2023 LHPO in Review

Another series means another packed Grand Ballroom

The 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open kicked off the new year with a huge series. Over 43 trophy events, more than 16,000 entries came through the door to earn a piece of the $14,776,880 in prize money.

Events:  43
Entries:  16,320
Guarantees:  $5,480,000
Prize Pools:  $14,776,880

This was the biggest LHPO series in our history based on the entry counts, top five all-time across all festivals, and second most money we’ve awarded for a LHPO series.

We couldn’t do it without our old friends and the new ones we made during the series. Thank you.

The LHPO Championship headlined the series and drew 1,692 entries to smash the $2,000,000 guarantee. They created a prize pool worth $5,414,400 and Austrian Marius Gierse took the title along with $605,000 after a four-way deal.

Marius Gierse

We had another great round of notable wins during the series and Matt Bretzfield started things off with a big milestone. He captured the $600 Mixed PLO title early in the first week and became the first player in our history to win a trophy in four consecutive series.

Alessio Isaia and John Holley won two LHPO trophies. Isaia won his two tournaments in back-to-back days and Holley earned his seventh and eighth major Hollywood titles.

2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Event 9 Champion Alessio Isaia

Isaia came close to winning a third on the final night of the series, getting heads-up with a big lead but fell short against Valerie Novak. Had he won, Isaia would have been only the third player (and first in more than a decade) to win three in a series.

2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Event 37 Champion John Holley

Those eight wins for Holley were enough to move him into a tie for the second most ever and he joined Yuval Bronshtein with eight after he won the $600 Big O. Holley and Bronshtein are tied in second place with Michael Newman, one behind all-time leader Raminder Singh’s nine wins.

Most Major Hollywood Wins:

Raminder Singh – 9
John Holley – 8
Michael Newman – 8
Yuval Bronshtein – 8
Brian Altman – 7
David Prociak – 7
David Shmuel – 7
Gabriel Ramos – 7
Scott Baumstein – 6

Thank you again to everyone who came out for the series; we couldn’t do it without you. We look forward to seeing everyone for the 2023 Poker Showdown from April 13 to May 2!

Links for all 43 are listed below:

LHPO Championship: Marius Gierse – $605,000
Event 1 ($600 NLH): Scott Woodring – $190,939
Event 2 ($400 H.O.R.S.E.): Mark Hurst – $7,640
Event 3 ($150 Big Stack): Joseph Burns – $4,845
Event 4 ($400 Turbo): Javier Gomez Marquez – $4,740
Event 5 ($400 O8): David Shmuel – $12,025
Event 6 ($400 Bounty): Gilles Dalco – $9,170
Event 7 ($1,100 PLO): Taylor Lipson – $32,615
Event 8 ($400 NLH): Jeremy Becker – $33,615
Event 9 ($1,100 NLH): Alessio Isaia – $55,835
Event 10 ($600 Mixed PLO): Matt Bretzfield – $14,963
Event 11 ($200 Bounty): Darin Kaplan – $4,336
Event 12 ($200 NLH): Dejan Petkovic – $42,962
Event 13 ($600 Big O): Yuval Bronshtein – $13,405
Event 14 ($400 Bounty PLO): Michael McKuin – $11,175
Event 15 ($600 Turbo): John Holley – $13,760
Event 16 ($400 Seniors): Amir Baron – $18,434
Event 17 ($600 Six-Max): Alessio Isaia – $20,592
Event 18 ($1,100 Six-Max PLO8): Zhen Cai – $27,880
Event 19 ($2,200 NLH): Aaron Flores – $97,935
Event 20 ($10K High Roller PLO): Dylan Smith – $91,960
Event 21 ($600 PLO): William Kopp – $47,595
Event 22 ($200 Bounty): Pierre Xavier-Laurent – $4,608
Event 23 ($1,100 Turbo): Sam Panzica – $28,082
Event 24 ($1,100 NLH): Ryan Hogan – $66,790
Event 25 ($25K High Roller): Aram Oganyan – $480,175
Event 26 ($150 Big Stack): David Oshry – $5,205
Event 27 ($1,100 Turbo): Jorge Cuesta – $28,360
Event 29 ($600 H.O.R.S.E.): Steven Idels – $11,131
Event 30 ($400 Bounty): James Wiedenborner – $10,025
Event 31 ($400 Big O): Sue Sanders – $11,130
Event 32 ($600 Turbo): Robert French – $14,045
Event 33 ($400 Bounty): Stephen Thomas – $12,382
Event 34 ($1,700 Bounty): Andrew Esposito – $49,380
Event 35 ($1,100 Mixed PLO): Renny Barrett – $23,670
Event 36 ($400 NLH): Valerie Novak – $52,030
Event 37 ($600 Seniors): John Holley – $25,715
Event 38 ($5K PLO): Benjamin Juhasz – $64,125
Event 39 ($600 Turbo): Brandon Duvdivani – $13,360
Event 40 ($400 OE): David Bach – $8,460
Event 41 ($5K NLH): Brock Wilson – $129,530
Event 42 ($1,100 PLO): Eddy Nedialkov – $35,955
Event 43 ($300 Bounty): Jonathan Ounjian – $7,562

