The field of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Lucky Hearts Poker Open is down to just seven. The winner will be crowned Tuesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, home of the ridiculously cool-looking guitar-shaped hotel. Everyone remaining from the 69 who began Monday’s action is guaranteed at least $115,630. Leading the way is Francis Margaglione with 12.875 million chips.
Of course, though all seven players will enjoy a six-figure payday, they are all staring at the $809,515 prize that awaits the winner. And while some players are obviously in better shape than others, nobody is truly out of it at this point. Robel Andemichael is the short stack with 3.350 million chips. That is only 27 big blinds, so it doesn’t leave him a lot of room to maneuver, but as far as short stacks go, that’s not too bad. And he has plenty of chips with which to threaten other players, so if he’s aggressive, he may be able to pick up some blinds.
It is a close race at the top, as well. After Margaglione is Ilyas Muradi with 11.425 million, followed by Andy Hwang with 10.600 million chips. Those leaders are certainly the favorites, but up and down the final table, anybody could emerge victorious.
It seems like Margaglione almost feels like he is freerolling at this point. “I feel great playing for all this money, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he told WPT.com. “I feel so blessed to be here, especially during these times. I won a satellite in, so it’s nice to have most of myself in this event. It feels great, I’m so happy to be here.”
As we often seen happen in major events, it was the last hand of the night that boosted Margaglione into the chip lead. Jesse Lonis raised to 250,000 pre-flop and Margaglione called. On an all-diamond flop of A-7-5, Lonis bet 450,000 and Margaglione once again called. The 6h on the turn produced a 1.7 million chip bet from Lonis and another Margaglione call after some deep thought. A black 4 was dealt on the river and Lonis kept going with a 3 million chip bet. Margaglione shoved for 4.9 million and Lonis called. Lonis must have been bluffing, as he folded. It wouldn’t have mattered, though, as Margaglione showed K-T of diamonds for the nut flush.
Lonis is still in the tournament, though, with 9.150 million chips.
Typically, an “official” World Poker Tour final table is six-handed, but we’ll call today’s contest the final table, as there are just seven players remaining. They will get back to the fun at noon ET and play 60-minute levels the rest of the way.
2021 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open – Final Table Chip Counts
- Francis Margaglione – 12,875,000
- Ilyas Muradi – 11,425,000
- Andy Hwang – 10,600,000
- Jesse Lonis – 9,150,000
- Ronnie Bardah – 8,675,000
- Tsz Shing – 5,250,000
- Robel Andemichael – 3,350,000
