Ryan Van Sanford Keeps His Eyes on the Prize Money at WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open

By Kevin Taylor

Poker pro Ryan Van Sanford currently resides in Colorado Springs, but he has spent the last few years jumping back-and-forth between Colorado and Florida. He is back in the Sunshine State now for the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open, and he told us that while Day 1A was rough for him, Day 1B was smooth sailing.

“Yeah my Day 1’s were OK. I fired two bullets on 1A and didn’t bag, which kind of sucked, but on 1B it was as smooth as it gets, straight up, had a really nice day,” said Van Sanford.

Van Sanford is a member of the WPT Champions Club. In November of 2014, he took down the $5,000 WPT Bounty Scramble at the bestbet Jacksonville Fall Series, taking home a career best $421,668. However, when asked what another WPT title would mean to him, especially in the state of Florida where he has some connections, he admitted that he had his mind on other things.

“You know I try not to think about titles or brand names too much honestly. For me, I play poker to make money and be my own boss, so that’s really the focus, to make the most money I can,” said Van Sanford.

Van Sanford has been coming to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for years now, and he had high praises for the property and the staff here. He said that it’s great to see the success this venue has enjoyed, especially since the addition of the iconic Guitar Hotel.

“It’s nice to see growth at Hard Rock. There’s definitely a lot more people showing up, and a lot more people walking around. More than anything, the poker has grown a lot. This place has some of the best staff and best dealers so it’s really nice to see it growing like this,” said Van Sanford.

Van Sanford will be welcomed on this Day 2 restart by quite a tough table draw. He has Day 1B chip leader David Levy on his direct left, and on his right, he has three former WPT champions who have over $25 million in live tournament earnings.

“It’s too early to make plans for my table, but I’ve got a few familiar faces at my table. I’ve got Darryll Fish, Noah Schwartz, and Byron Kaverman all directly to my right, right, right. So I imagine there is going to be a lot of opens in front of me, so we will see where things go from there,” said Van Sanford.

It is still early in Day 2, but stay tuned to find out if Van Sanford is able to survive the murderer’s row of players at his table.