After hitting the pause button for a year, big tournament poker series returned to South Florida with the 2021 Lucky Hearts Poker Open. A chance for players to compete for big money in a safe environment designed to protect them while they took their shot.

And they came out to play. We had record-setting fields beating numbers that have been around for nearly a decade and the 26 primary events combined to create prize pools of nearly $11 million.

The series was headlined by the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship, a $3,500 buy-in tournament drew 1,573 entries to create the third biggest field in World Poker Tour history.

The Championship had a $1,000,000 guarantee, which was topped before the first hand was dealt, and players ended up with a prize pool that topped $5,000,000.

Ilyas Muradi of Fort Wayne, IN pictured above and below) outlasted a tough final table for an emotional win, taking the title along with $620,000. In local news, Poker Room regular Francis Margaglione had our regulars behind him as he went on to finish in fourth place for $293,510.

It was a fantastic series by any measure. We thank our old friends and new for trusting us to run it with their safety in mind and look forward to seeing everyone again in April.

Lucky Hearts Poker Open by the numbers:

Primary Events:  26
Total Entries:  10,954
Total Guarantees: $2,160,000
Total Prize Pools: $10,919,235
Players Cashing $100K or More: 15

Here are the results and updates from all primary events:

• Event 1 ($400 Multi-Day): Fernando Rodriguez – $205,000
• Event 2 ($400 Omaha 8): Yuval Bronshtein – $7,535
• Event 3 ($400 H.O.R.S.E.): Nick Pupillo – $9,570
• Event 4 ($400 PLO): Matthew Stuff – $17,169
• Event 5 ($400 Deep Stack): Jose Pacheco – $19,359
• Event 6 ($1,100 Deep Stack): Carlos Rodriguez Rojas – $62,090
• Event 7 ($400 Seniors): Mitchell Mantin – $16,955
• Event 8 ($600 Dbl Black Chip): Scott Baumstein – $28,040
• Event 9 ($400 Black Chip PLO): Dash Dudley – $10,945
• Event 10 ($150 Big Stack NLH): Richard Paradis – $9,038
• Event 11 ($400 OE): Byron Hubert – $7,903
• Event 12 ($600 Six-Max NLH): Ryan Depaulo – $41,485
• Event 13 ($400 Six-Max PLO8): Leif Force – $11,635
• Event 14 ($600 DS Turbo NLH): Alex Ortiz Vazquez – $19,022
• Event 15 ($1,100 NLH): Chad Eveslage – $101,572
• Event 16 ($2,200 NLH): Dominique Mosley – $140,342
• WPT LHPO Championship: Ilyas Muradi – $620,000
• Event 18 ($400 DS Turbo NLH): Matt Figlesthaler – $9,289
• Event 19 ($400 Black Chip NLH): Bryan Munoz – $15,331
• Event 20 ($1,700 Purple Chip): Daniel Swartz – $42,219
• Event 21 ($600 Turbo NLH/PLO): Fabian Soler – $12,677
• Event 22 ($600 Big Stack NLH): Adam Hendrix – $43,814
• Event 23 ($400 Six-Max PLO): Andrei Mitsiuk – $11,635
• Event 24 ($150 Multi-Day): Kevin Rines – $16,460
• Event 25 ($5,000 NLH): Jim Collopy – $141714
• Event 26 ($2,200 PLO): John Orfanos – $66,671