$250 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 17: 2,000/4,000/500 Ante
We’ve lost three players already with the most recent being Tracey Gelb after she moved all in over the top of Kenny Bhakta’s opener for her last 35,000 in chips. Bhakta had and made the easy call and Gelb needed help with her . She would flop a king and turn a flush draw but the river would make Bhakta aces full of fives to give him the pot. Here are the 16th-18th place finishers, each received $444.
$250 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 14: 1,000/2,000/300 Ante
They have just redrawn for the final three tables meaning there are 27 players remaining. One more table’s worth of eliminations (nine players) and they’ll be in the money.
$250 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry) Level 13: 800/1,600/200 Ante
Players have returned from their dinner break. There are 31 players remaining and the top 18 will make the money. A minimum cash will be worth $444 while first place will take home $11,980.
With the conclusion of today’s play in the championship event, two events still remain in action today.
Event 17, the $150 No Limit Hold’Em Re-Entry $50,000 guaranteed tournament, is into Day 2. The players just hit the money and the event is now down to 41 players.
The final event on the calendar, Event 20, is also pushing toward a finish. This $250 No Limit Hold’Em Re-Entry $30,000 guaranteed event is now on break and down to 31 players left chasing the final title on the schedule.
Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open $570 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-entry) $30,000 Guarantee
Total Prize Pool: $39,000 Total Entries: 78
Event 20 Champion Jiaqi Xu
Recap: Some of poker’s finest lined up to take a shot at the Event 20 title and one came close to winning his second event in this series. But in the end, Jiaqi Xu stood tall and took down the Event 20 Championship.
It wasn’t easy as Xu had to overcome Event 2 Champion Robert Campbell who fell in 9th along with 6th place finisher Sean Shah and November Niner Chino Rheem who made an outstanding showing in 5th.
The drama came with three players left as they battled for hours after the rest of the table fell quickly. Matt Stout was holding a significant chiplead but Xu managed to chip away. After a hand where Xu had aces in the hole and held Stout off to take the biggest pot of the night, Xu never looked back. Nicholas Petitti played a short stack as far he could taking third and then with Stout heavily outchipped, the final hand rolled off.
Xu’s beat Stout’s after a board of gave Xu the winning full house and with it a long-awaited title denying Stout a second championship in this WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Series.
Xu was not intimidated by the big names at the table and reflected back on the win. “I’d played with Chino before and I played with Matt on the first day. He actually busted me. He’s really tough. I was lucky to double up through him to give me the chip lead. And he’s tough when he’s got a chip lead. He never played a hand out of position with me. But I felt very comfortable. I play PLO a lot – it’s my main game. I play it almost exclusively now.”
A calm Xu was quite pleased to get the victory tonight. “There were a few times at Borgata where I got heads-up and got more money in chops so I gave up the trophy. So this was the first time I tried to take it. I play cash games pretty big so I wanted the trophy this time.”
Xu will have great memories of coming to Seminole Hard Rock taking this championship. “This is my first time here. The staff was very nice and the tournament was well run. I’ll definitely come back again.”
Congratulations to our Event 20 Champion – Jiaqi Xu!
Final Table Results: 1st – Jiaqi Xu (Clarksburg, MD) – $11,700 2nd – Matt Stout (Clifton, NJ) – $8,190 3rd – Nicholas Petitti (Denver, CO) – $5,265 4th – Monte Adler (Miami, FL) – $3,900 5th – Chino Rheem (Los Angeles, CA) – $2,925 6th – Sean Shah (Delray Beach, FL) – $2,340 7th – Eitan Elbaz-Dahan (Plantation, FL) – $1,950 8th – Cory Blum (Charlotte, NC) – $1,560 9th – Robert Campbell (MIami, FL) – $1,170
$570 Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry) Level 11: 800/1600
While the Championship Event is going on, a very intriguing final table is emerging in Event 20 with Matt Stout, Chino Rheem, Robert Campbell and a group of other established professionals. Here’s the table draw:
Seat 1 – Sean Shah Seat 2 – Jiaqi Xu Seat 3 – Monte Adler Seat 4 – Eugene Kutlyrevskin Seat 5 – Robert Campbell Seat 6 – Matt Stout Seat 7 – Chino Rheem Seat 8 – Nicholas Petitti Seat 9 – Eitan Elbaz-Dahan Seat 10 – Cory Blum
Nine players of the remaining ten will hit the money with a top prize of $11,700 on the line tonight.
. She would flop a king and turn a flush draw but the river would make Bhakta aces full of fives to give him the pot. Here are the 16th-18th place finishers, each received $444.
beat Stout’s 
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