Main Event Schedule

12PM: Event 5 – $360 Eight-Handed Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)

• Players begin with 10,000 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 5 Structure Sheet

Secondary and Satellite Schedule

9AM: Event 33 – $140 Turbo Satellite to Main Event (1-in-10)

• 2 seats guaranteed to $1 Million WPT DeepStacks Main Event
• Players begin with 7,500 in chips and 15-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 8
• Satellite will be held in The Poker Room
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 33 Structure Sheet

11AM: Event 34 – $140 Mega Satellite to Main Event (1-in-10)

• 30 seats guaranteed to $1 Million WPT DeepStacks Main Event
• Players begin with 7,500 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 34 Structure Sheet

3PM: Event 35 – $250 Mega Satellite to Main Event (1-in-5)

• 5 seats guaranteed to $1 Million WPT DeepStacks Main Event
• Players begin with 7,500 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 35 Structure Sheet

6PM: Event 36 – $140 Mega Satellite to Main Event (1-in-10)

• 10 seats guaranteed to $1 Million WPT DeepStacks Main Event
• Players begin with 7,500 in chips and 30-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 7
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 36 Structure Sheet

8PM: Event 37 – $140 Turbo Satellite to Main Event (1-in-10)

• 2 seats guaranteed to $1 Million WPT DeepStacks Main Event
• Players begin with 7,500 in chips and 15-minute levels
• Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 8
• This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
• Event 37 Structure Sheet

2017 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, FL
Event 1
$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Entries: 4,756
Prize Pool: $1,426,800
January 12 – 17, 2016

The 2017 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open kicked off the schedule with a huge multi-day tournament that drew one of the biggest fields in state history. The event saw 4,756 entries get in the game and they all dropped to the side as local favorite, 2016 WSOP November Niner Jerry Wong outlasted them all to collect the title along with $250,000.

In 2016, the inaugural run of the Ultimate Re-Entry tournament drew 4,075 entries to create the biggest tournament field in Florida poker history. That record was surpassed during the first 2016 Seminole Hard Rock “Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open” event and the 2017 Ultimate Re-Entry is now the second biggest.

The $360 buy-in tournament had a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool and the huge turnout pushed the prize money over $1.4 million when registration was officially closed with more than $250,000 reserved to the top spot.

The unique format of this tournament allowed players to enter as many opening flights as they wished and collect a multi-stack payout if they were able to advance more than one stack on to Day 2. The smallest stacks would be paid $2,500 with the biggest stack going into play. Each of the eight opening flights played down to 10% of the field to put everyone in the money at the start of Day 2.

Zack Milchman was the biggest winner in the multi-stack payout category. He managed to make the money in an incredible five of eight flights to put $10,000 in his pocket before playing a hand on Day 2. All told, 88 multi-stack payouts were awarded and 387 players returned for Day 2 on Monday.

Casey Carroll was the chip leader at the start of Day 2 but he did not play a role in the latter parts of the tournament. Since everyone was already in the money, the action moved along at a brisk clip and the field dropped under 100 before their dinner break.

A full day of action wasn’t enough to determine a champion on Monday and 22 players returned on Tuesday for some bonus poker with Fabio Pereira leading the way against a talented group that included Wong, Jake Schwartz, Victor Figueroa, Evan Teitelbaum, Nancy Thomas, Marcus Stein, Steven McKoy, and Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Michael Laake.

The stacks were deep and it took three hours to whittle those 22 players down to the final table. Figueroa and Laake were the two big stacks at the start of the final table but that is when Wong began his great run.

Players dropped left and right while Wong continued to pile up the chips. After Christopher Arcidiacono was eliminated in fifth place, Wong held 42 of the 66 million chips in play and the last four players decided to divide up the remaining prize money with the lion’s share going to Wong as the champion.

“Everyone did what was in their best financial interest, and we reached a deal,” Wong stated afterward.

This is the third biggest score for Wong. He earned $1.1 million for his eighth place finish in the 2016 WSOP Main Event and $725,000 for a third place results in the 2013 PCA Main Event.

“After the (WSOP) Main Event, this is the largest field I’ve been deep in,” Wong said.

“I didn’t win that one, but it feels good to win this one,” he continued. “I played with some pretty tough players and had a nice run of cards, especially after the dinner break.”

Final table results:

1st: Jerry Wong – $250,000
2nd: Nancy Thomas – $104,113
3rd: Victor Figueroa – $103,826
4th: Steven McKoy – $91,241
5th: Christopher Arcidiacono – $45,765
6th: Michael Laake – $34,830
7th: Fabio Pereira – $26,730
8th: Jose De La Cruz – $19,440
9th: Gal Erlichman – $13,770

• Download: Complete Tournament Results (PDF)

2017 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Event 4
$570 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry)
Total Entries: 165
Prize Pool: $82,500
January 17, 2017

Hollywood, Fla. (January 17, 2017) – Event 4 of the 2017 Lucky Hearts Poker Open, a $570 Six-Max No Limit Hold’em (Single Re-Entry) , drew a field of 165 entries and generated a prize pool of $82,500. After about 10 hours of play, a deal was reached between the final five players. Soheb Porandarwala was the big chip leader entering the final table and was still on top of the counts when numbers were agreed upon, giving him the officially victory.

Residing in Norwalk, Connecticut, the 26-year-old father of 2 has now amassed more than $360,000 is career tournament winnings. This was only Porandarwala’s second trip to the Seminole Hard Rock, as he prefers to play locally in the northeast.

