Kevin MacDonald Wins LHPO Event 1 For $250,420 in Heads-Up Deal

2024 Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 1
$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Entries:  3,212
Prize Pool:  $1,670,240
January 11-15, 2024

Kevin MacDonald

Kevin MacDonald took down the title in the big NLH opener event at the LHPO for the biggest payday in his poker career worth $250,420. That gives him a seventh tournament victory, and bumped his total earnings up close to $900,000.

“I made it through on two bullets, and an interesting fact is that after I bagged chips on Day 1A I played in the $400 turbo with 35 players, and I ended up winning the trophy. That was my second trophy here,” said MacDonald when he was asked about the early stages of his tournament journey to the victory.

He also wanted to make a special dedication of his win to a guardian angel he felt was looking over him in some key spot along the way. “It was just a grind, and I picked up a few gifts along the way. I think my friend Sandy Taylor who just died recently might have given me some timely rivers, so I dedicate this win to him,” said MacDonald.

In addition to his recent success here this week at the Seminole Hard Rock he has been coming down here for years during the winter from Canada. “I love coming down here for the winter, I’m a Canadian snowbird. Yeah, whatever other tournaments I can schedule in I will play in them,” said MacDonald.

MacDonald has a six-figure score to his credit before, but he was excited to add the biggest win to the poker resume here in South Florida. “This was my biggest cash ever in the biggest field I’ve played in, so it’s kind of surreal really to have that success. I was probably the only one over 30 at the final table, and I’m well over 30 [laughs]. It was a younger crowd, so when you see a guy my age get to this point it’s very hard to do so, you have to get very lucky along the way,” said MacDonald.

When he was asked about action at the final table, MacDonald had this to say. “We were all taking turns, it was back-and-forth, nobody was sitting on it, everybody was going for it. When it was four-handed there wasn’t too much strategy on my part; I think they just like to get in hands with me. I just happened to win enough of them, or a key one here or there.”

MacDonald also enjoyed the deep structure for this tournament, especially for just a $600 buy-in. “This was an awesome structure , you have time and long levels, so lots of time. The play dictates that,” said MacDonald.

It also sounded like it was going to be no rest for the weary for MacDonald when we inquired about his celebration plans for the victory. “I don’t know, is there a tournament at 8 o’clock tonight [laughs]? I need some time to absorb it, and maybe I just get into another turbo,” said MacDonald.

Here is a look at the full results for this huge event that saw hundreds of players make the money from 3,212 total entries.