Marius Gierse Takes Six Months Off From Live Poker, Then Wins the Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship

2023 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
$3,500 LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  1,692
Prize Pool:  $5,414,400
January 20–24, 2023

Lucky Hearts Poker Open Champion Marius Gierse poses with a pile of chips, the Championship trophy, and he's holding two cards -- 10-2 offsuit.
Lucky Hearts Poker Open Champion Marius Gierse

Marius Gierse hasn’t played in a live poker tournament since last summer’s WSOP, but he showed up at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open and entered two tournaments — the $25,500 High Roller, where he finished fifth to earn $110,500, and the $3,500 LHPO Championship, which he won on Tuesday night for $605,000.

“It’s been a long four days, but it feels pretty damn good,” said Gierse. “It was quite the ride.”

This final day of the event started with 16 players at the final two tables, and Gierse had an average chip stack.

“I started with five million, went up to 10 million, went down to 4.5 million, went up to 17, went down to 7, so it was a roller-coaster, for sure,” said Gierse. “But I can’t complain in the end.”

The key hand for Gierse happened during the first 15 minutes of the nine-handed final table.

“I had a big flip against Jerry Wong at the start,” said Gierse. “That hand was the most important, otherwise I would have been out in ninth.”

Gierse held QsQd, and needed it to hold against Wong’s AcKc. They got it all in preflop, but it seemed inevitable after the flop came Qc10c5h, giving Gierse a set of queens to Wong’s gutshot Royal Flush draw.

“It was almost a flip at the flop,” said Gierse. “You’ve got to win these in order to win tournaments.”

The turn was the 7h, the river was the 7d, and Gierse doubled up to 68 big blinds with a full house. (Click here for details.) As for Wong, he was knocked down below 20 big blinds and would eventually finish ninth.

With seven players left, Gierse found himself on the other side of this same flip, getting it all in preflop with AsKs against Daniel Clifford’s QsQh. This time, the board brought three spades, and the ace-king won the pot to knock out Clifford in seventh place and propel Gierse back into the lead. (Click here for details.)

After Gierse knocked out Martin Carnero in fifth place (pocket jacks held against ace-ten), the final four players battled for about an hour before agreeing to a deal. As chipleader, Gierse was awarded the title and the trophy.

I’m pretty blessed,” said Gierse, “and I’m lucky to win the Lucky Hearts Poker Open.”

Despite his success here, Gierse is primarily an online player, which he generally prefers over live tournaments.

“I really don’t enjoy live poker as much, mostly because people are too serious and take a lot of time,” said Gierse. “But that isn’t the case here at all. People play super fast, and people are talking, and not taking themselves too seriously. It’s super nice. So I’m very, very happy to play here and I will for sure to come back.”


Final Results:

