2020 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 7
$1,700 Purple Chip Bounty (Single Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  109
Prize Pool:  $111,725
Bounty Prize Pool:  $54,500
January 12-13, 2020

Two years ago, Manny Tarich final tabled the Purple Chip Bounty event at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open, finishing fifth. (This event’s name comes from the purple $500 chip that players receive for knocking out another player.) Last year, he made the final table again, getting heads-up but falling short of the trophy once again.

This year, Tarich finally got the job done and won the tournament to claim his own bounty. “It’s awesome,” said Tarich. “I’m glad to finally get the monkey off my back.”

Tarich could have claimed victory earlier, but he shut down a five-player deal even though, as chipleader at the time, it would have given him the title and the trophy.

“I don’t do this for a living,” said Tarich, “so for me it’s pure competition. I used to play a lot of sports, and I was a very competitive person. For me, the win is more important than the money. Normally I won’t chop, because I like to play to win.”

There was a lot of respect given to third-place finisher Viktor Kovachev, who was openly praised by the other players at the table with four left.

At one point, Tarich was openly contemplating making a call against Kovachev for six big blinds on the river knowing he was beat. “I almost want to call just to see what you have,” said Tarich at the time, “even though I know I’m going to lose the hand.”

Tarich didn’t make that call, but did fairly well picking his spots against Kovachev, giving up smaller pots to win bigger ones. He eventually knocked out Kovachev in third place when they got it all in preflop and Tarich’s flopped a king against Kovachev’s .

“I got quite lucky to hit the king against his jacks to knock [Kovachev] out,” said Tarich. “But the whole final table was solid players, and I was lucky to win.”

After Kovachev was eliminated, Tarich and Jason Nablo took some time to discuss a deal, and Tarich finally relented, agreeing to an even chop, though Tarich got to claim Nablo’s bounty along with his own.

Tarich said we aren’t likely to see him much the rest of this series, as he has commitments to work and family. “I have a great family at home,” said Tarich, who has several children, “and I’m very lucky my wife is patient to let me spend 13 hours on a Sunday playing poker.”

But Tarich will definitely be back here at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood before too long.

“I only play at the Hard Rock,” said Tarich. “I stopped playing at other casinos. The staff here is amazing, and I’ve been coming here since it was the original casino next door. Everyone knows me even if I’m here once every couple of months. I won’t play anywhere else.”

Final Results:

1st:  Manny Tarich  –  $27,093*
2nd:  Jason Nablo  –  $27,092*
3rd:  Viktor Kovachev  –  $12,401
4th:  Artem Zverkhovskyy  –  $8,100
5th:  Dominick Sannino  –  $6,257
6th:  Stanley Lee  –  $5,139
7th:  Chauncey Monk  –  $4,357
8th:  Jose Parra  –  $3,799
9th:  Truyen Nguyen  –  $3,352
10th:  Thiago Palmieri Camilo  –  $2,961
11th:  Leif Force  –  $2,961
12th:  Guy Naimi  –  $2,961
13th:  Vito Recchimurzo  –  $2,626
14th:  Filipp Khavin  –  $2,626

* Denotes a heads-up deal.