$600 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/100

Time is running out if you want to take home a trophy from the LHPO series. We have another handful of chances today starting with Event 24. The one-day trophy event is a $600 buy-in Big Stack tournament with a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Entrants will sit down to 15,000 starting stacks and all levels last 30 minutes today. Late registration is available until the start of Level 9 at 3:30 pm with unlimited re-entries allowed during that time. They will take a 40-minute dinner break at 5:30 pm and return to play it down to a champion.

• $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 15,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 24 Structure Sheet

Primary Event Schedule

11AM: Event 24 – $600 Big Stack NLH (Re-Entry)

• $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 15,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 24 Structure Sheet

12PM: Day 3 – $3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship

• Championship Day 3 Chip Counts
• Championship Day 3 Chip Table and Seat Assignments
• Championship Payouts

12PM: Day 1 – $25,500 High Roller NLH (Re-Entry)

• $1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 100,000 in chips and 40-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 10
• Day 1 will end when 8 players remain or Tournament Director discretion
• High Roller Structure Sheet

3PM: Event 26 – $400 Six-Max PLO (Single Re-Entry)

• Players begin with 12,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/SINGLE re-entry available until start of Level 9
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 26 Structure Sheet

5PM: Event 27 Day 1A – $150 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)

• $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
• Players begin with 15,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• Day 1 will end after Level 14 or Tournament Director discretion
• Event 27 Structure Sheet

Secondary and Satellite Schedule

3PM: Event 70 – $550 Satellite into Event 28 (1-in-10)

• 5 seats guaranteed into $5,000/$250K GTD LHPO Event 28
• Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 8
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Structure Sheet

6PM: Event 71 – $550 Super Turbo Satellite into Event 28 (1-in-10)

• 2 seats guaranteed into $5,000/$250K GTD LHPO Event 28
• Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 15-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 9
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Structure Sheet

2020 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 22
$1,100 Six-Max NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  160
Prize Pool:  $155,200
January 19, 2020

When Justin Zaki busted out of the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open on Sunday afternoon, he got in his car to drive home to Tampa, about three-and-a-half hours away. He got as far as a gas station before he remembered something.

“I realized I had a slot machine ticket that I never cashed out,” said Zaki. “So I returned to cash the ticket. Then I figured ‘Whatever, I guess I’ll play.’ ”

Zaki entered the $1,100 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em event, but his first entry didn’t go well — he was eliminated early in one of the most annoying ways possible when his ace-king lost against ace-king.

As frustrating as his day had been to that point, Zaki fired one more bullet, and his day finally turned around for the better. Zaki went on to win the event outright, defeating Ryan Jones heads-up for the title and the trophy.

Zaki has won more than $700,000 at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, but this is his first trophy here.

“It feels good,” said Zaki. “I’ve gotten close so many times, and I just never catch any breaks at the end. But I ran pretty good today.”

Zaki ran so well that he turned a bustout from the main event and an $80 slot machine ticket into $37,505 and his first Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood trophy.

Final Table Results:

1st:  Justin Zaki  –  $37,505
2nd:  Ryan Jones  –  $25,000
3rd:  Tim Vance  –  $17,060
4th:  Gregory Back  –  $11,925
5th:  Hector Pacheco  –  $8,545
6th:  Aleksandr Gofman  –  $6,285
7th:  Gaurav Krishan  –  $4,740

2020 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 21
$400 Deep Stack Black Chip Bounty (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  171
Prize Pool:  $41,040
Bounty Prize Pool:  $17,100
January 19, 2020

Antonio De La Cruz entered the $3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship, but didn’t make it to Day 2, which played out in the tournament area on Sunday. That freed up De La Cruz to enter Event 21 ($400 Deep Stack Black Chip Bounty), and he ended up winning that event to earn more money than any of the players who busted on Day 2 of the championship.

It’s also the first trophy of De La Cruz’s poker career.

