Seminole Hard Rock Poker presents
Lucky Hearts Poker Open at Coconut Creek
$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em
February 3-4, 2014

Entries: 314
Prize Pool: $100,000

Event 4 Winner – Jermaine Phang

Recap

“This is my biggest tournament win by far,” said an obviously pleased Jermaine Phang moments after taking down Event 4 of the 2014 Lucky Hearts Poker Open at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.  Not only was the $17,000 pay day his biggest cash ever, but it tripled his career earnings of $5,324.  “I love playing at the Creek,” said the 34 year old electrical engineer from Pompano Beach.  “I mainly play tournaments here and I’m going to play in the WPT Main Event.”

A total of 314 players turned out over the course of two starting flights and by the time play wrapped up early Tuesday morning there were a total of 68 players coming back to vie for the 36 in the money spots.  Wendy Freedman from Las Vegas led the start of Day 2 with 276,900 in chips.  It would take just over three hours of play to get into the money and it would be well known local poker professional Darryl Fish who would burst the bubble when his Ace-King won a race against Tim Miles.

$350 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-entry)

Entrants: 314      Prize Pool: $100,000

“This is my biggest tournament win by far,” said an obviously pleased Jermaine Phang moments after taking down Event 4 of the 2014 Lucky Hearts Poker Open at Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Coconut Creek. Not only was the $17,000 pay day his biggest cash ever, but it tripled his career earnings of $5,324. Not a bad two days at the “office”. “I love playing at the Creek,” said the 34 year old electrical engineer from Pompano Beach. “I mainly play tournaments here and I’m going to play in the WPT Main Event.” Jermaine joked that he was “going to Disney” when asked what he was going to do with the money. That’s certainly an option now after his win. Congratulations Jermaine!

A total of 314 players turned out over the course of two starting flights and by the time play wrapped up early Tuesday morning there were a total of 68 players coming back to vie for the 36 in the money spots. Wendy Freedman from Las Vegas led the way with 276,900 in chips. It would take just over three hours of play to get into the money and it would be well known local poker professional Darryl Fish who would burst the bubble when his Ace-King won a race against Tim Miles.

With 15 players left, Freedman was still in the chip lead, now with 1.25 million in chips which was 300K more than her closest competitor Jonathan Marks. It would not take much time to get down to our final table of 10 and it was Phang who won one of the bigger pots up to that point when his A-K bested the A-Q of Ira Marcus on an Ace high flop. Freedman had dipped a bit in chips but was still the chip leader as we started play:

The chip lead would change hands when Freedman and Jonathan Marks would tangle in a pot early on. On a queen high flop, Freedman would check call a 95K bet from Marks. The turn was an Ace and when Freedman checked, Marks instantly bet 145K. Wendy decided to look him up. Both players checked the rag flop and Marks showed pocket Kings, which was good enough to take down the pot. “That Ace showed up and it ruined my plans,” said Marks before adding “I have to complain about something, that’s like the 6th time I’ve had Kings today.”

Darryl Fish would score a double up at the hands of Wendy when he moved all in for a total of 217K with pocket Aces and Freedman, who had 50K already in the pot, made the call with . That pot moved Fish over the 500K mark and Wendy was just slightly above that mark. Our first player eliminated would be Leroy Grant when he moved all in over the top of Ray Nalbandian’s 110K bet on a flop. Ray made the call with pocket Queens which was well ahead of Grant’s pocket 6’s. The turn was the giving Leroy a few more outs but the river was the and Ray scored a huge double up moving him to over 1 million in chips and Leroy was left with just 8K. He would be eliminated on the next hand with K-Q against Dennis Rodriguez’s A-Q.

In what would be “the biggest hand of the tournament for me” Jermaine Phang scored a massive double up at the hands of Wendy Freedman when she moved all in from the small blind and Jermaine woke up with Ace-Queen and instantly called. Freeman held and her rapid descent continued when the board would not find a way to make her a winner. Wendy was still alive with just under 400K in chips and Phang now moved up to over a million. Phang’s good fortune would continue when he got it all in behind against Patrick Heneghan with when Heneghan held pocket Kings. Asking for an Ace, it would be a Broadway straight that would send the pot Jermaine’s way when the board ran out . A frustrated Patrick would pound his fist hard against the table as he was our 9th place finisher.

Freedman’s descent would be completed when she moved all in over the top of Dennis Rodriguez’s 75K opener with pocket 10’s. When Dennis made the call and showed Kings, Wendy could only shake her head while saying “are you serious” to no one in particular. The board would run out and Freedman was eliminated in 8th place.

The table buzzed for a bit talking about how quickly Freedman had gone from the chip lead. One player said “she was taking unnecessary risks” and others nodded their heads in agreement. The seven players went on a break with the approximate chip counts looking as follows:

With the blinds at 20K/40K, Jason San had less than 10 big blinds and got the rest of his chips all in with against the hot Jermaine Phang who had . San asked for clubs and then a 5 when the flop came . No 5 or clubs would come for him as the turn and river was the and San was eliminated while Phang continued to add to his chip lead.

