$1,650 Six-Max Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Re-entry)

Blinds 100/200
88 Entries

Ronit Chamani (Johannesburg, South Africa) & Marsha Wolak (Fort Lauderdale) are the only two women in the field (so far) and are expecting to make deep runs.

Wolak is a WSOP bracelet holder (2011 Ladies Event) with $342,000 in career recorded tournament earnings, while Chamani has $327,000 in  earnings which includes a win in Hollywood’s 2011 Winter Poker Open Championship.

Wolak already has one $500 bounty and has more than 40k, while Chamani has less than half of her 15k starting stack.

“I’ll never miss a six-max,” says Chamani, “unless I’m very, very ill, which rarely happens because I eat well.”

It’s been well documented that Chamani is a raw food vegan gourmet chef who also works with organizations to teach sustainable gardening techniques to struggling people in South Africa.

This is the last level for entry as the cage closes after the break at ~7:20 pm.

(UPDATED Feb 6th)

Participate in any event during the Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open (LHPO) tournament series to earn leaderboard points …

See poker room for details

SEMINOLE HARD ROCK HOLLYWOOD TOURNAMENT LEADERBOARD
(Final – updated through Feb 5 completed events):

$1,650 Six-Max Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Re-entry)

Blinds 150/300
83 entries

“I told them if the flop was 8-high I was going all in,”  says Will “the Thrill” Failla (Commack, NY).

True to his word, the flop of 7-5-3 gets all the chips in the middle and Failla’s in trouble.  Greg Marcus (Miami Beach) turns over a set of 7s against Failla’s pocket Jacks.

Failla doesn’t improve and sends his last 9k and $500 purple chip bounty to Marcus.

Failla is WPT Champion who quickly jumps into the 5 pm satellite looking to earn a discounted seat into tomorrow’s WPT Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship.

$1,650 Six-Max Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Re-entry)

Blinds 50/100
75 entries

$1,650 Six-Max Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Re-entry)

Blinds 50/100
72 entries

An early look at the field has Table 18 as one of the tougher draws.

Seth Berger is here, fresh off his win in yesterday’s $1k for $26,520.

Also at the table is Joe McKeehen with four career wins, including a recent $70,000 score in Atlantic City, and Michael Laake, a South Florida veteran with four of his six career wins coming in Hard Rock Series.

Berger ($690,000), McKeehen ($735,000), Laake ($360,000) and Chris Hunichen ($525,000),who’s in Seat 5, have more than $2.5 million in combined career recorded earnings.

Tom Hand and Marc Duquette are no slouches either, as they are both in the $15,000 range of tournament earnings. That includes Hand’s third place finish ($1,302) in the Black Chip Bounty (Event 7) in this Lucky Hearts Poker Open.

*Seat-Name

1 Marc Duquette
2 Thomas Hand
3 Michael Laake
4 Joe McKeehen
5 Chris Hunichen
6 Seth Berger

$1,650 Six-Max Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Re-entry)

Blinds 25/50
60 Entries

Leodegardio Alabastro
Bradford Albrinck
Todd Arnold
Albert Balayn
Seth Berger
Keith Block
Christopher Bolek
Luke Bereton
Ronit Chamani
Jesse Cohen
John Corsi
Kurtiss Cross
Ryan D’Angelo
Continue reading Event 9: Player's List (Alpha) →

 $1,650 Six-Max Purple Chip Bounty NLH (Re-entry)

The second highest entry of the Lucky Hearts Poker Open is underway with the always popular six-max.

The event features a $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool with 15k stacks and 60 min levels.

Registration & re-entry is open for 4 levels, with the cage closing at 7:20 pm.

The action is underway.

Today’s Events

3 pm – Event 9 – $1,650 Six-Max Purple Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’Em

• $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• 15k Starting Stack
• 60 min levels
• Registration & Re-Entry for 4 levels (cage closes at ~7:20 pm)
• Structure

Noon and 5 pm – $390 Mega Satellite into Champ Event ($1 Million Guaranteed prize pool)

• 10 Seats Guaranteed
• 7,500 Starting Stack
• 30 minute levels
• Structure

8 pm – $390 Mega Satellite into Champ Event ($1 Million Guaranteed prize pool)

• 5 Seats Guaranteed
• 7,500 Starting Stack
• 30 minute levels
• Structure

Seminole Hard Rock Poker presents
Lucky Hearts Poker Open at Coconut Creek
$300 Seniors (50+) No Limit Hold’Em
February 5, 2014

Entries: 82
Prize Pool: $21,320

Recap

They might have only been playing for a first place prize of $7,250 but don’t tell that to the 82 entrants of the $300 Seniors (50+) No Limit Hold’Em event. They were here to play some poker and they were taking it as seriously as if they were play for $707,250. And while there were some competitive jabs, the friendly nature of the tournament led to some compelling poker action. In the end, it was a retired former service member/police officer, Grady Yeager that would emerge victorious. This wasn’t Grady’s first time visiting the winner’s circle as it is his fourth recorded career win with his most recent win coming at the 2013 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Seniors Event in Hollywood.

