The story going into the final day of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open yesterday was the possibility of history in the making, as the chip leader, Gigi Gagne, was in position to become the first female ever to win an open WPT Main Event. In the end, though, it was Matt Juttelstad’s amazing consistency that became the story as he won his first ever live tournament title and over a quarter million dollars.
It was Juttelstad’s tournament virtually the entire way, as he finished both Days 1 and 2 as the chip leader while only slipping to the second spot at the end of Day 3. Because of Gigi Gagne’s attempt at history as well as her more than one million chip lead, however, Juttelstad was not the talk of the final table despite his overall dominance of the event.
The funny thing was, Matt Juttelstad wouldn’t have even been there if it wasn’t for graduate school. He had taken about a year off from the game, but happened to be in Miami for a grad school interview at Florida Atlantic University, so he decided to give the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open a shot while he was in the area. The tournament had a relatively unique structure in that not only did it have two starting days, but anyone who busted on Day 1A could buy-in again and give it another try on Day 1B. Juttelstad was one of the many who hit the rail on Day 1A and had no plans to re-enter on Day 1B except that his interview turned out to be shorter than expected. Who knows what that means for his chances at acceptance, but if he does get into FIU, he will definitely be able to pay the tuition bill.
While Gagne and Juttelstad fittingly ended up as the final two competitors, they both had their issues on their journeys from the final six to the final two. Gagne ran into a rough hand early, holding A-4 on a flop of A-5-4 while Keith Ferrera was in the unfortunate position of holding A-T. Well, temporarily unfortunate. After a raising battle, Ferrera shoved all-in for 859,000, to the horror of WPT webcast commentators Mike Sexton, Dan O’Brien, and Tony Dunst. Gagne of course called and it looked like she would take command of the final table, but the turn card was a Ten, exactly what Ferrera needed.
After that, Gagne seemed rattled, which resulted in her making a series of questionable plays. It seemed like she would bow out early, falling all the way down to almost 500,000 chips, but Gagne held firm and got herself back in the thick of things.
While Gigi Gagne was sinking, Matt Juttelstad was rolling, climbing from 1.6 million chips to 2.6 million (thanks to Gagne) to 3 million to as much as 4.8 million. During level 24 (the final table began at level 21), he started slipping a bit, even doubling-up short stack Todd Jacobson, but Juttelstad still held steady at around the 3 million chip mark for quite a while. During level 27, however, when play was three-handed, Juttelstad actually dropped so far as to be the short stack at the table, reaching a low point of 1.575 million chips. With Gagne a million ahead of him and Uri Kadosh more than 3 million ahead, it looked like Juttelstad might have to settle for “just” a $100,000 pay day. But he was able to double through Kadosh, then take a few more big pots off of him before eliminating him in 3rd place. It was a short-lived stay at the bottom for Juttelstad; he would not make a return trip.
Going into heads-up play, Juttelstad had an almost 3.5-to-1 chip lead on Gagne, 6.82 million to 2.03 million. It was an odd one-on-one match in that it lasted just over 30 hands, but virtually nothing happened. Until the final hand, of course. With stacks about the same as they were when heads-up started, Juttelstad limped into the pot pre-flop and Gagne checked her 80,000 chip big blind. Gagne liked the 5c-3s-2h flop, leading out for 300,000 chips. Juttelstad called and the two watched the As peel off on the turn. At that, Gagne moved all-in, insta-called by Juttelstad. And it was no wonder – Juttelstad had 4c-6h for the turned nut straight. Nobody can blame Gigi Gagne for making her move, either, as she also had a 4 for a straight. Unfortunately, she was drawing virtually dead, needing one of the three remaining 6’s for just a chop. It didn’t happen and Matt Juttelstad had his first ever live tournament title.
For the win, Juttelstad received $268,444, the WPT Champions Trophy, another trophy from the host venue, and a seat in the season-ending WPT Championship at the Bellagio. And while Gigi Gagne didn’t claim victory, she did tie Kathy Liebert (2009) and J.J. Liu (2007) for the best finish for a woman in an open WPT Main Event.
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open – Final Table Results
1. Matt Juttelstad – $268,444
2. Gigi Gagne – $158,194
3. Uri Kadosh – $105,463
4. Sharon Levin – $73,344
5. Todd Jacobson – $54,649
6. Keith Ferrera – $42,185