Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
$350 No Limit Hold ‘Em (Re-entry)
$50,000 Guarantee

Total Entries: 167
Total Prize Pool: $50,100

Recap:
The cream has been rising to the top here at the Seminole Hard Rock WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open and Carlos Loving decided to join the party of repeat champions this series. Loving captured another Seminole Hard Rock-Hollywood title winning Event 17 tonight.

Loving and David Maddox put on a two man show on this final table as continued to clear out the competition. Loving had a huge lead with five players to go but Maddox hit set after set creating a terrific one-on-one battle with Loving.

Maddox had Loving in trouble but after a near 400,000 chip pot which brought the two players near dead even, Loving poured on the aggression. Loving managed to get Maddox all-in with second pair against hit top pair on the flop and after two more cards were dealt on what turned out to be the final hand, Carlos Loving was crowned the champion.

Loving was thrilled after the vicotry. “It’s a great feeling. I wasn’t even going to play this tournament and my friend talked me into it at the last second so I’m very happy about that.”

On the critical hand that pulled him back into the tournament, Loving was determined to stay focused and kept the same strategy the rest of the way. “I was thinking just keep playing good. I know that I’ll be able to outplay him and get the chips in the end as long I stayed patient and didn’t do anything dumb. That hand I was bluffing and I just felt like he couldn’t call and I was also the aggressor. I actually did bluff a lot of hands against him and it went well.”

That last card hit and Carlos was in a terrific mood. “I’m thinking this is awesome. I really ran good the whole tournament and never really had a sweat. I came in late at the 500 big blind level, got pocket queens that I won both times and ran good from there.” Of course, when he was asking if he’s liking Seminole Hard Rock he simply replied “Yeah! It was a good day.”

Congratulations to Event 17 Champion – Carlos Loving!

Final Table Results:
1st – Carlos Loving (Sarasota, FL) – $15,530
2nd – David Maddox (Boynton Beach, FL) – $9,018
3rd – Rotem Halbani (Miami, FL) – $5,762
4th – Alejandro Duque (Kendall, FL) – $4,058
5th – Mark Weisser (Blue Ash, OH) – $3,131
6th – Rosso Christophe (Saint Martin) – $2,380
7th – Phong Nguyen (Bristow, VA) – $1,854
8th – David Smith (New York, NY) – $1,378
9th – Elliot Zaydman (Glenrock, NJ) – $977
10th – Marco Rodriguez (Miami, FL) – $777