$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 11:  1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  151 of 423

Day 1A of the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open comes to an end with 151 players remaining (from a field of 423), and the chipleader is Ryan Remington, who bagged up 475,000 (317 big blinds). He catapulted into the chip lead after winning a huge three-way pot in Level 9 against Ping Liu and Michael Newman.

The full list of official chip counts will be posted later tonight, but here is a preview of the leaderboard:

1.  Ryan Remington  –  475,000  (317 bb)
2.  Alan Schein  –  345,000  (230 bb)
3.  Vladimir Vasilyev  –  323,500  (216 bb)
4.  Davian Santana  –  307,500  (205 bb)

Day 1B begins tomorrow at 11:00 am, with registration open until the start of Level 9, around 9:15 pm. As always, you’ll be able to find updates right here at SHRPO.com.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  155 of 423

In the final minutes of the night, after a flop of , Ami Alibay checked the small blind, and Joel Gossett bet 3,000 from under the gun. Davian Santana called, and Alibay check-raised all in for about 28,000.

Gossett moved all in over the top for 98,900, and Santana snap-called with a much bigger stack.

These were their cards in descending order of chip counts:

Davian Santana:    (gutshot Royal Flush draw)
Joel Gossett:    (set of jacks)
Ami Alibay:    (two pair)

The turn card was the , giving Santana an ace-high straight, and if it had held, Santana would have taken over the chip lead.

But the river card paired the board with the , and Gossett won the pot with a full house, jacks full of tens, to double thru Santana and eliminate Alibay from Day 1A.

Joel Gossett  –  98,900
Davian Santana  –  307,500
Ami Alibay  –  Eliminated

Day 1A is about to come to an end, and players will be bagging and tagging their chips. Stay tuned for a leaderboard, followed by the full list of official chip counts later tonight.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  160 of 423

Ami Alibay moved all in from middle position for 12,800, and the player in the cutoff called with .

Alibay turned over , and needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Alibay paired his deuce on the flop and his ace on the river to win the pot with two pair and double up in chips.

Ami Alibay  –  28,600  (24 bb)

With about 150 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 105,800 (88 big blinds). Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of this level (about 11:15 pm), and Day 1B begins tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 10:  600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  170 of 423

With the board showing on the turn, Phil Rigby checked the small blind, Isaiah Goldman bet 4,000 from the big blind, and Rigby check-raised to 11,000. Goldman called.

The river card was the , Rigby moved all in for 22,300, and Goldman thought for a while before he called with for a pair of jacks. But Rigby turned over to win the pot with a flopped jack-high straight and double up in chips.

Phil Rigby  –  75,500  (63 bb)
Isaiah Goldman  –  6,100  (5 bb)

At another table, with the final board showing on the river with more than 40K already in the pot, Jason Brin checked from middle position, the player on the button bet 26,000, and Brin went into the tank.

Brin asked, “Six-seven?”

The player on the button said nothing for a moment or two, and then replied, “Could be seven-deuce, right?”

Brin thought for a while longer before he asked the dealer to clarify the bet amount. Brin said he thought she said “46,000,” and so he thought a bit more before he called.

The button showed for a pair of nines, but Brin turned over to win the pot with a set of nines.

After the hand, Brin said he probably would have folded to a bet of 46,000, which represented about half of his remaining chips at that point.

Jason Brin  –  167,000  (139 bb)

With about 170 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 99,500 (83 big blinds). Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of this level (about 11:15 pm), and Day 1B begins tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  195 of 423

Ryan Remington raised UTG+1 to 3,000, Michael Newman called from the cutoff, and Ping Liu reraised from the button to 12,000. Remington and Newman both called.

All three players checked to the turn on a board of , and Remington bet 16,000. Newman called, and Ping raised to 64,000. Remington went all in for 153,300, and Newman called all in for nearly 150,000. Liu also called with a stack of 160,500.

These were their cards in descending order of chip counts:

Ping Liu:    (jack-high straight)
Ryan Remington:    (set of jacks)
Michael Newman:    (jack-high straight)

Remington was one card away from elimination, but the river card was — the .

Remington rivered quad jacks to win the entire pot, doubling thru Liu and eliminating Newman from Day 1A. Remington took the chip lead with nearly 500K in chips.

