2025 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 4
$200 Big Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$30,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  190
Prize Pool:  $30,400
January 9, 2025 

Event 4 of the 2025 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was a $200 Big Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). A field of 190 entries produced a prize pool of $30,400. The final 24 players will finish in the money, with a min-cash paying $281.

First-place pays $7,705. Additionally, a $3,500 seat into the LHPO championship is up top for the winner. 

1st:  $7,705 + $3,500 LHPO Championship Seat + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  $5,225
3rd:  $3,116
4th:  $1,895
5th:  $1,464
6th:  $1,213
7th:  $1,034
8th:  $901
9th:  $773
10th-12th:  $666
13th-15th:  $562
16th-18th:  $467
19th-21st:  $372
22nd-24th:  $281

$600 Deep Stack Big O (Re-Entry)
Structure  |  Payouts
Level 16:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  13 of 98

Ryan Hoenig raised from early position and Wayne Palitz called all in for 18,500 in the big blind.

Hoenig: 
Palitz: 

The board ran out , giving Hoenig a wheel to scoop the pot and eliminate Palitz on the money bubble.

Ryan Hoenig  –  135,000  (23 bb)
Wayne Palitz  –  Eliminated on the Money Bubble

$400 Seniors 50+ No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  16 of 232

The final 16 players return from break to begin Level 21, with increased blinds of 10,000-15,000 and a 15,000 ante.

Here are the official chip counts and seating positions from the break:

TABLE 17
Seat 1.  Peter Fellows  –  600,000  (40 bb)
Seat 2.  Joel Piekarski  –  125,000  (8 bb)
Seat 3.  Osvaldo Rodriguez  –  160,000  (11 bb)
Seat 4.  
Seat 5.  Dennis Gilman  –  165,000  (11 bb)
Seat 6.  Alon Shahar  –  780,000  (52 bb)
Seat 7.  
Seat 8.  Lily Kornik  –  305,000  (20 bb)
Seat 9.  Christopher Bucceri  –  200,000  (13 bb)

TABLE 25
Seat 1.  Robert Rosen  –  100,000  (7 bb)
Seat 2.  Emerson Ward  –  390,000  (26 bb)
Seat 3.  Michael Valore  –  5,000*  (<1 bb)
Seat 4.  Stephen Kronick  –  595,000  (40 bb)
Seat 5.  Gregory Baird  –  165,000  (11 bb)
Seat 6.  Michael Preston  –  185,000  (12 bb)
Seat 7.  Matt Glantz  –  400,000  (27 bb)
Seat 8.  Joe Farinella  –  135,000  (9 bb)
Seat 9.  Andrew Gordon  –  335,000  (22 bb)

Note:  Michael Valore went to break with just a single 1K chip, but since you can’t be eliminated during a color-up, he returned from break to find a single 5K chip. Unfortunately for Valore, he wasn’t able to spin it up, and was eliminated a few minutes into Level 21.

Here are the remaining payouts at stake:

1st:  $16,740 + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  $11,300
3rd:  $8,400
4th:  $6,300
5th:  $4,720
6th:  $3,600
7th:  $2,780
8th:  $2,160
9th-10th:  $1,680
11th-12th:  $1,360
13th-15th:  $1,160
16th:  $960

With 16 players remaining from a field of 232, the average chip stack is around 290,000 (19 big blinds).

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Flight B Players Remaining:  153 of 318

Flight B of LHPO Event 1 closed with 318 entries, bringing the total field size to 684 entries through the opening two flights.

Play in Flight B will continue until 40 players remain. Players must bag a stack in order to cash, and those who do will return for Day 2 on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Chip Counts Through Flight A

$400 Seniors 50+ No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  28 of 232

In Hand #2 of hand-for-hand play on the Money Bubble, Richard Green got it all in from UTG+1 for 11,000 with , but he needed to improve to stay alive against the of Alon Shahar in the cutoff.

The board came , and the aces held up for Shahar to win the pot and eliminate Green on the Money Bubble.

