By Kevin Taylor
Just six players remain in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open, and there are plenty of story lines to look at among those players. Brian Altman can make history by becoming the first player to win the same WPT Main Event twice, while Nadya Magnus is hoping she will be the second woman to ever win an open WPT Main.
The final six have all locked up nearly six figures, $98,686, but they all have their eyes on the first-place prize of $482,636. In addition, the winner will receive an automatic seat for the WPT Tournament of Champions at the end of the season. Altman has already taken the lead in the WPT Player of the Year standings with his third cash of the season, and for everyone else but Magnus, this is their first cash of Season XVIII.
The final table will be starting up at 2 pm ET today, and will be live streaming on WPT.com on a 30-minute delay. Scroll down to learn a bit more about all six players at today’s final table.
Seat 1 – John Dollinger – 10,275,000
John Dollinger is a 32-year-old poker pro who has over $700,000 in live tournament earnings. This is his second cash at a WPT stop, as he finished in 8th place at the WPT bestbet Open in Jacksonville in April of 2013. Dollinger is a Florida native who says that he mostly plays short ring games online.
If Dollinger is able to get at least fifth place, it will be the third, six-figure cash of his poker career. He comes into the final table with a massive stack of 137 big blinds, just behind the chip leader Brian Altman. Dollinger enjoys sports in his free time, including basketball, fishing, and hitting the gym.
Seat 2 – Chanracy Khun – 3,150,000
Chanracy Khun is one of two players at this final table who will be playing for their second WPT Main Event title. Khun’s win came in Season XI at WPT Barcelona where he bested a field of 249 players, and took home $232,487. That was Khun’s very first cash on tour, and this final table marks his tenth cash on the WPT.
Khun says that he has been playing poker for 10 years, and that he works in the restaurant business. The Canadian has over $1 million in live tournament earnings, and would earn a new career-high cash if he is able to get heads up in this event.
Seat 3 – Brian Altman – 10,400,000
Brian Altman is the headliner of the final table, because he can possibly make history at this final table. Altman has been here before, as he won this very event in 2015, earning a career best $723,008. If he were to win this event, he would become the first player in WPT history to win the same Main Event twice.
Altman is the most accomplished player at the final table, with live tournaments earnings of over $3.8 million, including what he has already locked up here. Altman has now cashed 27 times on the World Poker Tour, and this final table marks his third cash of the season. By making the final table, Altman has already taken the lead in the WPT Player of the Year standings, and will only be extending his lead with every pay jump that he is able to achieve.
Seat 4 – Nadeem Hirani – 5,000,000
Nadeem Hirani is the underdog story of this final table. Coming into this event, Hirani had just $6,411 in live tournament earnings, with a career-high cash of just $1,710. The Georgia native has scored his first cash on the WPT with this final table. He has already pledged 5% of his winnings to the dealers here at Seminole Hard Rock, and 10% to charity.
Hirani’s presence at this final table is nothing short of a miracle, after a terrifying accident nearly took his life two years ago. Hirani was at work examining some construction on top of a gas station when he hit his knee on a metal beam. The impact hit a nerve in his knee that made his legs go numb, and he fell 30 feet onto his back, busting his head open, and breaking his back. Doctors told him he may never walk again, but after just six months of rehab while in a wheelchair, he was able to walk again under his own power. He is now mostly recovered from the accident, and says he is ready to become a WPT champion.
Seat 5 – Nadya Magnus – 4,000,000
Nadya Magnus will be looking to become the second woman to win an open WPT Main Event, after Ema Zajmovic won the WPT Montreal Event in 2017. Magnus came onto the poker scene when she appeared as the “Loose Cannon” on Season 1 of the Pokerstars Big Game in 2010. She has over $650,000 in live tournament earnings, and she has already locked up the biggest cash or her career by making this final table.
Magnus was born and raised in Russia, but currently resides in Illinois. She has won two WSOP Circuit Rings, and this is her first-ever final table here on the WPT. According to her bio sheet, Magnus played poker for the first time on a drunken night in Vegas during the Super Bowl. Now, she is looking to add her name to the WPT Champions Cup
Seat 6 – Peter Walsworth – 900,000
Peter Walsworth comes into the final table as the severe short stack, with just 12 big blinds. The 39-year-old Florida native now has over $1.3 million in live earnings, and his career-high cash of $185,018 occurred just two months ago after chopping the Borgata Fall Poker Open three ways. This final table is Walsworth’s tenth cash with the WPT, and he has two previous final tables in smaller WPT series events.
In 2012, Walsworth finished runner up at the WPT Regional Series in Tampa, earning an even $74,000. His second final table came just last summer, when he finished in 7th place at the WPT Deepstacks Main Event, once again in Tampa. Walsworth is married with two kids, and wrote that with the money from this event he plans to buy more toys and diapers for his kids.