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePayout
1KevinMacDonald$250,420 *
2NicholasChong$221,375 *
3Ya YunLiu$129,300
4DavidNathaniel$100,340
5DavidShmuel$76,000
6JeromeLeonardo$56,025
7AndrewTorrico$40,275
8GlennBecker$32,070
9CodyBrinn$24,700
10MichaelScarborough$24,700
11JohnRocaberte$18,450
12AlexZiskin$18,450
13DonaldJackson$13,425
14JeffreyMoore$13,425
15ErikPerez$13,245
16AristotelesNeto$10,345
17Alain Medesan$10,345
18EricSiegel$10,345
19MinZhang$8,650
20JackKoontz$8,650
21JosephHood$8,650
22SterlingSavill$7,215
23TeddyCorrea$7,215
24DarinUtley$7,215
25DavidDiBernardi$5,920
26StephenVecchio$5,920
27KevinBoesel$5,920
28JustinCarey$4,760
29RichardMcDanel$4,760
30PaulFisher$4,760
31HosseinPezeshkan$4,760
32MichaelWetcher$4,760
33EricYanovsky$4,760
34FrankLagodich$4,760
35MateuszSikorski$4,760
36WilliamUnderdown$4,760
37JimmyNunez$3,865
38BrandonNoe$3,865
39LukeBrereton$3,865
40GabrielFuller$3,865
41JoseArce Garcia$3,865
42BernhardSchmidt$3,865
43JohnNugent$3,865
44BogdanToma$3,865
45MichaelTrivett$3,865
46ChristopherBach$3,325
47LongNguyen$3,325
48NicholasRudochvilow$3,325
49Chong YouChen$3,325
50DanielMowrer$3,325
51RafaelLima$3,325
52RobertRogers$3,325
53SadanyHevia$3,325
54AaronThivyanathan$3,325
55GregoryKolo$2,875
56AaronSteury$2,875
57JamesCalderaro$2,875
59DanielNavarrete$2,875
60MikeTokatlyan$2,875
61ReinaldoDiaz$2,875
62JuanMembreno$2,875
63RenatoKaneoya$2,875
64WagnerWysotchanski$2,605
65ScottRobbins$2,605
67LazarHausman$2,605
68PaulBalzano$2,605
69ArielRosello$2,605
70JeffreyMiller$2,605
71JohnRoveto$2,605
72JerryErickson$2,605
73JosephOchoa$2,405
74SeanIngram$2,405
75BrandonAgeloff$2,405
76SolangeLucas$2,405
77JosephBartholdi$2,405
78HectorPacheco$2,405
79AnthonyRuberto$2,405
80StuartGreenbaum$2,405
81BryanSchultz$2,405
82ElizavetaAnicanova$2,235
83DavidSlan$2,235
84RenyongHu$2,235
85KatieKopp$2,235
86AdiAmit$2,235
87JoseSeverino Cadoze$2,235
88BenjaminJacobs$2,235
89RyanBrown$2,235
90JeffreyShayani$2,235
91ErikDe Souza$2,075
92JeremyHerauf$2,075
93AndriiPiltii$2,075
94MichaelLu$2,075
95AdamNattress$2,075
96MikeGraffeo$2,075
97JayConvente$2,075
98Zachary KhangVuong$2,075
99IanAnderson$2,075
100ArielAmendola$1,925
101RaffaelloLocatelli$1,925
102MichaelGarcia$1,925
103MarcSacheli$1,925
104SheldonGross$1,925
105CharlesFleury$1,925
106AlexandreVillela$1,925
107TimothyMulroy$1,925
108AndrewVitale$1,925
109JackRolnitzky$1,790
110WilliamBlack$1,790
111ScottStinson$1,790
112AaronFlores$1,790
113JordanSchneider$1,790
114ArtPeacock$1,790
115DavidKahan$1,790
116JohnDeignan$1,790
117MaanThakur$1,790
118AndrewMiller$1,670
119IanSiegel$1,670
120MarceloAagesen$1,670
121HowardWilamowski$1,670
122MilesReinhard$1,670
123ScottBlackman$1,670
124JamesCarroll$1,670
125IraHorowitz$1,670
126SamuelKim$1,670
127RichardYau$1,565
128FredDabus$1,565
129NadeemHirani$1,565
130CarlosTorres Vazquez$1,565
131RobBrown$1,565
132IkeNlemchi$1,565
133JustinTrant$1,565
134AbbeyDaniels$1,565
135BenjaminPerez$1,565
136MatthewRazore$1,470
137ChadSummers$1,470
138RaminderSingh$1,470
139JackSumner Jr$1,470
140DianeLinke$1,470
141BrianNg$1,470
142MikeBeasley$1,470
143RobertKessler$1,470
144JustinDatloff$1,470
145CraigNix$1,385
146AllanBieler$1,385
147AustinPeck$1,385
148MohammedKabir$1,385
149MauricioFonseca$1,385
150KanishakSethi$1,385
151T.K.Miles$1,385
152DenysBazeliuk$1,385
153DarryllFish$1,385
154DmitriZaitsev$1,305
155DavidHixson$1,305
156ChristopherO'Hara$1,305
157PatrickIbrahim$1,305
158ScottBaumstein$1,305
159FeiwenWu$1,305
160WillyStadele$1,305
161EddyGibbs$1,305
162JohnGordon$1,305
164MatthewMason$1,230
165StevenRichardson$1,230
166RyanWeiss$1,230
167ErnestoRasse Gonzalez$1,230
168MichaelTait$1,230
169RidleyJecrois$1,230
170MarcSchiller$1,230
171StevenSteinmetz$1,230
172JoseReyes$1,160
173FemiFashakin$1,160
174ValeriaRodrigues$1,160
175VictorNassif$1,160
176DavidBizzotto$1,160
177KarenCleveland$1,160
178EnricoMirabelli$1,160
179CourtlandTwyman$1,160
180CarlosBermudez$1,160
181RonaldJewett$1,105
182JamesGirouard$1,105
183PramodPandey$1,105
184SudharshanKaranam$1,105
185TerrenceMoore$1,105
186HalHarris$1,105
187BlakeVita$1,105
189SergioGiha$1,105
190NathanGriesmeyer$1,105
191DevinCordeiro$1,105
192PavlinKarakikov$1,105
193MichaelMascitelli$1,105
