If you thought Day 1A was big at the World Poker Tour’s stop at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open, Day 1B said “hold my beer.” An even bigger throng of entries emerged on Saturday for action, driving the final entry numbers over the 1500 mark and easily crushing the $1 million guarantee. It also is a huge statement that, for live poker in Florida, there’s nothing that will keep the players from the felt.
Day 1B Significantly Larger
Coming out of the gate, the buzz wasn’t about breaking the $1 million guaranteed prize pool, it was whether the final first place prize might crack the $1 million mark. 461 entries were on the board as Level 2 began for the players, with a host of top professionals on the felt. Former WPT champions Noah Schwartz, Anthony Zinno, Shawn Cunix and Tony Sinishtaj were arranged around the tournament room at the Seminole Hard Rock. They were joined by tournament pros Allen Kessler, Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Mike Dentale and others who were looking to make their mark and potentially pick up their first WPT title.
The numbers boggled the mind with the speed they climbed. As Level 8 began (of the eleven on the schedule), 658 entries were registered for Day 1B alone. As Level 10 began, the Day 1A numbers were shattered as 828 entries showed on the tournament clock. By the time the final bell rang, Day 1B has amassed 868 total entries to bring the field to 1573 entries in its entirety.
That 1572-entry field will ensure that the entirety of the six-handed WPT final table will earn six figure paydays. The minimum cash of the 197 players who will receive money will be $6150. Up top is a $809,515 payday for the eventual champion of the tournament.
Day 1B Chip Leader Doesn’t Pass Day 1A Stack
With more entries in the field on Day 1B, you might have thought that the chip leader for the day would have emerged as the overall leader. That wasn’t the case with this event, though. By the end of the night, David Lee had emerged on the top of the mountain with his 404,500 in chips, but it wasn’t enough to dethrone Art Peacock’s work from Friday night.
Here’s your Day 1B leaders:
1. David Lee, 404,500
2. Zhi Wu, 346,500
3. Nathaniel Bandy, 340,000
4. Luis Torres, 338,500
5. Joshua Beckley, 285,000
6. Moshe Shabat, 281,000
7. George James, 259,000
8. Vikramdip Singh, 257,000
9. Gary Gelman, 252,000
(tie) Dantonio Brown, 252,000
And here’s your highly unofficial overall leaderboard for the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open:
1. Art Peacock, 426,500*
2. David Lee, 404,500
3. Matthew Stuff, 385,500*
4. Fares Santana, 363,500*
5. Zhi Wu, 346,600
6. Nathaniel Bandy, 340,00
7. Luis Torres, 338,500
8. Andrew Munier, 313,500*
(tie) David Miscikowski, 313,500*
10. Or Kreif Haim, 3000*
(* – Day 1A player)
Day 2 for the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open will restart at noon today with the 567 players left standing from the Day One carnage. The tournament will probably pop the money bubble at some point on Sunday, with the final table of the tournament playing out on Tuesday. The WPT is providing live updates for fans as the venerable tournament circuit comes back to life after a ten-month slumber.
