Antonio De La Cruz Won His First Trophy, But Not the One He Wanted

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

Event 21 Champion Antonio De La Cruz
Event 21 Champion Antonio De La Cruz

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.

Event 21: Final Table Begins with Antonio De La Cruz in the Lead

$400 Deep Stack Black Chip Bounty (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | StructurePayouts
Level 20:  5,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  9 of 171

The final nine players have drawn for random seats at the final table, and they will play down to a winner tonight. Here are their updated chip counts, followed by the payouts:

Seat 1.  David A. Howard  –  525,000  (35 bb)
Seat 2.  Solange Lucas  –  95,000  (6 bb)
Seat 3.  Antonio De La Cruz  –  750,000  (50 bb)
Seat 4.  Stephen Vecchio  –  170,000  (11 bb)
Seat 5.  Christopher Wilson  –  580,000  (39 bb)
Seat 6.  Jason Nablo  –  730,000  (49 bb)
Seat 7.  Oleksandr Vikhtiuk  –  235,000  (16 bb)
Seat 8.  Michael Hoch  –  50,000  (3 bb)
Seat 9.  Yulia Lisichkina  –  465,000  (31 bb)

1st:  $10,788 + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  $7,137
3rd:  $4,209
4th:  $2,561
5th:  $1,976
6th:  $1,637
7th:  $1,416
8th:  $1,239
9th:  $1,079

10th:  Mark Cannon  –  $919
11th:  Jaime Campos  –  $919
12th:  Bret Bowman  –  $919
13th:  Christopher Funari  –  $778
14th:  Howard Schrager  –  $778
15th:  Larry Dean  –  $778
16th:  Michael Rosenberg  –  $646
17th:  Eric Halpern  –  $646
18th:  Michael Lerner  –  $646
19th:  Richard Chouinard  –  $523
20th:  Eddie Turner  –  $523
21st:  Gentry Hover  –  $523
22nd:  Franklin Lacava  –  $400

Event 21: Prize Pool and Payouts with $10K to the Black Chip Champ

$400 Deep Stack Black Chip Bounty (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | StructurePayouts
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Entries:  171

Registration is closed for the $400 Black Chip Bounty game and the tournament drew 171 entries to easily surpass the $50,000 guarantee. They put the normal prize pool at $41,040 with another $17,100 up for grabs in the form of bounties.

The last 22 players will make the money with a min-cash worth $400 and the winner will take home $10,788.

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

1st: $10,788 + LHPO Trophy
2nd: $7,137
3rd: $4,209
4th: $2,561
5th: $1,976
6th: $1,637
7th: $1,416
8th: $1,239
9th: $1,079
10th-12th: $919
13th-15th: $778
16th-18th: $646
19th-21st: $523
22nd: $400

Event 21: Sunday Bounties

$400 Deep Stack Black Chip Bounty (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 1:  100/100

Seminole Hard Rock Logo

With the Championship moving forward, we are rolling out more tournaments over the last few days of the series including three new runs today. Event 21 kicks off at noon and is a $400 Deep Stack Black Chip Bounty with a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool and $100 bounties.

They’ll sit down to 20,000 stacks and play 30-minute levels. Late registration and unlimited re-entries are available until the start of Level 9 at 4:30 pm with a dinner break at 6:30 pm. Since this is a one-day tournament, another LHPO trophy will be awarded later this evening.

  • $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
  • Players begin with 20,000 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 21 Structure Sheet

LHPO Day 11 Schedule

Primary Event Schedule

12PM: Day 2 – $3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship

12PM: Event 21 – $400 Deep Stack Black Chip Bounty (Re-Entry)

  • $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool
  • Players begin with 20,000 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 21 Structure Sheet

3PM: Event 22 – $1,100 Six-Max NLH (Re-Entry)

  • $100,000 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 22 Structure Sheet

Secondary and Satellite Schedule

3PM: Event 67 – $140 Satellite into Event 24 (1-in-5)

  • 5 seats guaranteed into $600/$50K GTD LHPO Event 24
  • Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 20-minute levels
  • Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 10
  • This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
  • Structure Sheet

6PM: Event 68 – $2,650 High Roller Satellite (1-in-10)

  • 2 seats guaranteed into $1,000,000 GTD LHPO High Roller
  • 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
  • Structure Sheet

10:30PM: Event 69 – $2,625 High Roller Super Turbo Satellite (1-in-10)

  • 1 seat guaranteed into $1,000,000 GTD LHPO High Roller
  • Players begin with 10,000 in chips and 10-minute levels
  • Late registration/re-entry available until start of Level 8
  • This is a one-day tournament and plays until completion
  • Structure Sheet

Complete 2020 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open Schedule