$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 4: 100/200 with a 25 ante
Flight B Entries: 305 (Total Entries: 769)

The WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship isn’t only about the big names coming to town for the big tour. We also have our fair share of local regulars grinding alongside world champions with more than a few getting here via the many satellites offered.

Two of them are sitting at adjacent tables and trying to add to their SHRP résumés. Ruslan Dykshteyn won the inaugural Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $1,100 Big 4 tournament in 2016 a few months after he won the Showdown $1 Million Guarantee Deepstack event.

Melisa Singh can usually be found on the cash game side of the room but she will come out for some of our big events. She picked up her first career tournament win in October when she won our WSOP Circuit series Ladies event.

Both players are working their stacks with Dykshetyn sitting with 43,000 and Singh with 24,000.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3: 75/150 with a 25 ante
Flight B Entries: 285 (Total Entries: 749)

The Flight B field recently grew bigger by one, very tough entry. Vanessa Selbst is back in town after retiring from the game to concentrate on her life away from the tables. Even with retirement, she is always among the favorites to go deep in any event she enters.

Selbst is one of the best players to sit at a table and has racked up $11.8 million in career earnings. She owns three WSOP bracelets in three different poker variants (Pot Limit Omaha, 10-Game Mix, and Mixed-Max No Limit Hold’em) plus a $1.8 million win in Cannes. Selbst also won two events on the short-lived North American Poker Tour and two High Rollers for more than $1 million each.

Good luck Table 45.

Will any friends be at the Hard Rock this weekend? It’s gonna be my first tournament as a rec and I’m actually giddy with excitement 🙂

— Vanessa Selbst (@VanessaSelbst) January 17, 2018

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 3: 75/150 with a 25 ante
Flight B Entries: 263 (Total Entries: 727)

The first break is complete and Flight B players are back in their seats. There seemed to be less volatility during the first two levels and 77,500 is good enough to give Ryan Franklin the early lead. Only three other players doubled their stack before the first break.

They will grind two more levels before another break rolls around.

Top stacks:
Ryan Franklin – 77,500
Dong Jun Ji – 66,000
Keven Stammen – 66,000
Kelly Minkin – 60,000
Nathan Papp – 58,000
Mukul Pahuja – 58,000

Other notables:
Neil Blumenfield – 55,000
Luke Brereton – 49,100
Brian Hastings – 45,780
Josh Beckley – 45,000
Blair Hinkle – 44,000
Michael Quinn – 43,000
Jake Bazeley – 37,700
Nick Palma – 36,000
Luke Vrabel – 33,975
Andy Frankenberger – 33,450
Tony Dunst – 31,175
Phil Hui – 31,000
Vanessa Selbst – 30,200
Ari Engel – 28,975
Harrison Gimbel – 25,600
Eric Afriat – 13,300

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2: 75/150
Flight B Entries: 239 (Total Entries: 703)

Flight B players are on their first break of the day after the count went over 700 entries combined for the tournament so far.

We’ll use the opportunity to track down our early frontrunners.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2: 75/150
Flight B Entries: 228 (Total Entries: 692)

There’s nothing like entering a tournament right on the heels of winning a big one. TK Miles was late getting to the Lucky Hearts Poker Open because in he was busy in Biloxi, MS winning The Million Dollar Heater for a cool $113,000.

Now he’s set up in the ballroom trying to add another title.

Miles isn’t a flash in the pan, he has $2.3 million in career earnings, a WSOP Circuit ring, and he took home the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Summer Poker Open Championship for $295,000.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 2: 75/150
Flight B Entries: 201 (Total Entries: 665)

The entry count moved over 200 for Flight B and we are building up another nice day in the ballroom. The next milestone will be entry number 317 which will push the prize pool to $2.5 million.

WPT Commentator Tony Dunst is taking a second shot at the title and drew the first table in the room. He has a friendly draw and the table seems to be having a good time.

Dunst is only a soothing voice on television, he’s also a very successful player. His credits include his first career WPT win in 2013 followed by his first WSOP bracelet in 2016. Dunst has just shy of $3 million in career earnings and that doesn’t include the $1.8 million earned during the glory days of online poker.

Dunst replaced Hall of Famer Mike Sexton in the WPT broadcast booth to call the final table action alongside Vince Van Patten. This weekend he is trying to force a lineup chance while he plays at the final table.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 50/100
Flight B Entries: 187 (Total Entries: 651)

For each major series we run, we also give away a seat into the Championship. Anyone can submit their entry and the luck of the draw sends one into the big game.

Michael Quinn entered his name and the random generator pulled his name from the virtual hat and he is here today playing in his first WPT event. Quinn is from Georgia and drove through the night to reach South Florida in enough time to rest up before taking his seat in today’s final flight.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 50/100
Flight B Entries: 161 (Total Entries: 625)

With 161 entries today, the 2018 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship officially hit the $2 Million Guarantee. Each new entry will push the prize pool higher and higher until registration shuts down this evening at 10:15 pm.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 50/100
Flight B Entries: 124 (Total Entries: 588)

The introductions are complete, the player instructions given, and cards are in the air for Flight B of the $2 Million Guarantee WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open.

There are 124 entries at the start and counting to 161 to hit the guarantee.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1: 50/100

It’s almost time to run out the second starting flight of the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship and we should have some big news early in the day. Flight A drew 464 entries to leave the tournament only 161 entries away from hitting the $2 Million Guarantee.

They will reach that number early in the afternoon and continue building it throughout the day until registration closes on the Championship.

A total of 175 players advanced from Flight A with some big names near the top including Darryll Fish, Andre Akkari, Joey Weismann, Byron Kaverman, Rainer Kempe, and current chip leader Brad Albrinck.

Today’s survivors will return for Day 2 tomorrow at noon and begin playing down to the money, final table, and eventual champion.

Each entrant will sit down to a 30,000 starting stack and play hour-long levels during the opening days. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 10:15 pm and they will play ten full levels before bagging up.

It will be another big Saturday in the ballroom and we will build the biggest prize pool of the series.

Chip counts from Flight A

• $2,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 30,000 in chips
• Days 1 & 2 levels last 60 minutes; Day 3 levels last 90 minutes
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• Day 1 will end after Level 10 or Tournament Director discretion
• Championship Structure Sheet