2020 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 18
$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  843
Prize Pool:  $2,697,600
January 17-22, 2020

The WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship was the headliner on the schedule and it did not disappoint. The $3,500 buy-in tournament drew a great, fun, talented group of players and Brian Altman made history by winning his second career WPT LHPO title for $482,636.

“This is incredibly special. It’s amazing to be the first person to win the same WPT event twice, and kind of cement myself in history with this event,” Altman said. “Obviously it’s fantastic to get big wins, but playing these events I’m happy to put myself in a position to go deep, be chip leader, and make final tables.”

The 843 entries over two starting flights easily surpassed the $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool and put $2,697,600 up for grabs. The last 106 spots and the field made the money late on Day 2 as Altman and John Dollinger began moving up the accounts.

Dollinger and Altman were among the leaders for the last two days of the Championship and they swapped the lead late on Day 4. It was Altman who bagged the final table lead but Dollinger was only a few chips behind.

Peter Walsworth was the shortest stack coming into the final table, found an early double up, but eventually fell in sixth place to his friend Dollinger.

Nadeem Hirani also found an early double up but he was sent out in fifth place when his big slick could not hold against the of Altman.

Russian Nadya Magnus had a chance to put a female name on the WPT Champions Cup but she got in with a big ace that wasn’t as big as Altman’s big slick. She had a great run this week but fell in fourth place.

Dollinger and Altman held the majority of chips at the three-handed table but Chanracy Khun made a valiant comeback with two doubles. But the comeback ultimately fell short and he was eliminated by Dollinger in third place to set up the heads-up battle for the title.

Dollinger had a significant lead for the title but Altman quickly took back the advantage. On the final hand of the tournament, Altman picked up aces and Dollinger ran into them to end the tournament.

Altman made history by becoming the first player to ever win the same World Poker Tour event twice. He captured the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship in 2015 and added another five years later.

“Winning a second WPT title feels amazing. It’s incredibly special. It doesn’t always work out. I’ve had maybe a dozen or so situations where I’ve gone deep and thought I was going to win and I didn’t,” Altman said. “But that’s how tournaments go. To continually put myself in a position to win tournaments, it feels special.”

On a fun side note, Altman was on hand when friend Jonathan Jaffe won the LHPO High Roller on Tuesday and joined him in the winner’s photo. Jaffe returned the favor today by railing the final table and hopping in the shot.

Final table results:

1st:  Brian Altman – $482,636*
2nd:  John Dollinger – $311,751
3rd:  Chanracy Khun – $230,086
4th:  Nadya Magnus – $171,642
5th:  Nadeem Hirani – $129,438
6th:  Peter Walsworth – $98,686
* First-prize amount includes the winner’s $15,000 entry into the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions.

Download: Complete Championship results (PDF)