194StevenMcKoy$1,105
195HiramMcIntosh$1,105
196DanielCruz$1,105
197RandallYasny$1,105
198MichaelSananes$1,105
199MichelleFox$1,050
200RamonMartinez$1,050
201TylerRauh$1,050
202StephenLeahy$1,050
203JohnathanCurtis$1,050
204EduardoSoares$1,050
205BillyPapadopoulos$1,050
206GabrielPardo$1,050
207DanteCollier$1,050
208EliyahuFriedman$1,050
209QuanPhui$1,050
210GregSpinder$1,050
211HarrisonPlott$1,050
212YaroslavNakonechnyy$1,050
213DavidRegalado$1,050
214ChristopherCasillas$1,050
215KevinDubrocq$1,050
216OmerRotman$1,050
217MichaelOGrady$1,005
218EmilSoffer$1,005
219MichaelMonaco$1,005
219EstebanSoto$1,005
220AlNorman$1,005
221EdwinLomans$1,005
222ShiraScharo$1,005
223ClaudioKalili$1,005
224NicholasMcAlister$1,005
225LouisLeo IV$1,005
226BillyKopp$1,005
227AlexanderRosenblatt$1,005
228CoryWard$1,005
229RobertTannenbaum$1,005
230IsaacWallace$1,005
231ScottDehm$1,005
232EdwardDenton$1,005
233AndrewM Pressler$1,005
234ShalomElharrar$1,005
235DonaldCowie$960
236JuanMontoya Bernal$960
237TimShane$960
238TarunGulati$960
239NeilHo$960
240MarkSandness$960
241LichBui$960
242JimmyTomblin$960
243MarcDuquette$960
244BryceMcVay$960
245DanielLowe$960
246RossCorless$960
247ZyadQasem$960
248AdrianGroza$960
249WendyLu$960
250StevenBennett$960
252LucasWachtel$960
253DavidHarting$935
254EduardoMoucherek Cecchinato$935
255MichaelJacobson$935
256StephenIbrahim$935
257JohnHolley$935
257JeffreyHood$935
258BrianSchaffer$935
259JeremyGoureau$935
260StoyanMadanzhiev$935
261DavidNowling$935
262GilBen-Simhon$935
263BenjaminMoschel$935
264TimothyBanks$935
265RoidiRegalado$935
266TerryCook$935
267ShawnFagan$935
268StevenGlazerman$935
269OricelDiaz$935
270MichaelStephenson$935
272NaingThu$910
273GaryWilliams$910
274RichardWhitebrook$910
275ConorHannan$910
276DanielKasper$910
277DalisRuane-Gomez$910
278DavidSathue$910
279JailynPrimus$910
280ThomasCarlin$910
281GertZumkehr$910
282ClintonBowles$910
283YaymelBodes$910
284RonaldKatz$910
286TammyBarner$910
287JonathanOunjian$910
288DmitryBushnyy$910
289EarlBernard$885
290LouOjeda$885
291RahulinderDhillon$885
292RodneyPinkham$885
293JuanTellez Garces$885
294PaulDomb$885
295YuriyKozinskiy$885
296AliDarroudi$885
297AdamBrody$885
298RichardRice$885
299JohnBinns$885
300UriKadosh$885
301ChristieYau$885
302JeanGaspard$885
303RobertWaterman$885
304OmarGarcia$885
305JulioDelgado Reyes$885
307DominickSarle$860
308ShaunGlennon$860
309HiteshPatel$860
311ShonPerez$860
312MaheshwarManthani$860
313WasimAssaf$860
314LoniHarwood Hui$860
315RobertScott$860
316AlexMeadow$860
317EricZheng$860
318MatthewVetstein$860
319KyleBuerosse$860
320TimothyAllen$860
320ThuLe$860
321IrfanMukati$860
322JosephMatyuf$860
323MatthewZarcadoolas$860
324OwenBourdon$860
325AnthonyHarritos$860
326AndrewReid$840
327FrankRusso$840
328RandallZelik$840
329AlexBecker$840
331GaryGelman$840
334JosephRossi$840
335CameronStorto$840
336AlekseiIstomin$840
337ImrePapp$840
338IsraelDe La Cerda$840
339ElliottKampen$840
340KyleJanisse$840
341TylerCampbell$840
342A.J.Kelsall$840
343MarkPoirier$825
344DyannaLopez$825
345JosephMassaro$825
346GabrielSierra$825
347JosephHernon$825
348StevenCollins$825
349RobertoRoca$825
350NicholasCarballo$825
351JohnBetancourt$825
352JosephPetrolino$825
353FredericMoss$825
355RomanBorozan$825
356DavidLipsky Jr$825
357RichardWalsh$825
358ChristopherAlen$825
359FelipeCesareo$825
360VetonKastrati$825
361BradleyBeetz$810
362ScottLevitt$810
363EdwinDeneen$810
364JuanMunne$810
365PasqualeCaiazza$810
366ThomasSmith$810
367TylerBentz$810
368JoseRodriguez$810
369FrancoisGagne$810
370RobertGoldberg$810
371DavidRodriguez$810
372AnselMcIntosh$810
373DavidKlingelsmith Jr$810
374BarbaraCardin$810
375SherryVassilaros$810
376RobertSmith$810
377BryanRosen$810
378ClaudioPiedrabuena$810
379IanKramer$795
380MichaelWells$795
381TomasBrokl$795
382DanielWaterman$795
383EmilieStallings$795
384RichardFleming$795
385JaimeWiegrefe$795
386NeilFlorin$795
387JeffreyFeng$795
388DanielQuesada$795
389KyleBrock$795
390MosheTarich$795
391AndrewPecina$795
392KamvarRazavian$795
393DylanPiano$795
394RoniZelichonok$795
395AdamJaffe$795
396BaranKalayci$795
397MelissaKaiser$795
398VeselinKatrandzhiev$795
399MatthewWhite$795
400JoshuaPoe$795
401JimWyatt$795
402JamesKeener$795
403CarlosGuerrero$795

