2019 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 5
$250 Ladies No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Entries:  76
Prize Pool:  $15,960
January 12, 2019

When she woke up this morning, Elanit Hasas had no plans to play the Ladies Event. But shortly after midnight, she had come back from a 5-to-1 heads-up deficit to win $5,394 and a bonus prize package that includes an $1,100 seat into the Lucky Hearts Poker Open main event.

Hasas and her friends had come to South Florida for a few days to play Event 1. But those plans changed mid-afternoon.

“I ended up busting out of Event 1 earlier today, around four o’clock. That’s when Nancy [Birnbaum] convinced me to play the Ladies Event instead of re-entering.”

Hasas outlasted most of the field of 76 entries to start the final table with an average chip stack, and then worked her way into the final two with just 13 big blinds. Things got worse before they got better, and she quickly found herself down more than 5-to-1 against Suscia Bathgate.

That’s when Hasas moved all in preflop with , and it held up against Bathgate’s to double her stack. That gave her some breathing room, and it was only about 10 minutes before they played the hand Hasas considered the key to her victory.

“She raised, and I just flatted her with five-six. I ended up turning a full house,” said Hasas.

In that hand, they had built up a pot of about 270K on a board of . Hasas bet 100K, Bathgate moved all in, and Hasas quickly called with her . Bathgate showed for two pair, and Hasas won the pot with her full house to take the chip lead and carry that momentum to victory.

While this was the first live tournament win for Hasas, she’s no novice — she had 21 cashes last year, including five final tables.

Hasas was quick to praise runner-up Suscia Bathgate and fourth-place finisher Sachi Botner. “There were a lot of really great players at the table. Lauren [Failla] is a really tough competitor as well, but the two of them — Bathgate and Botner — had the biggest stacks, and they were doing a good job maintaining and growing their stacks.”

Hasas needs to return home to Atlanta this week, but she plans to be back next weekend as her victory includes an $1,100 seat into the Lucky Hearts Poker Open main event. Hasas also received a prize package from the Seminole Hard Rock Atlantic City, which includes a two-night stay at that property, a $200 dining credit, and a $200 credit to the Rock Spa.

Final results:

1st:  Elanit Hasas  –  $5,394 + Bonus Prize Package*
2nd:  Suscia Bathgate  –  $3,112
3rd:  Susanna Haedelt  –  $1,947
4th:  Sachi Botner  –  $1,317
5th:  M.G. Fernandez  –  $998
6th:  Joanne Milburn  –  $798
7th:  Sherriee Williams  –  $718
8th:  Lauren Failla  –  $638
9th:  Patricia Conrad  –  $559
10th:  Lenor Ryan  –  $479

* In addition to the prize money, the winner of the Ladies Event received a seat into the $1,100 main event, along with a prize package from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City that includes a two-night hotel stay, a $200 dining credit for one of their gourmet restaurants, and a $200 credit to their Rock Spa.