Day 4 of the Season XVIII WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open has concluded at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, with the final table of six players set. Leading the way is WPT Champions Club member Brian Altman (pictured) with 10,400,000 in chips while four of the six remaining players are registering their first WPT final table.
Altman is joined at the table by fellow WPT Champions Club member Chanracy Khun, John Dollinger, Nadeem Hirani, Nadya Magnus, and Peter Walsworth. Each player is currently guaranteed $98,686 in prize money, while all eyes are set on the $482,636 first-place prize that includes the $15,000 entry into the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions, as well as an inscription of their name on the WPT Champions Cup.
| WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Final Table | ||||
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | John Dollinger | United States | 10,275,000 | 137 |
| 2 | Chanracy Khun | Canada | 3,150,000 | 42 |
| 3 | Brian Altman | United States | 10,400,000 | 139 |
| 4 | Nadeem Hirani | United States | 5,000,000 | 67 |
| 5 | Nadya Magnus | Russia | 4,000,000 | 53 |
| 6 | Peter Walsworth | United States | 900,000 | 12 |
The button is on Peter Walsworth and there is 52:43 remaining in Level 28 (50,000-75,000 and a 75,000-big blind ante).
Heading into his fourth final table as chip leader, WPT Champions Club member Brian Altman will enter the final table with 10,400,000 in chips on the back of eliminating Scott Drobes in seventh place. Altman has amassed nearly $3.8 million in lifetime earnings, and on the WPT, Altman has collected over $1.35 million in earnings which now includes 25 Main Tour cashes, and 4 Main Tour final tables. In Season XVIII, Altman finished in 10th-place at WPT Legends of Poker and third-place at WPT Maryland at Live! Casino, and by reaching this final table, he has moved into the lead in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race with a minimum of 1,500 points to take the lead over Alex Foxen (1,400 points).
“The tournament has gone really smoothly for me,” Altman said. “I’ve been running really well, getting good cards and good table draws, and things have kind of just been going my way.”
Altman’s only WPT title was the Season XIII WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open for $723,008, and if he can prove victorious and collect his second title, he will become the first player in WPT history to win the same event twice.
“Winning the same tournament twice and making history would be pretty sweet,” Altman said. “I’m approaching it the same way that I would approach any other WPT. There’s no reason to put extra pressure on myself.”
Based locally in Florida, John Dollinger sits second overall with 10,275,000 in chips. Dollinger has over $711,000 in lifetime tournament earnings with his best result being a victory at the 2016 Battle at the Beach in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack event. On the WPT, Dollinger made a run in the Season XI WPT bestbet Open at bestbet Jacksonville where he made a run at reaching the televised final table before falling in eighth-place for a $25,808 payday.
Sitting third in chips is Nadeem Hirani with 5,000,000. Originally from India, but now based Waynesboro, Georgia, Hirani is collecting his first ever WPT cash. The majority of Hirani’s results have occurred in Florida, and just reaching the final table will see Hirani more than quindecuple his lifetime earnings.
Originally from Russia, Nadya Magnus sits fourth overall with 4,000,000 in chips and is collecting her second cash of Season XVIII, and third overall. Magnus was once the ‘Loose Cannon’ on Season 1 of the PokerStars Big Game TV Show back in 2010, and has since amassed over $650,000 in lifetime tournament earnings with this final table appearance resulting in her biggest cash to date.
WPT Champions Club member Chanracy Khun sits fifth overall with 3,150,000 in chips. In Season XI, Khun won WPT Barcelona for $258,448 and has seen his WPT earnings sit at over $348,000 with a total of nine cashes; six of those being on the WPT Main Tour.
Rounding out the final table is Peter Walsworth with 900,000 in chips. Walsworth has nearly $1.3 million in lifetime tournament earnings with nearly $140,000 of those coming on the WPT where he has collected three WPT Main Tour cashes from a total of nine cashes.
Day 4 saw just 13 players return to play, and it would be Aaron Rosenthal (13th), Ian Gillespie (12th), Billy Pilossoph (11th), Sam Soverel (10th), WPT Champions Club member James Calderaro (9th), Hiroaki Harada (8th), and Scott Drobes (7th) all finding themselves on the rail short of the televised WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open final table.
For a complete list of the payouts, click the “Payouts” tab here.
The final six players will return on Wednesday, January 22, to play for the $482,636 first-place prize as the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open final table action gets underway at 2 p.m. (ET) with a live stream on a 30-minute delay on the WPT.com YouTube channel. As always, keep your browsers locked right here to WPT.com for continued coverage of the World Poker Tour, and to see who will be crowned the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open champion for Season XVIII.
Photography by Melissa Haereiti / PokerPhotoArchive
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