Harold Lamm had been a short stack for quite some time, even managing a quadruple up when he hit two pair against three other players. He could never gain any stack momentum, however, and finally was eliminated when he moved all in for less than four big blinds with and Darryl Fish looked him up out of the big blind with . The first card out of the dealers hand was the prompting Fish to say “not a good start.” The next two cards, however, would change that as it was the to give Fish bottom two pair. That would end up holding up to send Lamm to the rail in 6th place.

They played five handed for a bit before the remaining players decided to make a deal and chop the money five ways. Phang received a bit more as he had a commanding chip lead and as a result he was declared the winner. The payouts for the final five were as follows:

Final Results:

Today’s Events

12 pm – Event 8 – $300 Seniors (50+) No Limit Hold’em

• $15,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• 8k Starting Stack
• 30 min levels
• Registration & Re-Entry for 6 levels (cage closes at ~3:10 pm)
• Full Structure Details

1 pm – Event 6 – $1,100 No Limit Hold’em

• Day 2 Restart

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

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

5 pm – $200 Mega Satellite into Event 9 ($100,000 Guaranteed prize pool)

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

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

• 2 Seats Guaranteed
• 7,500 Starting Stack
• 30 minute levels

$240 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Re-entry)

Down to 7K in chips at one point, Jay Romano made an improbable comeback to emerge victorious in Event 7 of the 2014 Lucky Hearts Poker Open. The final hand saw Romano move all in on a board and get called by his heads up foe Chris Lewis. Romano turned over and grabbed the trophy announcing to those remaining in the room that he had won the tournament. Lewis said that he held a Jack and collects $1,963 for his 2nd place finish. Romano, a employment discrimination attorney, said afterwards “I knew I was going to come back and win it. They always think I’m bluffing and I get paid off.” Jay frequently plays tournaments at South Florida poker venues and recently won the 2013 Isle Open Championship Event for $100,000 so he’s definitely no one hit wonder. This win was worth $3,469 for Romano. Congratulations on your win Jay!

$240 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Re-entry)

It must be Jay Romano’s day. He just eliminated Tom Hand when his pocket 7’s hit a set on the flop to best Hand’s pocket Kings. All the money was in pre-flop. The stacks were counted out and Romano had Hand covered. Tom finishes in 3rd place for $1,302.

$1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-entry)

After nearly 15 hours of play, they have finally made the money and bagged/tagged for the day. They will return at 1 pm with 19 minutes left at blinds of 800/1600 and a 200 ante. 104K (65 big blinds) is the average stack. Vladislav Varlashin continues to lead the way with 282,300 in chips. Seth Berger is not far behind with 222,500. Other notables still in the field include Adam Levy, Ryan D’Angelo, and Joey Weissman. Full chip counts and seating assignments for the final nine is below:

Seat 1: Adam Levy – 18.4K (12 BB)
Seat 2: Richard Kessler – 42.9K (28 BB)
Seat 3: Ryan D’Angelo – 68.4K (43 BB)
Seat 4: Seth Berger – 222.5K (139 BB)
Seat 5: Thomas Magni – 40.3K (25 BB)
Seat 6: Francisco Gomez – 139.1K (87 BB)
Seat 7: Vladislav Varlashin – 282.3K (177 BB)
Seat 8: Jamar Lewis – 27K (17 BB)
Seat 9: Joey Weissman – 95.1K (59 BB)

$240 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Re-entry)

Jay Romano has made quite the bounce back. After losing two big pots earlier to knock himself down to 7K, he’s surged back into contention with his most recent pot being the elimination of Jeff Trudeau when Jay’s K-T was able to win a race against Jeff’s pocket 7’s. Trudeau finishes in 4th place, good for $934.

$240 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Re-entry)

Pocket 10’s is a big hand five handed – unfortunately for Nicolas Pensa, Chris Lewis had a slightly bigger hand in pocket Jacks. That was enough to cripple Pensa down to 2K and he was eliminated the next hand when Lewis delivered the final blow to pick up the bounty. Pensa finishes in 5th place for $682.

Lucky Hearts Poker Open

Event 6: $1,100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-entry)

We’re down to 10 players, one away from making the money. Adam Levy, Joey Weissman, and Seth Berger are still among the hopefuls.

Event 7: $240 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Re-entry)

Jay Romano has gone from the penthouse to the outhouse in a matter of two hands. First he called Nicolas Pensa’s all in raise with when Pensa held pocket Queens. Pensa would have to fade some outs on the board but he would prevail to move into the chip lead. Then Romano would lose again with J-T but this time he had flopped the nuts on a [9] board. Chris Lewis had pocket 6’s and was in bad shape. The turn was the giving Lewis some outs since he had the (and Romano did not have a diamond). Sure enough the river was a diamond, the and Lewis laughed and said “I’m like Nostradamus” as he crippled Romano and scored a big double up.

$240 Black Chip Bounty No Limit Hold’em (Re-entry)

Blinds 1K/2K Ante 300

On a flop of J-x-2, Joe Pusateri got the last of his chips in with A-J. Unfortunately for him, Nicolas Pensa had flopped a set of deuces. The turn and river would not help Joe any and he is our 6th place finisher.