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1MariusGierse$605,000*
2BrianScott$555,078*
3JacobPowers$500,000*
4PeterMugar$498,177*
5MartinCarnero$238,635
6TaylorWilson$181,950
7DanielClifford$140,055
8LeonardHermann$108,850
9JerryWong$85,410
10KonstantinHeld$85,410
11CeroZuccarello$67,680
12WasimAssaf$67,680
13ScottMargereson$54,165
14TylerStafman$54,165
15FrankFunaro$43,780
16KharlinSued$43,780
17ClaudioPiedrabuena$35,745
18BenjaminGrise$35,745
19AnatolyNikitin$35,745
20SaberSalum Penayo$35,745
21LeweThiesen$29,480
22MatthewWantman$29,480
23MichaelTweedlie$29,480
24JordanSparagana$29,480
25JoeMcKeehen$24,570
26JoeFirova$24,570
27JamesCarroll$24,570
28NathanRussler$24,570
29ImariLove$24,570
30ChrisTryba$24,570
31AramOganyan$24,570
32AndrewOstapchenko$24,570
33JarrettMullins$20,690
34KevinGarosshen$20,690
35JonBorenstein$20,690
36RichardAlati$20,690
37DonaldDelancy$20,690
38DavidHagmann$20,690
39LandonTice$20,690
40IgorHot$20,690
41NaoumZarcadoolas$17,605
42JosephCrowley$17,605
43GaryHays$17,605
44JonathanLewis$17,605
45AnthonyDalpra$17,605
46MichaelVanderWoude$17,605
47DanaCaruso$17,605
48NadyaMagnus$17,605
49DeividasDaubaris$15,140
50SamuelLaskowitz$15,140
51JesseLonis$15,140
52JorgeGomez$15,140
53ChristopherFrank$15,140
54BlakeWhittington$15,140
55EricLea$15,140
56NirCohen$15,140
57JoshuaWallace$13,155
58SebastiaanDe Jonge$13,155
59DerekSudell$13,155
60NicolasNoguera$13,155
61SeanShah$13,155
62JoshuaGarber$13,155
63JuanCorsi$13,155
64JakeFerro$13,155
65AnthonyLicastro$11,560
66CharlesWooden$11,560
67HowardFeingold$11,560
68ErikNomberg$11,560
69JasonHickey$11,560
70NicholasVerderamo$11,560
71DaneCass$11,560
72DarrenRabinowitz$11,560
73DenysShafikov$10,270
74GilAboodi$10,270
75PetarKalev$10,270
76DavidLaufer$10,270
77GlenCressman$10,270
78NorbertoCharuf Diab$10,270
79MichaelLydon$10,270
80MichaelKamenjarin$10,270
81VladimirGrechnikov$9,225
82JoeyWeissman$9,225
83MartinZamani$9,225
84MikeChiappetta$9,225
85ChadPyykonen$9,225
86BillyPilossoph$9,225
87DanielSwartz$9,225
88RuiBouquet$9,225
89DavidNovosel$9,225
90MichaelMonicatti$9,225
91RobertWailber$8,380
92RichardColeman$8,380
93JosephField$8,380
94AleksandarPetrovic$8,380
95SalvatoreSidoti$8,380
96AlexFoxen$8,380
97CyrilDarmouni$8,380
98JebharPatterson$8,380
99ColbyCovington$8,380
100SergeySergeev$7,700
101JeremyAusmus$7,700
102PeteChen$7,700
103MichaelAmato$7,700
104ShanmukhaMeruga$7,700
105ZiyaRahim$7,700