*denotes heads-up deal

Event 1: Kevin MacDonald Wins ($250,420) With A Chop Heads-Up; Nicholas Chong – 2nd Place ($221,375)

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts | Results
Level 35:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 3,212

Kevin MacDonald

Kevin MacDonald and Nicholas Chong have agreed to a chop during heads-up play to bring the big NLH opener event to a close. MacDonald takes first place for the largest score in his poker career worth $250,420 along with LHPO trophy. Chong took home $221,375 as the runner-up thanks to his deep run in this huge field. Stay tuned for an interview with the winner along with photos that will be posted a bit later.

Kevin MacDonald – 40,550,000 (101 bb)
Nicholas Chong – 23,700,000 (59 bb)

1st: Kevin MacDonald – $250,375
2nd: Nicholas Chong – $221,375

Nicholas Chong

Event 1: Ya Yun Liu – 3rd Place ($129,300)

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts | Results
Level 35:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 3,212

Ya Yun Liu

Nathan Chong moved all in from the button for 14,700,000 and Ya Yun Liu moved all in at risk for just under 9,000,000 from the small blind. Kevin MacDonald thought about it for a minute, deciding whether to go for the double knockout but picked a fold.

Chong: QdJh
Liu: AcKc

Liu was ahead for the double up but needed to fade Chong’s two live cards. That bad news for our former chipleader came on the JcTd2c flop when Chong paired his jack. The 3s turn and 6s river finished the board and Liu was eliminated in second place.

