2022 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
$3,500 WPT LHPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  1,982
Prize Pool:  $6,342,400
January 20-26, 2022

On Wednesday evening, Alexander Yen outlasted the second largest field in World Poker Tour history to earn his own place in history as the 2022 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open champion, winning $975,240 and getting his name engraved on the one-and-only Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.

“It feels absolutely incredible,” said Yen. “I’ve never won a live tournament before. I don’t even think I’ve won online, so this is a pretty unreal feeling.”

There were 1,982 entries in this event, more than tripling the $2 million guarantee to create a prizepool worth more than $6.3 million.

The final table began with the final six players, and they played for nearly an hour before the first elimination. Omar Lakhdari moved all in with , but couldn’t outrace the of Daniel Lazrus, who flopped a set of nines. Lakhdari was out in sixth place, earning $208,025.

The next elimination was a surprise, as Josh Kay came into the final table with the second largest chip stack (91 big blinds!), but about 90 minutes into the final table, Kay hit a horrible streak where nothing seemed to go right. Kay lost an all-in-preflop race against Nicholas Verderamo, followed almost immediately by losing a preflop race against Anton Wigg. Eventually, Kay got it all in with , but it failed to hold up against Wigg’s with two queens on the flop, and Kay was out in fifth place, earning $272,830.

Verderamo began the final table as the short stack, but he moved up two spots in the payouts before he shoved into Yen’s . The queens held up to eliminate Verderamo in fourth place, where he earned $361,130.

At that point, Daniel Lazrus was the clear short stack, struggling to tread water at the bottom of the leaderboard. Lazrus scored some small double-ups, but never seemed to get above 20 big blinds. Eventually, Lazrus got it all in with against Yen’s , but a jack on the flop ended his tournament in third place, where Lazrus earned $482,380.

Yen began heads-up play with 2.6x as many chips as Wigg, though they were both quite deep, and Wigg could be patient with 54 big blinds in his stack. Wigg also had experience on his side, with nearly $3.3 million in career earnings, most of it coming in no-limit hold’em.

“He’s an incredible player,” said Yen about Wigg. “I don’t play very much hold’em. Most of my experience right now is Omaha cash, so he definitely had the skill advantage.”

Wigg nearly evened things up when Yen bluffed all in after a flop of with , but Wigg called him with — top pair, top kicker — and it held up. Yen still had the lead, but not by much.

Wigg did take the heads-up chip lead at one point, but he held it for less than 10 minutes before Yen took it back.

Then they built up a sizable pot on a board of , and Wigg made a big bet on the river. Yen called with for second pair, and it was good — Wigg had been bluffing with .

That pot gave Yen a 2-to-1 chip lead again, and the tournament would end about 10 minutes later when, in Yen’s own words, “I hit the dream flop and won.”

Yen limped, Wigg raised with , and Yen called. The flop of looked safe for Wigg’s queens, but little did he know that Yen had , and flopped a straight with a straight-flush draw.

Wigg shoved the turn, not knowing he had only four outs to stay alive. Yen snap-called, and the on the river gave Yen the Championship.

Wigg earned $650,180 for second place, while Yen’s first prize of $975,240 more than tripled all of his career earnings before this.

So what does Yen plan to do with this windfall?

“I really don’t know yet,” said Yen. “Maybe a little real estate, a little investing, and a little fun.”

Final Table Results:

1st:  Alex Yen  –  $975,240
2nd:  Anton Wigg  –  $650,180
3rd:  Daniel Lazrus  –  $482,380
4th:  Nicholas Verderamo  –  $361,130
5th:  Josh Kay  –  $272,830
6th:  Omar Lakhdari  –  $208,025

2022 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 33
$2,200 Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Entries: 107
Prize Pool:  $214,000
January 25-26, 2022

Event 33 of the 2022 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was the $2,200 Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry). A field of 107 entries generated a prize pool of $214,000. The two-day affair and final event on the schedule had 12 players who made it through to Day 2.

When it was all said and done, the 2022 Lucky Hearts Poker Open ended the same way it began, with Farid Jattin emerging victorious. Jattin began the series by winning Event 1 for $306,832 and ended it by winning Event 33 outright for $58,410.

“It feels good to win another one,” Jattin said afterward. “I play a lot of PLO cash games and feel it’s my strength.”

