2016 LHPO Live Updates

Event 1: Thai Ha Wins Ultimate Re-Entry

2016 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood
Event #1
$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No-Limit Hold’em
Entries: 4,075
Prize Pool: $1,222,500
Multi-Stack Payouts: $137,500 (55 @ $2,500)
Day 2 Prize Pool: $1,085,000
January 7-12, 2016

Thai Ha, Event 1 Champion
Thai Ha, Event 1 Champion

Hollywood, Fla. (January 12, 2016) – The 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open kicked things off with a new tournament format and the results were huge. The tournament drew 4,075 entries across eight starting flights to create the biggest field in Florida poker history. When all was complete, Thai Ha was the last player standing to earn the tournament victory and its $230,423 top prize.

The huge field easily surpassed the $500,000 guarantee and built it up to $1,222,500 when registration closed Sunday evening.

The unique Ultimate Re-Entry format rewarded players who were able to make it into the money on multiple starting flights. They were given a $2,500 multi-stack award for the second stack advanced and another award for each time they managed the feat afterward.

There were a total of 55 multi-stack winners with local Gregory Marcus advancing four stacks out of the eight flights. Day 2 saw 345 players return, already in the money, and the field shrank in a hurry as the payouts increased.

The slow structure and deep stacks gave players plenty of room to make moves and it took longer than scheduled to find a winner. The tournament was paused during Day 2 to give the remaining 12 players a break before coming back for a bonus day.

Ha bagged up a big chip lead for the return and held it for most of Day 3. Raminder Singh and David Shaw also spent time at the top of the counts while the rest of the players fell away. Those three made the final table along with a gang of locals that included David Prociak, runner-up finisher in the 2015 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” Championship a few months ago.

There were long stretches of time with no big hands followed by quick eliminations. Richard Hutchings was eliminated four hours into the action and set up a long three-handed battle. Shaw’s time at the top of the counts ended against Ha right before a break and he was gone shortly afterwards.

The heads up battle began with local favorite Singh holding a small lead over Ha but that quickly changed. Ha took a big lead with a rivered flush and the tournament was over a few hands later. It was a great result for Ha, the pro poker player who made the trek down from the frigid Northeast for some Sunshine State poker.

The big tournament win was a great start to 2016 for Ha after a year that saw him finish one spot from the winner several times. The 24-year-old Philadelphia resident finished in the runner-up spot in three Big Stax tournaments at Parx casino but he now has the biggest tournament win of his career.

“It feels really great!” Ha exclaimed. “I got second place three times at Parx and I’m very happy.”

Ha now has over $470,000 in career earnings and has his sights on another deep run, he hopes that will be in the WPTDeepStacks Main Event.

Event 1 Final Table Results:

1st: Thai Ha (Philadelphia, PA) – $230,423
2nd: Raminder Singh (Delray Beach, FL) – $141,227
3rd: David Shaw (Pompano Beach, FL) – $74,330
4th: Richard Hutchings (Boca Raton, FL) – $57,977
5th: David Prociak (Orlando, FL) – $41,996
6th: Evgeniy Catane (Sunny Isles Beach, FL) – $31,962
7th: Jordan Meltzer (Delray Beach, FL) – $24,529
8th: Claudio Piedrabuena (Hallandale, FL) – $17,839
9th: Daniel Perez (Caracas, Ven) – $12,636
10th: Ronald Campillo (Pembroke Pines, FL) – $8,176

Full results available from our friends at the TheHendonMob.com.

Event 1: Ha Defeats Singh to Win Ultimate Re-Entry Title

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 34: 250,000/500,000/50,000 Ante

Thai Ha raised to 1,000,000 from the button and Raminder Singh called from the big blind.

The flop fell KhQs9d and Singh check-called 1,200,000 from Ha to see the 4d turn. Singh checked, Ha bet 1,700,000, Singh check-raised to 5,200,000, Ha reraised all in with the bigger stack and Singh called all in for about 12 million.

Ha: Kd2d
Singh: Jd10h

Singh had the nut straight and needed to fade a diamond, but the 10d landed to give Ha a king-high flush to win to eliminate Singh and win the tournament. For his runner-up showing, Singh earned $141,227.

Thai Ha wins the Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em for $230,423!

Event 1: Ha Takes Big Lead

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 34: 250,000/500,000/50,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 2
Average Stack: 28,500,000 (57 bb)

Heads up

Raminder Singh began heads up play with a 4 million chip lead but Thai Ha has erased that plus a lot more. It took one hand to get most of it.

Ha called 1,200,000 from Singh to see the Tc8d4c flop and check/called another 1,500,000 from Singh. Ha took his turn betting out for 2,400,000 after the Js turn and Singh called before the 8c river.

Ha grabbed a few 100K chips and put them on top of three more 100K barrels. The bet was 6,900,000 and Singh called after confirming the bet size, then quickly snapped them into the muck when Ha tabled 3c2c for the baby flush.

The hand pushed Ha up to a big lead but there could be a long ways to go.

