Ben Yu Leads Final 53 Players Into Day 3 of WPT Lucky Hearts with $511,604 Up Top

Welcome to Day 3 of the Season XVI WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship. The field of 911 entries has been cut down to just 53, and it’s Ben Yu (pictured) in the lead with a stack of 1.382 million in chips.

Yu came on strong at the end of Sunday’s Day 2, including eliminating Sean Winter in 57th place, and he spoke to WPT.com about his late surge.

“Actually, that was the sickest run good in a level of poker I’ve ever had in my entire career, and it’s probably not even close,” Yu said. “I lost a big pot to Curt [Kohlberg] where I was actually down to 80,000 all within that level. I don’t remember when in the level it was, but it couldn’t have been that far. It may have been 10 minutes into it, and there were 59 players left. Then 50 minutes and just six eliminations later I bagged over 1.3 million. I mean, I’ve run really hot and stuff before. I’ve been very lucky in my poker career, but never in one level have I had it just that insanely pure.”

One thing that might have made it easier for Yu to have such a quick bolt up the leaderboard is the Action Clock, provided by Protection Poker. As is the case in WPT Main Tour events these days, the Action Clock is in play one table off the money and throughout the duration of the tournament. Under the rules of the Action Clock, players have an initial 30 seconds to act on each decision, with additional 30-second time extensions should they need them.

“I guess you just really just need ‘X’ number of big hands to happen, and I think there were somewhere between six and eight big hands that happened,” Yu said when asked if he felt the Action Clock could’ve played a role in his big last level. “I guess that can still just happen in a normal level, too. It does help to get more hands out probably.”

WPT Champions Club member Andjelko Andrejevic finished Day 2 with the fourth biggest stack in the field. Interestingly enough, Andrejevic will share a table with Yu for the beginning of Day 3, so we could see some fireworks involving these two seven-figure stacks. Andrejevic brings 1.023 million to the table.

Other WPT Champions Club members remaining are Andy Frankenberger (604,000), Matas Cimbolas (440,000), Jason Brin (285,000), and Mohsin Charania (190,000).

As WPT.com writer Matt Clark discussed in an early story, Season XVI of the World Poker Tour has yet to see a champion from a prior season win a title. The last time a WPT Champions Club member from a prior season failed to win a title in the current season was way back in Season VI.

Another story well on its way to becoming a bigger one is that of Ness Reilly. Reilly has advanced to the final 53 players in this 911-entry event, but she’s doing so after placing eighth in the WPTDeepStacks Hollywood event that wrapped up just a few days ago from Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. That $1,100 buy-in event attracted a whopping 1,366 entries and and Reilly took eighth for $29,587.

Also running deep in the WPTDeepStacks Hollywood event and making it to Day 3 here in the Season XVI WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship are Joseph Couden, Qasem Jamhour, Mike Chiappetta, Nick Schwarmann, Tristan Wade, and Amelio Amato. None of them reached the final table of WPTDeepStacks Hollywood as Reilly did, though.

In addition to the $511,604 in prize money that includes a $15,000 seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions, the winner of this event will earn 1,200 points in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race. Of the 53 remaining players, Patrick Quinn has the most Hublot WPT Player of the Year points this season with 800. Should Quinn go on to win, he could jump up the leaderboard and into second in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race.

The final 53 players have locked up a minimum payday of $10,006, but they’re all chasing the $511,604 first-place prize. Action resumes at 12 p.m. local time and you can continue to find coverage right here on WPT.com.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com

Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.