“It’s nice,” said De La Cruz. “So many tournaments you final table, and you try so hard to win. I’ve been so close so many times, so I’m happy to win one.” Then De La Cruz pointed to the area where final 54 players in the championship event bagged up just an hour or two earlier. “I just wish it was that one.”

After the elimination of Jason Nablo in third place, De La Cruz had more than a 2-to-1 chip lead over Yulia Lisichkina (2,305,000 to 1,115,000). After a brief negotiation, De La Cruz and Lisichkina agreed to an ICM deal to split the remainder of the prizepool.

“Yulia was a really good player,” said De La Cruz. “I watched her play a lot during this tournament, and she played almost flawlessly. I really wanted to be heads-up with Nablo rather than her.”

Final Table Results:

1st:  Antonio De La Cruz  –  $9,598* + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  Yulia Lisichkina  –  $8,327*
3rd:  Jason Nablo  –  $4,209
4th:  Christopher Wilson  –  $2,561
5th:  David Howard  –  $1,976
6th:  Stephen Vecchio  –  $1,637
7th:  Oleksandr Vikhtiuk  –  $1,416
8th:  Solange Lucas  –  $1,239
9th:  Michael Hoch  –  $1,079

* Indicates a heads-up deal.

$1,100 Six-Max NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 160

After about 10 minutes of heads-up play, Ryan Jones got it all in from the button for 335,000 with , and he needed his hand to hold to stay alive against Justin Zaki’s .

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

Ryan Jones  –  690,000  (35 bb)
Justin Zaki  –  1,710,000  (86 bb)

About five minutes later, Jones got it all in again, this time with , but he was dominated by Zaki’s .

The board came , and the pocket sixes held up for Zaki to win the pot — and the tournament — with two pair, eights and sixes.

Stay tuned for a recap, which will be posted later tonight.

1st:  Justin Zaki  –  $37,505
2nd:  Ryan Jones  –  $25,000
3rd:  Tim Vance  –  $17,060
4th:  Gregory Back  –  $11,925
5th:  Hector Pacheco  –  $8,545
6th:  Aleksandr Gofman  –  $6,285
7th:  Gaurav Krishan  –  $4,740

$1,100 Six-Max NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 160

Tim Vance got it all in from the button for about 600,000 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against the of Justin Zaki in the big blind.

The board came , and the pocket queens held up for Zaki to win the pot and eliminate Vance in third place.

Tim Vance  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($17,060)

Heads-up play is underway, and these were their chip counts after Vance’s eliminations:

Justin Zaki  –  1,720,000  (86 bb)
Ryan Jones  –  680,000  (34 bb)

1st:  $37,505
2nd:  $25,000

$1,100 Six-Max NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 160

With the board showing on the turn, Gregory Back got it all in from the small blind for about 200,000 with for a turned set of tens.

But Ryan Jones turned over on the button for a flopped set of aces, and Back needed to catch the case ten on the river to stay alive.

The river card was the , and Jones won the pot with his higher set to eliminate Back in fourth place.

Gregory Back  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($11,925)

Seat 1.  Tim Vance  –  500,000  (33 bb)
Seat 2.  Ryan Jones  –  900,000  (60 bb)
Seat 3.  Justin Zaki  –  1,000,000  (67 bb)

$1,100 Six-Max NLH (Re-Entry)
$100,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 160

They are down to the final four players in the six-max tournament, and here are their approximate chip counts:

Seat 1.  Tim Vance  –  600,000  (40 bb)
Seat 2.  Ryan Jones  –  475,000  (32 bb)
Seat 3.  Gregory Back  –  225,000  (15 bb)
Seat 4.  Justin Zaki  –  1,050,000  (70 bb)

And here are the final table payouts:

1st:  $37,505
2nd:  $25,000
3rd:  $17,060
4th:  $11,925

5th:  Hector Pacheco  –  $8,545
6th:  Aleksandr Gofman  –  $6,285
7th:  Gaurav Krishan  –  $4,740

We will be providing live updates for the rest of the night until they reach a winner.