Place Prize: $69,349

The Action

With seven players remaining, Brian Cox raised to 60,000 from early position with pocket sevens and Brian Dumaplin called from the hijack with Q-J suited. Christopher Alen defended his big blind with pocket tens and the flop hit both of the Brians hard. Alen checked to Cox, who bet 75,000 with middle set. Dumaplin raised to 175,000 with top pair and a queen-high flush draw. Alen quickly folded his pair of tens and Cox moved all-in for 706,000. Dumaplin made the call and the turn brought a black deuce. The K on the river locked up the pot for Cox, who doubled up to overtake the chip lead. Dumaplin was left with just over a big blind and was eliminated in seventh place ($9,704) just moments later.

The Action

Cox secured the chip lead in the early action at the final table, and then extended his advantage by knocking the most accomplished player at the table in Derek Bowers. The Ohio-native has more than $600,000 in prior live tournament earnings to his name, including a fourth-place finish in the 2019 Wynn Las Vegas Summer Classic $2 million guaranteed $1,600 buy-in event for $177,013. Bowers had started the day in third chip position but fell towards the lower half of the leaderboard during the first few levels. In this hand, Cox picked up pocket kings under the gun and raised to 60,000. Bowers looked down at pocket queens in the cutoff and moved all-in for 471,000 total. Cox made the call and flopped kings full of aces to extend his already sizable lead in the hand. The 6 on the turn meant that Bowers was drawing dead, and he hit the rail in sixth place ($11,388).

The Action

During five-handed action, a wild hand arose that resulted in a three-way all-in. Short-stack Christina Read picked up pocket aces under the gun and raised to 110,000. Cox was dealt pocket kings to her direct left and three-bet to 300,000. Joseph Crosby looked down at A K in the small blind and moved all-in for 1,126,000. Read called all-in for 300,000 total and Cox came along with his pocket kings, having both of his opponents covered. The runout kept the pocket pairs ahead, which meant that Read took down the main pot to more than triple up. Cox’s kings held up in the massive side pot to send Crosby home in fifth place ($13,743). Cox increased his stack by roughly 25 percent despite losing the main pot in this hand.

The Action

Cox was running away with things during three-handed play, having more than 3.5 times as many chips as Alen in second place. Alen still had a decent amount of play, with his stack representing more than 26 big blinds when this hand was dealt. He raised from the small blind, making it 120,000 to go with Q-6 suited. Cox called from the big blind with 10-9 offsuit. Both players picked up a draw on the flop. Alen bet out with his queen-high flush draw and an overcard, firing 130,000 into the pot of 280,000. Cox decided to put maximum pressure on Alen by raising all-in with his open-ender. Alen went into the tank before calling off for 790,000. The A on the turn kept Alen’s queen-high in the lead, but the 10 on the river gave Cox a winning pair of tens to send Alen packing in third place ($29,256).

The Action

Heads-up play began with Cox holding nearly a 9:1 chip lead over Nikhil Sunku, who entered the final showdown with just over 13 big blinds. Sunku chipped up slightly during the first few hands, but a blind level increase meant he was still sitting with around a similar effective stack when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Sunku was dealt K-10 offsuit on the button. He open-shoved for 655,000 and Cox called with A-7 offsuit from the big blind. Cox’s ace-high was the best hand at the moment, but Sunku still had a 43 percent chance to end up with the winner. The board brought all low cards, which meant that Cox’s ace high remained best to secure him the pot and the title. Sunku earned $48,130 as the runner-up finisher, while Cox pocketed $69,349 as the champion.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table: