Ivey Wins $4M in Melbourne, WPT Lucky Hearts Nears Final

Phil Ivey Wins $4M in LK Boutique $250K Challenge

The Aussie Millions was wrapping up at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, and the LK Boutique $250K Challenge was the final major tournament in action on February 10.

The first day of the tournament collected 37 entries to the reentry event, though only 18 players finished the day. Day 2 added another 9 entries before the action got underway, and the total for the event was set at 46. The subsequent prize pool was AU $11,270,000, out of which the top six finishers would be paid with $4 million at the top.

Day 2 started with Erik Seidel in the chip lead and play moved forward to find names like Jason Mercier and Tony Bloom out of the tournament later in the evening. Max Altergott then departed, and it was Seidel who bubbled the tournament when Quoss eliminated him in seventh place.

Tom Dwan was the first to cash, followed by Quoss, and ultimately, it was Phil Ivey and Isaac Haxton battling heads-up for the title. The two exchanged the chip lead more than once and played hard. It ultimately ended with Haxton’s 8-7 unable to best the A-6 of Ivey. The latter collected $4 million for the victory.

Results:

1^st place: Phil Ivey (AU $4,000,000)

2^nd place: Isaac Haxton (AU $2,820,000)

3^rd place: Mike McDonald (AU $1,900,000)

4^th place: Daniel Negreanu (AU $1,900,000)

5^th place: Fabian Quoss (AU $800,000)

6^th place: Tom Dwan (AU $500,000)

WPT Lucky Hearts Nears Final Table

The World Poker Tour was at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in southern Florida for the week. The $3,500 NLHE Main Event of the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open offered reentries and a $1 million guarantee.

The two starting days attracted a total of 415 entries and $1,348,750 prize pool.

Day 2 started with less than 100 players and broke through the money bubble to start payouts for the top 54 finishers. Some who cashed later in the evening included Jamie Rosen in 52^nd place, the day’s chip leader Jaime Rubinsteyn in 49^th, Ronnie Bardah in 40^th, and Jordan Cristos in 35^th.

Day 3 saw the eliminations of players like Ronit Chamani in 32^nd place, Athanasios Polychronopoulos in 28^th, Lily Kiletto in 19^th, Tony Cousineau in 15^th, Matthew Waxman in 13^th, and Ryan D’Angelo in 12^th.

The eighth place bustout of Mukul Pahuja was worth $36,147 and created the official TV final table bubble. Shannon Shorr and Kevin Stammen were among the players remaining.