Ryan Remington  –  490,000  (490 bb)
Ping Liu  –  7,200  (7 bb)
Michael Newman  –  Eliminated

After the hand, Remington said, “I was only looking for a full house, not quads.”

Liu got his short stack all in on the next hand with against , but the board came — Liu flopped a set of sixes, only to see the board straighten out so they chopped the pot with a nine-high straight on the board.

A hand or two later, Liu was eliminated.

Ping Liu  –  Eliminated

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 10 (about 11:15 pm), and Day 1B begins tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Day 1A Players Remaining:  215 of 423

Registration has closed for Day 1A, and there were 423 entries today. Registration is open for tomorrow’s Day 1B until 9:15 pm tomorrow night, and that will be the final starting flight.

The prizepool is already worth more than $1.3 million, well on its way to smashing the $2 million guarantee.

With about 215 players remaining, the average chip stack is about 78,700 (79 big blinds).

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 10 (about 11:15 pm), and Day 1B begins tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 9:  500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Entries:  423

The players return from break to begin Level 9 with increased blinds of 500-1,000 and a 1,000 ante.

A scan of the field during the break turned up three players with at least 200K in chips, and one more knocking on the door, to create an unofficial leaderboard:

1.  Alan Schein  –  282,400  (282 bb)
2.  Brian Batt  –  231,900  (232 bb)
3.  Darren Elias  –  216,700  (217 bb)
4.  Stanley Lee  –  199,000  (199 bb)

Action is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of Level 10 (about 11:15 pm), and Day 1B begins tomorrow at 11:00 am.

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 8:  400/800 with a 800 ante
Entries:  414

T.K. Miles raised under the gun to 2,000, Jeff Blenkarn called from the hijack, and the player in the cutoff raised to 7,500. Miles called, and Blenkarn folded.

The flop came , Miles checked, the cutoff bet 5,500, and Miles called.

The turn card double-paired the board with the , and both players checked. The river card was the , and they checked again.

Miles showed to win the pot with two pair, queens and jacks, and the cutoff mucked.

T.K. Miles  –  130,000  (163 bb)

A player raised to 1,800, Patrick Serda called from the hijack, and the player on the button reraised to 6,200. The first player folded, and Serda called.

The flop came , Serda checked, the button bet 5,500, and Serda called. The turn card was the , and both players checked.

The river card was the , Serda bet 13,000, and the button folded. Serda took the pot.

Patrick Serda  –  140,000  (175 bb)

Cord Garcia got it all in for 5,500 with , and he needed to improve to stay alive against the of Jonathan Bussieres in the small blind.

The board came , and Bussieres won the pot with his ace to eliminate Garcia.

Jonathan Bussieres  –  89,000  (111 bb)
Cord Garcia  –  Eliminated

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the end of the upcoming break (about 9:15 pm), and action will continue tonight until the end of Level 10 (about 11:15 pm).

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7: 300/600 with a 600 ante
Entries: 404

Jose Reyes opened to 1,500 and a player in middle position three-bet to 3,000. Sheddy Siddiqui called as did Reyes.

The flop came , Reyes checked and middle position bet 2,500. Both of his opponents called.

The turn brought the , it checked to Siddiqui who bet 10,000. Reyes raised to 20,000. Middle position folded and Siddiqui thought about for a while as the decision was for most of his stack.

He eventually folded, and flashed the . Reyes mucked.

Jose Reyes – 82,000
Sheddy Siddiqui – 14,000

$3,500 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Structure
Level 7:  300/600 with a 600 ante
Entries:  390

At Table 22, there were four players in the hand as the board came , and everybody checked the river and showed their cards.

Ping Liu:  
Kevin St. Clair:  
Scott Efron:  
Cutoff:  

Nobody had a heart in their hand, making it a four-way chop. Efron said it’s the most players he’s seen in a hand with a flush on the board where nobody had a card of the same suit.

Ping Liu  –  140,000  (233 bb)
Kevin St. Clair  –  127,000  (212 bb)
Scott Efron  –  65,000  (108 bb)

Registration remains open with unlimited re-entries until the start of Level 9 (about 9:15 pm), and action will continue tonight until the end of Level 10 (about 11:15 pm).