2023 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 17
$600 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guarantee
Entries:  235
Prize Pool:  $123,375
January 17, 2023

Event 17 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was a $600 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). A field of 235 entries generated a prize pool of $123,275, more than doubling the guarantee.

A three-way chop was agreed upon at the final table, and as the chip leader, Alessio Isaia was the official winner for $20,592. The win marked Isaia’s second SHRP major series victory in as many days, as yesterday he won Event 9 outright for $55,835.

*denotes three-way chop

$400 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 26:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 238

After a flop of with about 375,000 already in the pot, Amir Baron checked, and Buck Bucceri checked behind.

The turn card was the , Baron checked, Bucceri bet 300,000, and Baron check-raised all in. Bucceri went into the tank with about 1,585,000 remaining in his stack.

“If you had gone all in on the flop,” said Bucceri, “I’d have snap-called.”

Bucceri thought for a little while longer before he called all in for 1,885,000 with for a pair of jacks.

But Baron turned over for a jack-high straight, and Bucceri was drawing dead.

The meaningless river card was the , and Baron won the pot — and the title and the trophy — with a jack-high straight.

Congratulations to Amir Baron on winning the Seniors Event!

1st:  Amir Baron  –  $18,435 + LHPO trophy
2nd:  Christopher “Buck” Bucceri  –  $13,000
3rd:  Mark McGarity  –  $8,175
4th:  Jeff Sauer  –  $4,970
5th:  Padraig Burns  –  $3,840
6th:  Peter Shapiro  –  $3,180
7th:  Andrzej Rogowski  –  $2,710
8th:  George Hortelano  –  $2,315
9th:  Deonarine Itwaru  –  $1,865

Stay tuned for a recap from this event later tonight.

$600 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 235

The remaining three players in Event 17 agreed to an even chop.

Here were their chip counts at the time:

Alessio Isaia  –  1,635,000  (65 bb)
Austin Morin  – 1,580,000  (63 bb)
Steven McKoy  –  1,490,000  (60 bb)

Here were the resulting payouts:

Alessio Isaia  –  $20,592
Austin Morin  – $20,592
Steven McKoy  –  $20,591

As the chip leader, Alessio Isaia is the official Event 17 champion, his second SHRP trophy in as many days.

A recap of the tournament will be posted later this morning.

$600 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 235

Jack Ranallo raised all in for about 305,000 from the cutoff, and Austin Morin called in the big blind.

Ranallo: 
Morin: 

The board ran out , giving Morin a flush to eliminate Ranallo in fourth place.

Austin Morin  –  1,580,000  (79 bb)
Jack Ranallo  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($9,410)

$400 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 26:  25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 238

After a flop of , Amir Baron checked, Buck Bucceri bet 100,000, and Baron check-raised to about 325,000.

Bucceri moved all in, and Baron called all in for 1,365,000 with for a pair of eights with a gutshot straight draw.

Bucceri turned over for a pair of nines with a different gutshot straight draw, and Baron needed to improve to stay alive.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Baron rivered trip eights to win the pot and double up in chips.

Amir Baron  –  2,875,000  (58 bb)
Buck Bucceri  –  1,885,000  (38 bb)

1st:  $18,435 + LHPO trophy
2nd:  $13,000

$600 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 235

With about 350,000 in the pot and the board reading , Richard Katz was all in for about 200,000 in the big blind with for aces and queens, leading Austin Morin who was under the gun holding .

The river was the , giving Morin an ace-high straight to eliminate Katz in fifth place.

Austin Morin  –  1,265,000  (63 bb)
Richard Katz  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($6,765)

$400 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 25:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 238

Mark McGarity got it all in from the big blind for about 265,000 with , and needed to improve to stay alive against the of Buck Bucceri in the small blind.

The flop came , and McGarity flopped a pair of tens with an open-ended straight draw.

The turn card was the , giving Bucceri a pair of aces, but McGarity picked up some outs with a flush draw.

The river card was the , and Bucceri won the pot with his pair of aces to eliminate McGarity in third place.

Mark McGarity  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($8,175)

Here are the approximate chip counts for the start of heads-up play, followed by the final table payouts:

Buck Bucceri  –  2,800,000  (70 bb)
Amir Baron  –  1,950,000  (49 bb)

1st:  $18,435 + LHPO trophy
2nd:  $13,000

3rd:  Mark McGarity  –  $8,175
4th:  Jeff Sauer  –  $4,970
5th:  Padraig Burns  –  $3,840
6th:  Peter Shapiro  –  $3,180
7th:  Andrzej Rogowski  –  $2,710
8th:  George Hortelano  –  $2,315
9th:  Deonarine Itwaru  –  $1,865

$400 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 25:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 238

Buck Bucceri got it all in from the small blind for 610,000 with , and needed to improve to stay alive against the of Mark McGarity in the big blind.

The board came , and Bucceri flopped a pair of kings to McGarity’s jack-high flush draw, with Bucceri rivering trip kings to win the pot and double up in chips.

Buck Bucceri  –  1,260,000  (32 bb)
Mark McGarity  –  1,545,000  (39 bb)

A few minutes later, McGarity raised from the button to 100,000, Bucceri raised from the big blind to 340,000, and McGarity moved all in for about 1,525,000.

Bucceri called all in for 1,220,000 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against McGarity’s .

The board came , and Bucceri paired his ace on the turn to win the pot and double up again.

Buck Bucceri  –  2,500,000  (63 bb)
Mark McGarity  –  300,000  (8 bb)

With three players remaining from a field of 238, the average chip stack is around 1,585,000 (40 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $8,175 each.

$400 Seniors 50+ NLH (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 25:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 238

Mark McGarity got it all in from the small blind for 920,000 with , and needed his hand to hold to stay alive against the of Amir Baron in the big blind.

The board came , and McGarity won the pot with his ace to double up in chips.

Mark McGarity  –  1,880,000  (47 bb)
Amir Baron  –  2,155,000  (54 bb)

With three players remaining from a field of 238, the average chip stack is around 1,585,000 (40 big blinds). The remaining players are guaranteed at least $8,175 each.

$600 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 235