Congratulations to James Calderaro, WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Champion! ($271,103)

The Seminole Coconut Creek Casino was host to the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open. The $3,500 Main Event drew 415 entries, generating a prize pool of $1,348,750. After nearly 32 levels of play, James Calderaro emerged as the newest member of the prestigous WPT Champions Club.

Calderaro came close in Season X, when he finished runner-up at the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open. Almost two years later, Calderaro has captured that elusive victory and has etched his name onto the WPT Champions Cup. The road to victory, though, was no easy task at this 209-hand final table.

Here were the chip counts at the start of the final table:

Seat 1. Dimas Martinez, Jr. – 3,558,000 (148 bb)
Seat 2. Shannon Shorr – 3,478,000 (144 bb)
Seat 3. Keven Stammen – 826,000 (34 bb)
Seat 4. Evan Dollinger – 684,000 (28 bb)
Seat 5. Tim Kegel – 1,271,000 (52 bb)
Seat 6. James Calderaro – 2,649,000 (110 bb)

The first elimination came six hands into the final table, when Evan Dollinger four-bet shoved for 24 big blinds with [TcTh]. Chip Leader Dimas Martinez, Jr. called with [7h7s] and scored the elimination when the board ran out [Js7d5sQh4s], giving him a set and ending Dollinger’s run with a sixth-place finish worth $54,335. An hour later, Tim Kegel joined Dollinger on the rail. Kegel committed his last 13 blinds with [AcKc] and found action from Shannon Shorr with [2h2s]. A king on the flop paired Kegel, but running hearts on the turn and river gave Shorr a winning flush. Kegel took home $67,842 for his efforts.

Dimas Martinez, Jr. fell in fourth place, collecting $90,366. His demise came on Hand #78, four-betting all in for 40 big blinds with [AdKc]. James Calderaro looked him up with [TdTs] and held up through the [Qh5c4c9cQd] board. Keven Stammen exited in third place an hour later, but it took a river beat to felt the Ohio native. James Calderaro’s [Ac9s] bested Stammen’s [AdKd] after the board fell [Qd2h2s3s9d], pariing Calderaro’s nine. Stammen pocketed $122,197 for his impressive showing.

Heads-up play began with Shannon Shorr holding a slight lead and over the course of the legnthy duel, the chip lead changed several times. It wasn’t until the 104th hand of heads-up play when the cards were finally on their backs. The hand started with near identical chip stacks from the start of heads-up play. Calderaro limped in on the button for 120,000 and Shorr raised to 385,000 from the big blind. Calderaro called, the flop fell [Ts7s4h], and Shorr continued for 475,000. A raise to 1.4 million from Calderaro was met with an all-in shove from Shorr. Calderaro called all in for 5.56 million with [Tc7c] for top two pair, ahead of Shorr’s [AdAs]. The [3d] turn and [5c] river secured the double up for Calderaro and he sealed the victory two hands later.

After Calderaro shoved, Shorr called off his last seven big blinds with [AdJh]. Calderaro trailed with [9d8d] but made a winning flush when the board rolled out [5c5s3dKd6d]. For his runner-up showing Shorr earned $190,039 to add to his excellent résumé of poker results.

Congratulations to James Calderaro, the newest member of the WPT Champions Club!

Here are the final table results:

1st: James Calderaro – $271,103
2nd: Shannon Shorr – $190,039
3rd: Keven Stammen – $122,197
4th: Dimas Martinez, Jr. – $90,366
5th: Tim Kegel – $67,842
6th: Evan Dollinger – $54,355

The World Poker Tour is headed north later this month for the WPT Fallsview Poker Clasic stop that runs from February 22-24. Until then, farewell from Coconut Creek!