It was a relatively quick day at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event in Hollywood, Florida on Monday as just 60 eliminations were needed to get down to the final 18 players. The tournament still proceeded into the night, but shutting the festivities down before 9:30pm is early compared to most days in a major tournament. Heading into Day 4 with the chip lead is Mark Dube with 4.32 million chips. Brian Altman, the leader going into Day 3, is not far behind with 4.02 million, but after him it is more than a one million chip drop-off to the next player.
Dube rose to the head of the class thanks in large part to a big hand as the night drew to a close. According to the report on WPT.com, Emerson Ward raised pre-flop to 75,000, Dube three-bet, and Ward moved all-in for 1.3 million chips. Dube showed pocket Jacks, dominating Ward’s pocket Nines. The Jacks held up (and improved to a full house), Ward was eliminated in 20th, and Dube’s chip stack was elevated to right about where it is now.
Not to be outdone (though considering he is in second place, he was outdone slightly), Brian Altman had closed out Day 3 with a big hand. He raised to 70,000 pre-flop, Andy Philahcack re-raised to 150,000, and Altman called. The flop was a monochrome 5♠-4♠-2♠, prompting Altman to check-call Philachack’s 700,000 all-in. It’s no wonder he did, as he turned over J♠-9♠ for the flopped flush. Philachack had some outs, though, as he revealed A♠-J♦, giving him the nut-flush draw and a gut-shot straight flush draw. A pair of Kings on the turn and river did him no favors, though, and he was out of the tournament in 19th place.
Tuesday should also be a short day in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event, as play will stop once the six-handed final table is determined. With the amount of money at stake, though, players usually play more carefully at the end, so you never know how long things can take. There are a few short stacks – four players are under the 600,000 mark – but it only takes one hand to change the complexion of a table, so the title is still easily up for grabs.
Play resumes at noon ET.
2015 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event – Day 3 Chip Counts
- Mark Dube – 4,320,000
- Brian Altman – 4,020,000
- Sergii Baranov – 2,980,000
- Walter Fisher – 2,300,000
- Jared Jaffee – 2,265,000
- Kelly Minkin – 2,010,000
- Nathan Tuthill – 1,700,000
- Bruce Kramer – 1,585,000
- Jon Graham – 1,470,000
- Dean Baranowski – 1,345,000
- Justin Zaki – 1,335,000
- Greg Rosen – 1,300,000
- David Nowling – 1,100,000
- Panagiotis Nifakos – 1,090,000
- Alexander Denisov – 570,000
- Sebastian Ruiz – 555,000
- Sanjay Gehi – 535,000
- Kareem Marshall – 305,000