106JeremyWien$7,700
107MatthewLambrecht$7,700
108JesseKertland$7,700
109ArielMantel$7,700
110BryanBuonocore$7,700
111JosephCappello$7,700
112JamesKatz$7,700
113ErikCajelais$7,700
114JohnYpma$7,700
115JosephPombriant$7,700
116JimGilbert$7,700
117BryceMcVay$7,700
118DanielKusnerak$7,155
119ChristophCsik$7,155
120RudyMamo$7,155
121AntornioSerrao Jr.$7,155
122A.J.Kelsall$7,155
123RyanRemington$7,155
124RichardAlsup$7,155
125SheldonLibfeld$7,155
126JeffMadsen$7,155
127PetkoTsakov$7,155
128RomeoMendoza$7,155
129JosephMcArthur$7,155
130MarcGoldman$7,155
131KurtLichtman$7,155
132ToddIvens$7,155
133RossSantos$7,155
134IvayloSivinov$7,155
135TimothyLittle$7,155
136MatthewSchulte$6,725
137ChadWassmuth$6,725
138FredericKonowitz$6,725
139JeffTrudeau Jr.$6,725
140TuanPhan$6,725
141StephenBrite$6,725
142HaimOr Krief$6,725
143ScottLevitt$6,725
144StanleyLee$6,725
145AnthonySpinella$6,725
146MilesReinhard$6,725
147AaronRosenthal$6,725
148FawazSiddiqui$6,725
149WilliamSlepcevich$6,725
150PaulHolliday$6,725
151FredParadis$6,725
152ScottBohlman$6,725
153SpencerChamplin$6,725
154LyleDiamond$6,400
155ChristopherAudrain$6,400
156DanielChalifour$6,400
157StephenSong$6,400
158SebastianGallego$6,400
159DavidMcMahon$6,400
160RenLin$6,400
161OleksandrGnatenko$6,400
162BrentSibley$6,400
163TimothyUlmer$6,400
164WilliamEitze$6,400
165DanielJiacopello$6,400
166MatthewWaxman$6,400
167HaimGabay$6,400
168GeorgeRakitzis$6,400
169JosephHanna$6,400
170AlexanderZiskin$6,400
171JorgeAristizabal$6,400
172RaffaelloLocatelli$6,160
173ArielRosello$6,160
174FabianGumz$6,160
175MaksimRozenfeld$6,160
176FlorianGaugusch$6,160
177JavierGomez Marquez$6,160
178BarryRoth$6,160
179MihailsMorozovs$6,160
180RyanDepaulo$6,160
181ArseniiKarmatchkii$6,160
182CliffMaloney$6,160
183JeremyBecker$6,160
184JoeSerock$6,160
185BrianMurphy$6,160
186ChristopherLewis$6,160
187RaminHajiyev$6,160
188NicholasTucker$6,160
189HagaiStein$6,160
190PaulBalzano$6,000
191DanielMulhall$6,000
192GediminasUselis$6,000
193GregoryAnda$6,000
194RomanPipman$6,000
195SundiataDevore$6,000
196JonGottlieb$6,000
197PaulGellenbeck$6,000
198LukeGraham$6,000
199RichardWhitebrook$6,000
200GabrielAbusada$6,000
201NancyBirnbaum$6,000
202RichardYau$6,000
203StevenRivero$6,000
204KenAldridge$6,000
205BohdanSlyvinskyi$6,000
206VictorNissim$6,000
207AaronKupin$6,000
208NicholasAgnew$5,915
209AaronSteury$5,915
210ZhenCai$5,915
211RyanEriquezzo$5,915
212CurtisKing$5,915