“I don’t travel much for poker. I guess that’s kind of an anomaly these days, but I wanted to be somewhere warmer than back home,” said Porandarwala. “My family and I were in India recently, and my wife and kids are still there. I didn’t really want to go back to Connecticut without them, so I figured I would come here and visit some friends. I knew the series was going on, so I figured I would play in a few events.”

That decision certainly paid off with his victory tonight, and he’ll be back at it tomorrow in Event 5.

“I’ll play in the Pot-Limit Omaha (Event 5) tomorrow and try to go back to back, and I’ll also play the Main Event. Then my family will be returning from India and I’ll be back home with them.”

*denotes five-way deal

$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 34: 250,000/500,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 4,756
Average Stack: 16,500,000 (33 bb)

With Jerry Wong holding 42 of the 66 million chips in play, the four remaining players took some time to discuss a deal to chop up the remaining prize money.

Wong locked up $250,000 with his huge advantage while Nancy Thomas, Victor Figueroa, and Steven McKoy worked how to divide up the remaining money. Thomas officially took second place followed by Figueroa and McKoy.

Seat 2: Victor Figueroa – 8,925,000 (17 bb)
Seat 3: Steven McKoy – 5,900,000 (11 bb)
Seat 4: Jerry Wong – 42,150,000 (80 bb)
Seat 6: Nancy Thomas – 9,000,000 (18 bb)

1st: Jerry Wong – $250,000
2nd: Nancy Thomas – $104,113
3rd: Victor Figueroa – $103,826
4th: Steven McKoy – $91,241

$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 34: 250,000/500,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 4,756
Average Stack: 16,500,000 (33 bb)

Seat 2: Victor Figueroa – 8,925,000 (17 bb)
Seat 3: Steven McKoy – 5,900,000 (11 bb)
Seat 4: Jerry Wong – 42,150,000 (80 bb)
Seat 6: Nancy Thomas – 9,000,000 (18 bb)

$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 200,000/400,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 4,756
Average Stack: 16,500,000 (41 bb)

Steven McKoy opened to 800,000 from under the gun. Nancy Thomas and Victor Figueroa called in the blinds to see the flop. Thomas moved all-in, Figueroa folded, and McKoy quickly called for his final 4,650,000.

McKoy:
Thomas:

McKoy was dominating with his monster over-pair against Thomas’ flopped top pair. He doubled up after the turn and river to swap spots with Thomas.

Steven McKoy – 11,900,000 (30 bb)
Nancy Thomas – 5,100,000 (13 bb)

$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 200,000/400,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 4,756
Average Stack: 16,500,000 (41 bb)

Christopher Arcidiacono open/shoved from under the gun for 3,750,000 and found a caller in chip leader Jerry Wong in the small blind.

Wong:
Arcidiacono:

Another big pair for Wong and Arcidiacono couldn’t pair his ace on the run out to exit in fifth place.

Jerry Wong – 37,700,000 (94 bb)
Christopher Arcidiacono – Eliminated in 5th place ($45,765)

$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 200,000/400,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 4,756
Average Stack: 13,200,000 (33 bb)

Jerry Wong opened to 800,000 from under the gun and Nancy Thomas moved all in over the top for 5,500,000. Everyone else released and Wong called to put Thomas at risk.

Thomas:
Wong:

Thomas needed to dodge the over cards and did that on the board, though she thought she was out for a second.

“I thought you had AK,” she laughed as she sat back down.

Jerry Wong – 32,600,000 (82 bb)
Nancy Thomas – 11,850,000 (30 bb)

$360 Ultimate Re-Entry No Limit Hold’em
Level 33: 200,000/400,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 4,756
Average Stack: 13,200,000 (33 bb)

Michael Laake opened to 900,000 from under the gun and it folded around to Jerry Wong in the small blind. He moved all in to get Nancy Thomas to fold her big blind and Laake thought a minute before calling at risk for his 11,125,000 stack.

Wong:
Laake:

Laake was in danger and nothing on the flop changed that. It looked like he was in line for a huge double after the turn but Wong had a lot of outs with the club draw. Wong came back to win the hand on the river to send Laake out and stack up more than half of the chips in play.

Jerry Wong – 33,900,000 (85 bb)
Michael Laake – Eliminated in 6th place ($34,830)

The Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open WPTDeepStacks Main Event is right around the corner and we are having a mega satellite day starting tomorrow at 9am. Plenty of chances to win your way into the $1 Million Guarantee Main Event kicking off on Thursday.

There are five satellites running throughout the day with 49 combined seats guaranteed. The biggest kicks off at 11am and the $140 buy-in satellite has a huge 30 seat guarantee.

The remaining satellites are listed below for those looking to get into the Main Event for a discount.

Jan 18, 9am – $140 Main Event Turbo Satellite with 2 seats GTD
Jan 18, 11am – $140 Main Event Satellite with 30 seats GTD
Jan 18, 3pm – $250 Main Event Satellite with 5 seats GTD
Jan 18, 6pm – $140 Main Event Satellite with 10 seats GTD
Jan 18, 8pm – $140 Main Event Turbo Satellite with 2 seats GTD
Jan 19, 9am – $140 Main Event Turbo Satellite with 2 seats GTD
Jan 19, 3pm – $140 Main Event Turbo Satellite w/ 10 seats GTD
Jan 19, 8pm – $140 Main Event Turbo Satellite with 2 seats GTD
Jan 20, 9am – $140 Main Event Turbo Satellite with 2 seats GTD
Jan 20, 3pm – $140 Main Event Satellite with 10 seats GTD
Jan 20, 8pm – $140 Main Event Turbo Satellite with 2 seats GTD
Jan 21, 9am – $140 Main Event Turbo Satellite with 2 seats GTD