Nicholas Chong – 23,700,000 (59 bb)
Ya Yun Liu – Eliminated in 3rd Place ($129,300)

Event 1: David Nathaniel – 4th Place ($100,340)

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts | Results
Level 35:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 3,212

David Nathaniel

 

After a long stretch of four-handed play that saw the final four stacks almost even for awhile, David Nathaniel was all in with As10c in the hole from the button, and Kevin MacDonald had him covered holding AcQs on the big blind.

The final board read AhAd8d3d6s, and Nathaniel was eliminated in fourth place, good for $100,340. Kevin MacDonald stacked up 35.5 million after collecting the pot.

Kevin MacDonald – 35,500,000 (88 bb)
David Nathaniel – Eliminated in Fourth Place ($100,340)

Event 1: Ya Yun Liu Doubles Up

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts | Results
Level 34:  200,000/300,000 with a 300,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 3,212

Ya Yun Liu

Ya Yun Liu was all in preflop for 4.4 million with Ks6s in the hole from the big blind, and David Nathaniel had him covered holding pocket nines on the small blind.

The final board read Qd5s2d4d3d to give Liu a straight and a double up worth 9,600,000. Nathaniel held a little more than 21 million after the hand.

Ya Yun Liu – 9,600,000 (32 bb)
David Nathaniel – 21,100,000 (70 bb)

Event 1: Chip Count Update

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts | Results
Level 34:  200,000/300,000 with a 300,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 3,212

Here is a look at the chip counts from the most recent break.

Seat 2: Nicholas Chong – 18,000,000 (60 bb)
Seat 3: David Nathaniel – 23,700,000 (79 bb)
Seat 4: Ya Yun Liu – 7,300,000 (24 bb)
Seat 7: Kevin MacDonald – 15,300,000 (51 bb)

Remaining Prize Pool:

1st:  $291,385 + LHPO trophy
2nd:  $180,410
3rd:  $129,300
4th:  $100,340

Event 1: David Shmuel – 5th Place ($76,000)

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts | Results
Level 33:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 3,212

David Shmuel

David Shmuel was all in preflop short for 1.3 million with 6h4h in the hole from the big blind, and Nicholas Chong had him covered holding pocket tens from the cutoff.

The final board read 7d5d2h2c5c, and Shmuel was eliminated in fifth place, good for $76,000. Chong stacked up 21.9 million after the hand.

Nicholas Chong – 21,900,000 (87 bb)
David Shmuel – Eliminated in Fifth Place ($76,000)

Event 1: Jerome Leonardo – 6th Place ($56,025)

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts | Results
Level 32:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 3,212

Jerome Leonardo

With about 10,000,000 in the pot and the board reading KsJd8s4c5h, Jerome Leonardo announced all in as soon as the river hit the board. Chong thought for a second and called to get a small groan from Leonardo.

“You’re good,” Leonardo told him.

Chong: KdQs
Leonardo: 9h5s

Chong was good with his paired king and the dealer counted down both stacks. Chong was the one at risk for 7,725,000 and Leonardo was left with only 125,000.

He tripled from half a big blind but was gone in sixth place soon after.

Nicholas Chong – 25,400,000 (102 bb)
Jerome Leonardo – Eliminated in 6th Place ($56,025)

Event 1: Nicholas Chong Doubles Up

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts | Results
Level 32:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 3,212

Nicholas Chong

Nicholas Chong was all in for 5,225,000 preflop with Ac10s in the hole from the button, and Ya Yun Liu had him covered holding pocket jacks on the big blind.

The final board read Ad4h2h3h7d, and Chong doubled up to survive with 11,075,000,. Liu was at 10,235,000 after the hand.

Nicholas Chong – 11,075,000 (44 bb)
Ya Yun Liu – 10,325,000 (41 bb)

Event 1: Andrew Torrico – 7th ($40,275)

$600 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$1,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts | Results
Level 32:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 3,212

Andrew Torrico

Andrew Torrico was all in short preflop with pocket threes in the hole from the big blind, and Ya Yun Liu had him covered holding 7s6s from the cutoff.

The final board read 10s9h8s8c2c, and Torrico was eliminated in seventh place, good for $40,275. Liu stacked up 18.25 million after collecting the pot.

Ya Yun Liu – 18,250,000 (91 bb)
Andrew Torrico – Eliminated in Seventh Place ($40,275)