Jake Ferro picked up 2022 where he left off from last year, as he goes into Day 3 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Lucky Hearts Poker Open as the chip leader. Just 87 players remain of the 553 that began Day 2; everyone that is playing on Monday has already made the money.
Last season’s WPT Player of the Year has 2.235 million chips, but is neck-and-neck with several other players in one of the tightest races you will see at this stage in a major tournament. Less than two big blinds behind Ferro is Cherish Andrews with 2.200 million chips. Right behind her is Arian Stolt with 2.145 million. Three more players have over 2 million: Jeremy Ausmus (2.105 million), Matt Higgins (2.045 million), and James Carroll (2.030 million). Alex Nguyen is just under the 2 million-chip mark with 1.950 million.
Payouts started at 248th place. All players starting today’s action are guaranteed at least $10,215, about tripling their $3,500 buy-in. The next pay jump of just over $1,000 comes at 80th place.
Ferro was in excellent shape to start Day 2, sitting comfortably in the top ten percent of the field. He performed steadily throughout Sunday, gradually growing his stack. His advance past the 2 million-chip plateau came during Level 19, around 8:00pm ET or thereabouts. Gueorgui Gantchev moved all-in pre-flop for 310,000 with A-K and Ferro made the call with pocket Queens. No face cards showed up on the board and Gantchev was out in 121st place, while Ferro’s chip stack increased to 2.025 million.
Sunday concluded at the end of Level 20.
Cherish Andrews’ road to the top of the leaderboard was a bit more circuitous than Ferro’s. She actually began Day 2 ahead of Ferro and took off from there, but as this is poker we’re talking about fortunate can change on the flip of a card, Andrews saw her chip stack plummet to only 250,000 at one point. Just as one can fall, though, one can also rise, and Andrews held firm to build her stack right back up and nearly overtake Ferro for the overall lead.
Day 3 begins at noon ET on Monday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, which may now be the hottest venue on the World Poker Tour. The plan is to get down to 16 players before retiring for the night. Levels will be 60 minutes long until 40 players are still alive and will then switch to 90 minutes for the rest of Day 3.
2022 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open – Day 2 Chip Leaders
- Jake Ferro – 2,235,000
- Cherish Andrews – 2,200,000
- Arian Stolt – 2,145,000
- Jeremy Ausmus – 2,105,000
- Matt Higgins – 2,045,000
- James Carroll – 2,030,000
- Alex Nguyen – 1,950,000
- Frederic Normand – 1,815,000
- Joshua Kay – 1,540,000
- Michael Miravi – 1,425,000
