Day 2 of the Season XVIII WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open has concluded from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, with the 843-entrant reduced down to the final 54 players.
The day began with 318 players returning from the combined survivors across two starting flights, and after ten levels of play that included extended bubble action, WPT Champions Club member Brian Altman (pictured above) would finish as the chip leader with 2,085,000 in chips.
“Winning another WPT, in particular this one, would be amazing,” Altman said. “I don’t think anyone has won the same tournament twice, so that would be really special. If it happens that’s great, but right now I’m just taking it one hand at a time.”
Altman is one of the most consistent players on the World Poker Tour appearing at nearly every North America stop. During Season XVIII, Altman has already collected two cashes with a 10th-place finish at WPT Legends of Poker and a third-place finish at WPT Maryland at Live! Casino to see his WPT earnings sit at over $1.35 million which includes 24 Main Tour cashes, and 3 Main Tour final tables.
“I’m just trying to play one hand at a time and we are still pretty far out with 54 left,” Altman said. “So still a lot of play left. I’m looking forward to hopefully making the final table and just playing down the stretch.”
Sitting behind Altman is Scott Drobes (1,990,000), Victor Figueroa (1,535,000), James Calderaro (1,435,000), and Davian Santana (1,175,000) to round out the top five chip counts.
“I just started playing tournaments again in June,” Drobes (pictured below) said. “I had only played eight or nine tournaments in my life total before then. I don’t even like tournaments honestly I mainly play cash games. I ran pretty well, didn’t do much stupid.”
Other players still in contention include WPT Champions Club members Darren Elias (1,035,000), Mike Vela (400,000), Anthony Zinno (305,000), Chanracy Khun (215,000), Lee Markholt (115,000), along with WPTDeepStacks champions Vitor Coelho (600,000) and Jason Young (160,000), as well as Season XII WPT Player of the Year Mukul Pahuja (695,000).
WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Day 3 Seating Draw and Chip Counts
Only 106 players finished in the money, and it would be Jason Wandling sending the field into the money when his two pair held up against an opponent’s flush and straight draw. Some of the players to finish in the money included WPT Champions Club members Jason Brin (103rd), Geoffrey Hum (98th), Jonathan Jaffe (79th), Craig Varnell (66th), and Jared Jaffee (59th).
When play resumes, levels will be increased to 90-minutes in duration and there will be five levels of play. The remaining players are all guaranteed $9,374 in prize money.
Day 3 of WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open begins on Monday, January 20, at 12 p.m. (ET) with continuous live updates being provided by the World Poker Tour. Stay tuned right here to WPT.com for the exclusive live coverage of the tournament from start to finish to see who becomes the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open champion, and wins his or her way to the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions.
Photography by Melissa Haereiti / PokerPhotoArchive
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