Alon Shahar  –  395,000  (49 bb)
Richard Green  –  Eliminated

However, there was another all-in-and-call situation at a different table during the same hand, resulting in the elimination of Lance Pacernick. That means both players receive a tie for 29th place, splitting a min-cash between them to earn $330 each.

Richard Green  –  Eliminated in a Tie for 29th Place  ($330)
Lance Pacernick  –  Eliminated in a Tie for 29th Place  ($330)

The remaining 28 players are in the money (guaranteed at least $660 each), with an average chip stack around 166,000 (21 big blinds).

$400 Seniors 50+ No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 ante
Players Remaining:  30 of 232

With 30 players remaining and only 29 spots getting paid, it’s time to begin hand-for-hand play on the Money Bubble.

With 30 players remaining from a field of 232, the average chip stack is about 155,000 (19 big blinds). Here are the payouts they’re playing for:

1st:  $16,740 + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  $11,300
3rd:  $8,400
4th:  $6,300
5th:  $4,720
6th:  $3,600
7th:  $2,780
8th:  $2,160
9th-10th:  $1,680
11th-12th:  $1,360
13th-15th:  $1,160
16th-19th:  $960
20th-23rd:  $800
24th-29th:  $660

$400 Seniors 50+ No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 ante
Players Remaining:  35 of 232

The players return from break to begin Level 17, with increased blinds of 3,000-6,000 and a 6,000 ante.

Only 29 spots are getting paid, so they are five eliminations away from the Money Bubble. There is only one player over 300K — chipleader Larry St. Jean, who has 335,000 (56 bb).

With 35 players remaining from a field of 232, the average chip stack is about 133,000 (22 big blinds). The final 29 players will finish in the money, with a min-cash worth $660.

2025 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 3
$600 Deep Stack Big O (Re-Entry)
Entries:  98
Prize Pool:  $50,960
January 9, 2025

Event 3 of the 2025 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was a $600 Deep Stack Big O (Re-Entry), drawing 98 entries for a prize pool of $50,960. This is also the first event counting toward the Mixed Game Leaderboard. The final 13 players finish in the money, with a min-cash paying $1,275.

Up top for the winner is $15,665.

1st:  $15,665 + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  $9,555
3rd:  $5,860
4th:  $3,825
5th:  $2,980
6th:  $2,380
7th:  $2,025
8th:  $1,765
9th:  $1,555
10th-11th:  $1,400
12th-13th:  $1,275

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed  |  Structure
Level 15:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Players Remaining:  46 of 366

Flight A:  366 Entries;  46 Advanced
Flight B:  In Progress (Reg. Open ~9:30 p.m.)
Flight C:  Friday at 10 a.m.
Flight D:  Friday at 5 p.m.
Flight E:  Saturday at 10 a.m.
Flight F:  Saturday at 5 p.m.
Day 2:  Sunday at 1 p.m.
Day 3:  Monday at 1 p.m.

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 15:  2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante
Flight A Players Remaining:  46 of 366

In the last hand of Level 15, with 48 players remaining but no more than 46 getting paid, four players saw a flop of . Three of them got it all in, and Miguel Capriles, who had the biggest stack, folded from middle position.

The other three players turned over their cards:

Chris Corneroli (big blind):    (set of jacks)
Small Blind:    (pair of nines, gutshot straight draw)
Cutoff:    (pair of nines, gutshot straight draw)

The turn card was the , giving the small blind additional outs with an open-ended straight draw, but the river card was the . Corneroli won the entire pot with his set of jacks to eliminate both of his opponents from Flight A.

Chris Corneroli  –  291,000  (73 bb)

With this double-elimination hand, the field is down to 46 players, and the tournament staff informed the dealers to finish the current hand and stop. Nobody else was eliminated, so 46 players were in the money and bagged up their chips for Day 2, which begins on Sunday at 1:00 pm.

Stay tuned for the full list of official chip counts from the 46 Flight A survivors.