“I like Seniors Events and HORSE,” said the gracious winner after the tournament, explaining that he has no problem making the 2 1/2 drive from his home in Cape Coral to take part in well run events like the one here at Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Coconut Creek. Quiet at the tables, Yeager used effective play with relentless pressure and a little bit of luck to come out on top. A key hand for him was when he eliminated Julio Fernandez in 9th place with when he hit a Queen on the turn to best Julio’s .

The play at the table was crazy at times. In one hand, with nine players remaining, there was an under the gun raise from Bob Chow and a total of 7 players would see the flop. “Bunch of gamblers at this table,” Chow surmised. “It’s because it’s almost past our bed time,” joked eventual 6th place finisher Bob Vicars. It was 8 pm.

After Fernandez, it would be Ted “Papa Bear” Transue in 8th place followed by Tim Kegel in 7th place and the aforementioned Vicars in 6th. Albert Balayn would get the rest of his stack in the middle with an open ended straight draw. He was trailing the bottom pair/flush draw that Jim Deleo held and when he was unable to improve was eliminated in 5th place.

When Harry Eisenberg was able to double up with against Bob Chow’s , the four remaining players were virtually even in chips and they quickly decided to make a deal that led to the frantic push for the trophy. On the last hand of the evening, Yeager and Chow got it all in – Yeager with a weak Ace and Chow with a middling Queen. A Queen would flop and for a moment it looked like Chow would emerge with the trophy but an Ace on the river would change that. “Ah well,” smiled Chow, happy with the $4,000+ dollars he was still taking home.

Photo Gallery

Seminole Hard Rock Poker presents
Lucky Hearts Poker Open at Coconut Creek
$1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
February 4-5, 2014

Entries: 78
Prize Pool: $78,000

Recap

The most prestigious event to date of the Lucky Hearts Poker Open featured a final table with nearly $6 million in career recorded live earnings between five players, while the other four finalists had only nine combined cashes before the start of the tournament.

In the end, the sharks defeated the fish as Seth Berger (Woodbury, NY) earned his first career title. Berger beat Vlad Varlashin (Krasnodar, Russia) heads up when his dodged 14 outs on the river against for the winning pair of 8s.

“I’m happy to get a win and get the monkey off my back,” said Berger who had a second and third place finish at the 2013 WSOP. “I’ve chopped before, but this is my first outright win.”

Berger earned $26,520 for the win, while Varlashin took home $15,522 as runner-up.

“I was hoping to win my first trophy,” said Varlashin, who spends his winters in Sunny Isles Beach, “For me it’s not about the money, I care much more about the trophy.”

Berger ($650,000+ in earnings) and Varlashin ($310,00) were joined at the table by fellow sharks Adam Levy ($2.1 million), Ryan D’Angelo ($1.5 million) and Joey Wiessman ($1 million), who has a WSOP bracelet on his resume.

The less experienced players put up a fight as Francisco Gomez (Lakeland) earned his first career cash with a third place finish ($10,140), while this was the second cash for Tomas Magni (6th).

“I held my own in a really sharky tournament,” said Mangi, “it’s a stacked final table.”

Day 2 began with the final nine already in the money. Levy (9th) was first to go out and was followed by Richard Kessler (8th), his fifth career cash, and Weissman (7th).

“It was a tough table,” said Berger, “but when Joey went out, I felt it was my tournament to lose.”

A pivotal hand for Berger came when he cracked D’Angelo’s pocket Aces with rivered trip Tens while holding KT. The hand knocked out D’Angelo in 4th place, one spot ahead of Jamar Lewis who earned his fifth cash.

Once Varlashin eliminated Gomez in third place, he had a slight chip lead heads up, which Berger overcame.

“Once I got the lead I picked up a lot of pots and got pretty aggressive,” said Berger.

“He’s better heads up,” said the complementary Varlashin, “he started to push me around.”

Berger is looking to continue his success in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship Event which kicks off Friday.

Final Table Results

Photo Gallery