The survivors from the two starting flights of the 2014 World Poker Tour (WPT) Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event combined for Day 2 on Sunday looking to be rewarded for their hard work with a pay day. Day 2 began with 167 players and just 54 were going to make the money, so Sunday was undoubtedly going to end in disappointment for the majority of players. The plan was to play down to the final four tables yesterday and they did, but they narrowed the field even farther than anticipated, finishing with 33 players still in the battle rather than the expected 36.
Keven Stammen is the leader of the pack with 1,089,000 chips, the only player with over a million. He and the second place Matthew Waxman (899,000) have fairly sizable leads over the rest of the field. In fact, the top ten chip counts are very spread out; after Waxman, Mukul Pahuga is next with 735,000, while Kishor Bhakta is in tenth place with just 399,000 chips.
Stammen may not be a household name, but he has been quite successful in poker, both live and online. In his live tournament career, he has won nearly $2 million with 24 World Series of Poker cashes and four WPT cashes. His greatest triumph was his lone WSOP bracelet, which came in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Event in 2009 and brought with it a half-million dollar cash. On the virtual tables, Stammen has been not just more successful, but significantly more. His lifetime career earnings in online tournaments amount to over $5.5 million from almost 2,500 cashes (credit to PocketFives). His biggest internet cash was for $219,000 when he placed third in the PokerStars 10th Anniversary High Roller Event in December 2011. It was that same year that Stammen reached his peak in the PocketFives Worldwide Rankings, hitting number three in the world.
Stammen made it to the chip lead just as Sunday night ended. Jordan Cristos raised pre-flop to 12,000 and both Stammen and Joey Weissman called. On the flop of J♥-T♦-5♦, Weissman checked, Cristos bet 28,000, Stammen called, and then Weissman shoved for his last 43,000 chips. Cristos had to simply call because the all-in raise wasn’t enough to allow for a re-raise; Stammen called as well. When the 4♣ was dealt on the turn, Cristos bet 130,000, Stammen moved all-in, and Cristos called off the 330,000 chips he had left. Stammen showed K♦-9♦ for a flush draw, gut-shot straight draw, and an overcard, Cristos revealed T♣-5♣ for two pair, and Weissman had J♠-T♠ for top two pair. The river was the Q♠, completing Stammen’s straight and eliminating both Cristos and a likely stunned Weissman.
Day 3 will get going in about an hour as the players eye the six-handed final table.
2014 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event – Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Keven Stammen – 1,089,000
2. Matthew Waxman – 899,000
3. Mukul Pahuja – 735,000
4. Ryan D’Angelo – 676,000
5. James Calderaro – 663,000
6. Anthony Zinno – 631,000
7. Dimas Martinez Jr. – 520,000
8. Corrie Wunstel – 453,000
9. Shelby Standley – 443,000
10. Kishor Bhakta – 399,000
