Things are looking incredibly promising for Arlie “Prince Pablo” Shaban as he continues his hot run in the maiden Ontario Championship of Online Poker (ONCOOP) series currently underway on PokerStars Ontario.
The series kicked off on October 1 boasting CAD $2 million in guaranteed prize money, running exclusively for Ontario online poker players.
Shaban, a prominent Twitch poker streamer and a member of Team PokerStars, has been on a heater, bagging five ONCOOP titles already and appears to be hungry for more.
- Excellent tournament schedule
- The best variety of game types
- #1 Rated online poker room in Ontario by pokerfuse.com
His first win came on October 3 in Event #11-L, a $30 buy-in 7-handed Progressive KO NLHE, where he overcame a field of 371 entries to take home over $1900. He continued this strong performance and followed with another win three days later in Event 22-H, also a 7-handed NLHE PKO event but in a higher buy-in of $300, bagging nearly $10,000.
On the night of October 11, Shaban went berserk, shipping two titles in the same day, winning Events #41-L and #42-L, adding a combined payout of $3800. He didn’t stop there, though, as he added another victory to his tally just a day later, winning Event #45-L, a $30 buy-in NLHE & PLO mixed event for a payout of nearly $900, his fifth title in total.
Arlie Shaban’s Hot Run in the ONCOOP Series
| Event | Winning Prize | Entrants | Bullets Used | Investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11-L: $30 NLHE PKO | $1,900 | 371 | 4 | $120 |
| 22-H: $300 NLHE PKO | $10,000 | 93 | 1 | $300 |
| 41-L: $50 NLHE | $2,045 | 233 | 4 | $200 |
| 42-L: $30 NLHE PKO | $1,775 | 343 | 3 | $90 |
| 45-L: $30 NLHE/PLO | $900 | 171 | 1 | $30 |
In just five events, Shaban has bagged close to $17,000 by investing $740 in buy-ins. And that’s not all. Shaban also made another seven final table finishes, meaning he has already reached the final table a dozen times out of 46 tournaments he has played so far — a truly remarkable feat.
PokerStars summed it up perfectly when the operator tweeted this last night and asked, “With five more days of games, how many do you think he will win?”
Indeed, looking at his incredible run, it would not be surprising to see him take down some more ONCOOP titles. There are still around 50 tournaments left, including the big one: Event #61-H, a $200,000 guaranteed Main Event with a buy-in of $500 scheduled to run on Sunday, October 16. Shaban would surely have his eyes on this event as this is the operator’s biggest-guaranteed event in Ontario.
- Excellent tournament schedule
- The best variety of game types
- #1 Rated online poker room in Ontario by pokerfuse.com
Shaban Bringing the Heat in Ontario
But this isn’t the first time Shaban has been crushing the tournaments. Ever since PokerStars went live in the province in late June, the Ontarian native has been on a tear, with more than a dozen first-place finishes in the first two months.
The former Big Brother Canada contestant made an appearance last month on the PokerStars Blog titled “Arlie Shaban is CRUSHING PokerStars Ontario” following his spectacular two months of shows.
“[O]ver the last two months, I’ve made $25,000, and it’s been non-stop. $11,000 the first month, $14,000 the second month,” Shaban said in an interview with the PokerStars Blog team. “I’m really curious how month three is going to go.”
Little did we know that his hot run would get even hotter.
The maiden ONCOOP series continues to run until Monday, October 17. More than $2 million is guaranteed over the series and has already generated over $1.2 million. The big test is the coming weekend when the largest-guaranteed events of the series will play out, including the two Main Events with guarantees of $200,000 and $40,000.
Learn more about PokerStars Ontario real money tournaments in our comprehensive guide.