Jattin began Day 2 fourth in chips of the remaining 12 players, was third in chips when the final table of nine players was reached, and went on a tear from there, eliminating the last six players to earn his victory.

“The past couple of years, I’ve been focusing a lot more on the cash games, that type of scene, especially since Covid. I don’t really like the online grind, so I had to make a shift. I really enjoy PLO, and I feel like my talent for tournaments, combined with my creativity in PLO, it comes together really nicely.”

2022 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 30
$200 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$50,000 Guarantee
Entries:  965
Prize Pool:  $149,575
January 24-26, 2022

Event 30 of the 2022 Lucky Hearts Poker Open was a $200 Big Stack No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). A field of 965 entries produced a prize pool of $149,575, nearly tripling the guarantee. A five-way deal took place at the final table, and as the chip leader, it was Bhakeerathan Naahanathan who was the official winner for $19,465.

*denotes the five-way deal

$2,200 Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  8,000/16,000
Players Remaining:  1 of 107

Farid Jattin raised to 38,000 on the button, Mark Wahba three-bet the pot to 114,000 from the big blind and Jattin called.

The flop was , Wahba bet the pot of 228,000, Jattin raised and Wahba called all in for about 350,000.

Jattin: 
Wahba: 

Jattin had trip threes and looked to hold against Wahba’s flush draw.

The turn and river completed the board, safe for Jattin to win his second event of the series, winning this one outright for $58,410.

Mark Wahba finished runner-up for $39,105.

A recap of the event will be posted later tonight.

$2,200 Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  8,000/16,000
Players Remaining:  2 of 107

Mark Wahba limped on the button, Farid Jattin raised to 45,000 from the big blind and Wahba called.

The flop was , Jattin bet 75,000, Wahba raised all in for 237,000 and Jattin called.

Wahba: 
Jattin: 

Jattin was ahead with eights and sevens, while Wahba had the overpair along with an open-ender.

The turn and river completed the board, giving Wahba nines full of deuces to double through Jattin.

Mark Wahba  –  564,000  (35 bb)
Farid Jattin  –  1,576,000  (99 bb)

$2,200 Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  8,000/16,000
Players Remaining:  2 of 107

Farid Jattin  –  1,800,000  (113 bb)
Mark Wahba  –  340,000  (21 bb)

1st:  $58,410 + LHPO Trophy
2nd:  $39,105

3rd:  Ayed Shweihat  –  $26,500
4th:  Eric Salazar  –  $18,670
5th:  Gregory Nerenberg  –  $13,650
6th:  Richard Kellett  –  $10,375
7th:  Shay Shabtai Mashaih  –  $8,215
8th:  Kyle Bowker  –  $6,785
9th:  Elliott Kampen  –  $5,850

$2,200 Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  8,000/16,000
Players Remaining:  2 of 107

Ayed Shweihat raised to 35,000 from the button and Farid Jattin called from the big blind.

The flop was , Jattin checked, Shweihat bet 75,000, Jattin check-raised the pot and Shweihat called all in for 172,000.

Shweihat: 
Jattin: 

Jattin was ahead with two pair and locked it up on the turn when the fell with straight.

Farid Jattin  –  1,800,000  (113 bb)
Ayed Shweihat  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($26,500)

$2,200 Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 18:  8,000/16,000
Players Remaining:  3 of 107

Farid Jattin raised from the small blind, Eric Salazar reraised the pot from the big blind, Jattin reraised and Salazar called all in for about 175,000.

Jattin: 
Salazar: 

The board ran out , giving Jattin sevens full of kings to eliminate Salazar in fourth place.

Farid Jattin  –  1,520,000  (95 bb)
Eric Salazar  – Eliminated in 4th Place  ($18,670)

$2,200 Deep Stack Pot Limit Omaha (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 17:  6,000/12,000
Players Remaining:  4 of 107

Farid Jattin raised to 35,000 from under the gun and Gregory Nerenberg called from the big blind.

The flop was and Nerenberg’s stack of 170,000-ish got into the middle with against Jattin’s .

Both had a pair of jacks, but Jattin had the superior kicker.

The turn and river completed the board, no help to Nerenberg, ending his tournament in fifth place.

Farid Jattin  –  1,280,000  (107 bb)
Gregory Nerenberg  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($13,650)