With the three starting flights in the books, Sunday saw all of the survivors of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event reconvene for Day 2. 361 players entered Sunday’s play with just 78 remaining to advance to today’s Day 3. It is a close race for the pole position, as Brian Altman bagged and tagged 1.292 million chips, followed closely by Joelle Guarino with 1.149 million and Mark Dube with 1.112 million.
Because the field was whittled into double-digit territory, the money bubble was burst on Sunday; the tournament paid down to an even 100 spots. The bubble boy was Josh Arieh, best known for his third place finish in the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event, though he has had a great deal of success other than that on the live tournament circuit. According to the updates on WPT.com, Amir Babakhani raised pre-flop and both Arieh and another player called. The flop was A♣-4♠-3♣; Arieh checked, Babakhani bet 25,000, the other player folded, Arieh moved all-in for 67,000, and Babakhani made the call. Arieh had a very nice hand, A♠-J♠, good for top pair, high kicker with a backdoor flush draw, while Babakhani showed 2♦-3♦ for bottom pair and a wheel draw. The turn was the 6♣, allowing Arieh to stay in the lead, but the river was the 5♦, giving Babakhani the straight and the pot, knocking Arieh out of the WPT Lucky Hearts one spot away from the money.
One of the more exciting hands of the day came shortly before that. Joelle Guarino raised pre-flop, Sujay Dalal three-bet, and Guarino called. The flop had all sorts of action possibilities, coming down A♠-Q♣-T♣. Guarino took the initiative on the turn, betting 60,000, and Dalal just called. The turn was even more interesting, the J♣. Things were setting up for fireworks or possibly both players shutting down because of a scare card. It was the former. Guarino bet 40,000, Dalal shoved for 186,000, and Guarino snap-called. It was easy to see why she made such an easy call, as she revealed 8♣-9♣ for a Queen-high straight flush. Dalal had K♦-T♦, good for the Broadway straight, but in reality it was good for nothing. He was drawing completely dead. He was eliminated while Guarino nearly doubled-up to 573,000
We don’t have details as to how she then, in turn, doubled that new total to get to where she is now, but we do known how the chip leader, Brian Altman, got a couple hundred thousand chips. Shortly after Guarino’s straight flush, Altman, who was already the chip leader, moved all-in pre-flop over the top of Daren Stabinski’s raise and Stabinski called all-in for 185,000. It looked like the bullying move had backfired, as Stabinski had pocket Kings, destroying Altman’s lowly T-5. But this is poker and Altman flopped two pair, eliminating Stabinski on the bubble in 102nd place.
Day 3 of the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event is just getting underway at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The plan is to play all the way down to eighteen players before the night is through.
2015 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open Main Event – Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Brian Altman – 1,292,000
2. Joelle Guarino – 1,149,000
3. Mark Dube – 1,112,000
4. Sebastian Ruiz – 959,000
5. Nenad Medic – 839,000
6. Nathan Tuthill – 826,000
7. Walter Fisher – 814,000
8. Amir Babakhani – 720,000
9. Josh Kay – 712,000
10. Vinny Pahuja – 702,000
