Ivan Tomic Wins Potomac Opener for $156,190
Tomic beat Atharv Kumar heads-up after the $600 event drew 1,508 runners and built a $723,540 prize pool.
Ivan Tomic won the $600 NLH Opener at the 2026 Potomac Summer Poker Open at MGM National Harbor in Maryland, earning $156,190 after beating Atharv Kumar heads-up.
According to PokerNews, the opener drew 1,508 runners and generated a $723,540 prize pool, smashing the half-million guarantee. Day 2 started with 153 players, and everyone had already made the money after seven separate bubbles in the Day 1 flights.
Justin Arnwine was viewed as the favorite and held the chip lead for most of Day 2. The report said he was the most accomplished player at the final table, with more than $2 million in live earnings, but he finished fourth after losing to Phillip Luy.
Luy briefly took the three-handed chip lead before running into Tomic’s aces and finishing third. Dominic Lake had gone out in 12th after his jacks ran into queens, and Tomic then rode that momentum into the final stretch.
Heads-up play lasted less than ten minutes. Kumar’s jack-ten could not improve against Tomic’s ace-high.
In a winner’s interview, Tomic called the six-figure score a career highlight and said he was an on-and-off semi-pro who had been playing recreationally for two decades. He said he found poker during the Poker Boom, watched Poker After Dark, and thanked MGM National Harbor for opening because he had grown tired of driving to Charlestown.