Seat 1: Thai Ha – 40,885,000 (82 bb)
Seat 3: Raminder Singh – 16,100,000 (32 bb)

Event 1: David Shaw – 3rd Place ($74,330)

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 34: 250,000/500,000/50,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 19,000,000 (38 bb)

Raminder Singh (left) eliminats David Shaw (right)
Raminder Singh (left) eliminats David Shaw (right)

David Shaw came back from the break with 10 big blinds and said “time to make my stand”.

He moved all-in after Raminder Singh opened to 1,200,000 and got a quick call. Shaw was in trouble with Qs6s against AdKd and never caught up as the dealer spread ThTc9d2h9h. It was a quick drop from the three-handed lead and Shaw was gone in 3rd place for $74,330.

David Shaw – Eliminated in 3rd Place

Heads up counts:
Seat 1: Thai Ha – 26,085,000 (52 bb)
Seat 3: Raminder Singh – 30,900,000 (62 bb)

Raminder Singh and David Shaw shake hands after Shaw's knockout
Raminder Singh and David Shaw shake hands after Shaw’s knockout

Event 1: Ha Doubles Back into Contention

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 200,000/400,000/50,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 19,000,000 (47 bb)

Thai Ha waiting for his chips
Thai Ha waiting for his chips

It was a tough level for Thai Ha but he doubled his back to a slight lead just before the next break.

David Shaw raised to 1,100,000 before Ha moved all-in for 12,300,000 and Shaw called with AhKd. Ha was ahead with 6c6s and stayed that way on the Tc3c2s flop. The 5c gave Shaw no help though he called for a Four, a card that was not good for him, and the blank 2s sent a big pot to Ha.

The hand gave Ha a temporary lead that Singh took over when he won another 2 million off Shaw on the last hand before the break.

Update counts on break:

Seat 1: Thai Ha – 24,650,000 (62 bb)
Seat 3: Raminder Singh – 27,375,000 (68 bb)
Seat 8: David Shaw – 5,050,000 (13 bb)

Event 1: Shaw Takes More from Ha

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 200,000/400,000/50,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 19,000,000 (47 bb)

Thai Ha
Thai Ha, trending south in this level

Thai Ha has quickly gone from the biggest stack of the three to the shortest, though “short” is all relative. It was David Shaw taking another big part of this stack.

Shaw opened to 1,100,000 with Ha and Raminder Singh coming along to the AcKd7h flop. All three checked and Ha led out for 2,100,000 after the Td turn. Singh let his hand go and Shaw called to the 7s river.

Ha put out 1,600,000 and Shaw raised it up to 4,000,000 even. He got the call he wanted and tabled TsTh for the turned set.

Seat 1: Thai Ha – 14,000,000 (35 bb)
Seat 3: Raminder Singh – 23,000,000 (58 bb)
Seat 8: David Shaw – 19,900,000 (50 bb)

Event 1: Shaw Takes Some Back from Ha

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 200,000/400,000/50,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 19,000,000 (47 bb)

Raminder Singh folded his button and David Shaw opened to 1,000,000 to get a call from Thai Ha. Shaw led out for another 1,100,000 after the KcQs4h flop and Ha called once more.

Both players checked the Ah turn and Shaw fired 1,600,000 after the 7d river. Ha called then mucked his hand when Shaw JcTd for Broadway and the win.

Thai Ha – 25,000,000 (63 bb)
David Shaw – 14,600,000 (37 bb)

Event 1: Ha Shows The Bluff

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 32: 150,000/300,000/50,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 19,000,000 (63 bb)

David Shaw raised to 800,000 from the small blind, Thai Ha three-bet to 2,000,000 from the big blind and Shaw called.

They checked to the turn of a 10s9s4h8h board where Shaw checked again. Ha bet 2,700,000, Shaw called and the 7h river completed the board.

Shaw checked to Ha again and this time he bet about 7,800,000.

“That’s the worst river card possible. I should have shoved the flop. I had you so bad,” said Shaw as he folded.

Ha showed AhQs for ace high as he collected the pot.

Thai Ha – 32,000,000 (107 bb)
David Shaw – 11,850,000 (40 bb)

Event 1: Three-Handed Counts

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 32: 150,000/300,000/50,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 3
Average Stack: 19,000,000 (63 bb)

After the crazy action of Level 31, the three remaining players took a 15-minute breather. They’ll return with deep stacks and Thai Ha back in the lead.

Final Table
Seat 1: Thai Ha – 25,350,000 (85 bb)
Seat 3: Raminder Singh – 16,150,000 (54 bb)
Seat 8: David Shaw – 15,575,000 (52 bb)

Event 1: Richard Hutchings – 4th Place ($57,977)

$350 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 31: 125,000/250,000/25,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 4
Average Stack: 14,250,000 (57 bb)

Richard Hutchings
Richard Hutchings, 4th Place ($57,977)

No slowing down this final table.

A few minutes after Prociak’s elimination, we had Richard Hutchings at risk himself. It started when Thai Ha opened to 500,000 and David Shaw called in the small blind.

Hutchings moved all-in for 6,580,000 from the big blind and Ha called while Shaw folded. Hutchings was at risk with AhJc against 9s9c but didn’t catch a piece of the 7d5h2sKc7s board to go out in 4th place for $57,977.

Hutchings: Eliminated in 4th Place
Ha: 22,900,000