* Indicates a four-way deal.

Valerie Novak Wins Her Second SHRP Major Series Trophy With Outright Win in Event 36 for $52,030

2023 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 36
$400 Deep Stack NLH (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  917
Prize Pool:  $302,610
January 22–24, 2023

2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Event 36 Champion Valerie Novak

Event 36 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was a multi-flight $400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). Across three starting flights, a field of 917 entries generated a prize pool of $302,610. Emerging victorious was Valerie Novak, winning outright for $52,030 and her second SHRP major series trophy.

It was deja vu for Novak, being heads-up for an SHRP trophy against an accomplished professional. At the 2022 Showdown, Novak defeated Chance Kornuth, and this time she was heads-up with Alessio Isaia, who was in search of his third SHRP trophy of the 2023 Lucky Hearts alone. Novak, though, had other ideas.

“I knew he had won once, but didn’t know he had two. We played together a lot today and he was very aggressive, but once I had some chips I was able to take some advantages. Playing against Chance last year it was just constant aggression, so I felt comfortable in this spot.”

“I don’t even know what to say, I’m so excited and happy. Thank you to all the staff and dealers that are a part of putting on such a great event!”

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1ValerieNovak$52,030
2AlessioIsaia$35,800
3NiallCostigan$23,800
4CharlemagneBenjamin$17,625
5JasonRocha$13,330
6OrlandoMaldanado$10,640
7JohnFreidkes$8,815
8MatthewKaplan$7,010
9JeffreyFarnes$5,250
10WilliamNoonan$5,250
11JamesCalderaro$4,250
12EricBaldwin$4,250
13ChadLipton$3,340
14RafaelRodriguez Arango$3,340
15DavidLaufer$3,340
16BohdanSlyvinskyi$2,765
17MichaelSteinbacher$2,765
18AyedShweihat$2,765
19TylerMcKinney$2,315
20OleksiiKoiev$2,315
21CarlosPino$2,315
22ZacharyRyan$1,950
23JesseCohen$1,950
24DanielBelisle$1,950
25SohebPorbandarwala$1,595
26TaylorHart$1,595
27DaleRoesel$1,595
28TimothyShortell$1,370
29FrankLagodich$1,370
30JonathanMoschel$1,370
31RobBrown$1,370
32MIchaelAmato$1,370
33SergiuCornea$1,370
34AndreyBereza$1,370
35MukulPahuja$1,370
36DonaldGibbs$1,370
37TimothyUlmer$1,190
38MIchaelNewman$1,190
39JeremyMeacham$1,190
40KevinDavis$1,190
41FredericKonowitz$1,190
42KeldCurtis$1,190
43HanyAyoub$1,190
44CarlosBolanos$1,190
45ScottRobbins$1,190
46ArmanBolouri$1,050
47PaulGarritson$1,050
48JuanMontoya Bernal$1,050
49RaulPaez Corral$1,050
50DavidRivera$1,050
51GaroldCasterline$1,050
52ShannonMcCloud$1,050
53JamesBurke$1,050
54RichardDe Carvalho Saunders$1,050
55RaminderSingh$955
56DucarmelBeaubien$955
57AlexFindlay$955
58GuillermoHamilton$955
59CharlesHonkonen$955
60ShadMorris$955
61JosephIannacone$955
62FabianGumz$955
63NicholasFischer$955
64WillyamMoura$875
65DanStavila$875
66JohnGorsuch$875
67WalterBuss$875
68CarlosBermudez$875
69FrankRusso$875
70RanganathKanchi$875
71FranciscoPerez Moreno$875
72AlfonsoDelgado III$875
73ElijahRuffin$800
74HiteshPatel$800
75LuisSuarez$800
76CraigPollak$800
77VamsiMagam$800
78AlejandroRomero Bristol$800
79MahmoudHamed$800
80GilNachum$800
81RobertLevin$800
82JimCollopy$725
83StevenCohen$725
84JerryDing$725
85AllanBieler$725
86DanielBoilard$725
87MelissaKaiser$725
88JosephMcNeely$725
89LongNguyen$725
90MarcelaDe Aguilar Fumero$725
91DavidChilds$660
92AnibalPabon$660
93ChetSickle$660
94EstherTaylor$660
95ManuelSoltero Luna$660
96RIchardParadis$660
97EricWard$660
98JamielAsghar$660
99BradleyGrossman$660
100DonaldWilliams$600
101VictorShkurka$600
102DanielSaffer$600
103AlcidesGomez II$600
104ScottEpstein$600
105DavidOshry$600
106PierreRodriguez$600
107JeremyDrobushevich$600
108BillOderat$600
109RoniZelichonok$580
110JohnMacDonald$580
111NancyBirnbaum$580
112PhillipStuttman$580
113LuisRamos$580
114MaximeLenders$580
115FrancoisZayas$580
116AlejandroFernandez$580

Eddy Nedialkov Wins Event 42 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Outright for $35,955

2023 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 42
$1,100 Six-Max Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Entries:  135
Prize Pool:  $130,950
January 24, 2023

2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Event 42 Champion Eddy Nedialkov

Event 42 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was a $1,100 Six-Max Pot-Limit Omaha (Re-Entry). A field of 135 entries produced a prize pool of #130,950. Taking it down was Eddy Nedialkov, winning outright for $35,955.

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1EddyNedialkov$35,955
2RishiMakkar$23,355
3JosephLupo III$15,575
4EricLea$10,725
5AriEngel$7,635
6GregoryWish$5,620
7DucarmelBeaubien$4,290
8KevinNaim$4,290
9SamanthaPerryman$3,395
10GregoryKolo$3,395
11CalebPiderit$2,785
12JonathanMoschel$2,785
13ChristopherLewis$2,385
14OleksandrTrokhymenko$2,385
15BradleyButcher$2,125
16SerhiiPopovych$2,125
17CraigHueffner$2,125

Jonathan Ounjian Wins Event 43 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open in Three-Way Deal

2023 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 43
$300 Quad Stack Black Chip Bounty NLH (Re-Entry)
Entries:  278
Prize Pool:  $43,290
Bounty Prize Pool:  $27,600
January 24, 2023

2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Event 43 Champion Jonathan Ounjian

Event 43 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was a $300 Quad Stack Black Chip Bounty No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). A field of 278 entries created a prize pool of $43,920, with an additional $27,600 set aside for bounties.

A three-way deal took place at the final table, and as the chip leader it was Jonathan Ounjian who was the official Event 43 winner for $7,562.

The win marked Ounjian’s second SHRP major series trophy, having previously won a $150 Double Stack Turbo No-Limit Hold’em at the 2013 RRPO.

