2019 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 2
$360 Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Entries:  78
Prize Pool:  $23,400
January 10, 2019

Adam Walter had never been to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino before. When asked why he made the trip down from Ohio for the first time, he said, “It’s 20 degrees in Cincinnati right now, and I had a few days, so I said, ‘Let’s get some fun in the sun — some good weather and some poker.'”

It’s only the first day of the Lucky Hearts Poker Open, but Walter has already made the most of it, outlasting a field of 78 players to win the $360 Limit Omaha 8 event and earn $7,908.

Walter entered the final table with a better-than-average chip stack, but he was surrounded by three players with even larger stacks. Still, the seat draw seemed to work in Walter’s favor.

“The table draw was significant for me. I was really happy I was on the left side of Gabe [Ramos]. That was probably the biggest bonus for me because Gabe was on my right, and the two players with big stacks on my left were a little bit tighter.”

Walter scored two of the first six eliminations at the final table, knocking out Harry Eisenberg in ninth and Wayne Brown in fifth, allowing him to keep pace with the other players and ahead of the increasing blinds.

Heads-up play began with Walter and Michael Rosenberg nearly even in chips — they were separated by just two big blinds.

Over the next half hour, Walter was able to increase his lead, eventually building a big pot over a board of . Walter bet the river, and Rosenberg tanked for a while before calling with most of his stack and turning over for an eight-high straight with an 8-7 low.

But Walter flipped over to scoop the pot with a queen-high heart flush and a 7-6 low, catapulting to a 20-to-1 chip lead and leaving Rosenberg with just 1 1/2 big blinds. Walter would win the tournament — the first of his career — on the next hand.

Walter prefers limit games, and plans to enter Event 3 ($360 H.O.R.S.E.) tomorrow. He’s only here through this first weekend of the Lucky Hearts Poker Open, but it’s already been a memorable trip for Adam Walter.

The final ten players finished in the money, and here are the results:

1st:  Adam Walter  –  $7,908 + LHPO trophy
2nd:  Michael Rosenberg  –  $4,563
3rd:  Michael Dreese  –  $2,855
4th:  Gabriel Ramos  –  $1,931
5th:  Wayne Brown  –  $1,463
6th:  Hyndi Khomutetsky  –  $1,170
7th:  Harvey Freedman  –  $1,053
8th:  Perry Klein  –  $936
9th:  Harry Eisenberg  –  $819
10th:  Eric Von Guttenberg  –  $702

$360 Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23: 15,000/30,000
Players Remaining: 1 of 78

With the final board showing , Adam Walter bet, and Michael Rosenberg tanked for a while before he called off most of his stack from the button.

Here were their cards:

Adam Walter:    (queen-high flush, 7-6 low)
Michael Rosenberg:    (eight-high straight, 8-7 low)

Walter scooped the entire pot with his flush and his 7-6 low to take a 20-to-1 chip lead.

Adam Walter  –  890,000  (30 bb)
Michael Rosenberg  –  45,000  (2 bb)

The next hand, they got it all in preflop, and both had surprisingly good hands:

Adam Walter:  
Michael Rosenberg:  

Neither player had any shot at a low hand, and the board came . Walter paired his queen on the flop to win the pot — and the Lucky Hearts Poker Open trophy — with two pair, queens and sixes.

1st:  Adam Walter  –  $7,908 + LHPO trophy
2nd:  Michael Rosenberg  –  $4,563
3rd:  Michael Dreese  –  $2,855
4th:  Gabriel Ramos  –  $1,931
5th:  Wayne Brown  –  $1,463
6th:  Hyndi Khomutetsky  –  $1,170
7th:  Harvey Freedman  –  $1,053
8th:  Perry Klein  –  $936
9th:  Harry Eisenberg  –  $819
10th:  Eric Von Guttenberg  –  $702

$360 Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22: 10,000/25,000
Players Remaining: 2 of 78

With the board showing on the turn, Michael Dreese was all in against Michael Rosenberg, and they turned over their cards:

Michael Rosenberg:    (two pair, 7-4 low draw)
Michael Dreese:    (pair of deuces, 7-6 low draw)

The river card was the , and Rosenberg scooped the entire pot with a higher two pair (kings and sevens), and an unnecessary 7-6-4-3-2 for the low. Dreese was eliminated in third place.

Michael Dreese  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($1,931)

These were the approximate chip counts at the start of heads-up play:

Adam Walter  –  490,000  (20 bb)
Michael Rosenberg  –  450,000  (18 bb)

$360 Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20: 5,000/15,000
Players Remaining: 3 of 78

In the final moments of Level 20, with the blinds at 5,000-15,000 and a 15,000 big-blind ante, three players put in 30,000 each to see a flop of . Action checked to Gabriel Ramos in the cutoff, and he bet 15,000.

Michael Rosenberg folded the small blind, and Michael Dreese raised to 30,000, and Ramos called all in. They turned over their cards:

Michael Dreese:    (two pair, aces and jacks)
Gabriel Ramos:    (6-5 low draw)

The turn card paired the board with the , giving Dreese a full house, aces full of jacks, to lock up the high side of the pot. Ramos needed to make his low draw on the river to stay alive.

The river card was the , giving Ramos a meaningless set of of fours as he was eliminated in fourth place.

Dreese won the pot to take the lead with 340,000, but the final three players are all fairly close in chips.

Michael Dreese  –  340,000  (23 bb)
Michael Rosenberg  –  305,000  (20 bb)
Adam Walter  –  290,000  (19 bb)
Gabriel Ramos  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($1,931)

$360 Limit Omaha 8 (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18: 5,000/10,000
Players Remaining: 4 of 78

With the final board showing on the river, Wayne Brown is all in against Adam Walter, and they flip over their cards:

Adam Walter:    (two pair, aces and kings)
Wayne Brown:  (pair of queens)

Neither player has a qualifying low, and Walter wins the pot with his two pair, aces and kings, to eliminate Brown in fifth place.

Adam Walter  –  175,000  (18 bb)
Wayne Brown  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($1,463)