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1JonathanOunjian$7,562*
2AaronBerman$6,318*
3RonaldLaduca Jr.$5,025*
4IraFriedman$2,765
5MohammedAl-Balushi$2,075
6JamielAsghar$1,725
7RandalFernandez$1,445
8FloydScott Jr.$1,205
9TomislavKrizanic$965
10EduardoSubirats$965
11RyanLewandowski$805
12RobertPoolos$805
13BryanHernandez$700
14RonnieTate$700
15MichaelNewman$700
16RaminderSingh$600
17JordanKeller$600
18AntonioColon$600
19BernardoAbramovich$525
20PaulFreedman$525
21AriDinov$524
22RamonRodriguez Cuni$475
23ImadSalameh$475
24DavidVacanti$475
25JackSumner Jr.$430
26ElissaHalbreich$430
27RonnieAbro$430
28GilGuadalpi$430
29ZacharyParisis$430
30JoseGonzalez Gamboa$430
31MichaelRemis$430
32ReyRodriguez$430
33StevenPollack$430
34MatthewMatuza$430
35MichaelHayes$215
36SandeepVelkuru$215

*denotes three-way deal

Event 36: Valerie Novak Wins! ($52,030); Alessio Isaia Eliminated in 2nd Place ($35,800)

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 31:  75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining: 1 of 917

Valerie Novak raised to 300,000 from the button, Alessio Isaia three-bet all in for about 4,100,000 from the big blind, and Novak called with QcQh, leading Isaia’s 10d9h.

The board ran out Ah7d5c7cJh, safe for Novak to win Event 36 outright for $52,030.

Alessio Isaia finished runner-up for $35,800.

A recap of the event will be published later this morning.

Event 36: Alessio Isaia vs. Valerie Novak

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30:  75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 917

Alessio Isaia vs. Valerie Novak

Alessio Isaia is looking to win his third SHRP trophy of the series, while Valerie Novak aims to capture her second overall SHRP trophy, having previously won back at the 2022 Showdown defeating Chance Kornuth heads-up.

Alessio Isaia  –  12,000,000  (96 bb)
Valerie Novak  –  6,350,000  (51 bb)

1st:  $52,030 + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  $35,800

Brock Wilson Wins Event 41 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Outright for $129,350

2023 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 41
$5,000 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  89
Prize Pool:  $422,750
January 24, 2023

2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Event 41 Champion Brock Wilson

Event 41 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was a $5,000 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). A field of 89 entries generated a prize pool of $422,750, more than doubling the guarantee. Emerging victorious was Brock Wilson, winning outright for $129,350.

One of the top No-Limit Hold’em tournament players in the game today, Wilson surpassed the $6 million mark in career live tournament winnings per the Hendon Mob poker database with his victory tonight.

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1BrockWilson$129,350
2GergelyKulcsar$80,300
3UpeshkaDe Silva$50,600
4JoshuaGarber$34,700
5LeonardSande$25,300
6DanielSepiol$20,000
7AlexFoxen$17,000
8SamuelLaskowitz$14,900
9MartinZamani$13,400
10VitalijsZavorotnijs$13,400
11MatthewWantman$11,900
12DavidForbes$11,900

Event 36: Niall Costigan – 3rd Place ($23,800)

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 30:  75,000/125,000 with a 125,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 917

Valerie Novak raised to 300,000 from the small blind, Niall Costigan reraised all in for about 2,900,000 from the big blind, and Novak called with AdQc, leading Costigan’s KcJh.

The board ran out Ah6c5d5h7s, no help to Costigan, ending his tournament in third place.

Valerie Novak  –  6,350,000  (51 bb)
Niall Costigan  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($23,800)

David Bach Wins Event 40 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Outright for $8,460

2023 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 40
$400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Re-Entry)
Entries:  75
Prize Pool:  $25,125
January 24, 2023

2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open Event 40 Champion David Bach

Event 40 of the 2023 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was a $400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 (Re-Entry). A field of 75 entries produced a prize pool of $25,125, and collecting the lion’s share of that was David Bach, winning outright for $8,460.

This marked the three-time WSOP-Bracelet winner’s first cash at the Seminole Hard Rock. One of the premier mixed-game players in the poker world, Bach now has more than $4.32 million in career live tournament winning per the Hendon Mob poker database.

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1DavidBach$8,460
2NicholasBallo$4,900
3BrianBrunner$3,065
4LaneAbraham$2,075
5RonaldSchroeder$1,570
6DonnyRubinstein$1,255
7RonaldFast$1,130
8JoanneGranteed$1,005
9GeorgeBoyadjian$890
10PaulLenkeit$775