Day 2 of the 2013 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open was scheduled to play until the money bubble burst on Sunday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Of the 80 players who started the day, 37 remained at midnight, and hand-for-hand lasted for nearly two hours. Finally, John Dibella exited as the bubbled boy, and the 36 survivors, led by Hayden Fortini (946,000), bagged and tagged for the evening.
Joining Fortini atop the counts are 2011 World Series of Poker November Niner Matt Giannetti, and WPT Season X Player of the Year Joe Serock. Other players who locked up a min-cash, but are looking for more include WPT Champions Club Member Matt Salsberg, Darryll Fish and Justin Zaki.
WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Day 2 Top 10
*Place | Name | Chip Count |
1 | Hayden Fortini | 946,000 |
2 | Tony Ruberto* | 835,000 |
3 | Evan Teltelbaum | 814,500 |
4 | Chris Bolek | 783,000 |
5 | Ben Tarzia | 780,000 |
6 | Elan Branas | 729,500 |
7 | Mark Darner | 581,500 |
8 | Matt Giannetti* | 496,500 |
9 | Joe Serock | 456,500 |
10 | Evlys Gutierrez | 451,000 |
*Denotes member of the WPT Champions Club.
En route to taking the chip lead, Fortini played a massive pot with Ray Qartomy during the first level of play on Sunday. According to the WPT Live Updates Team, four players saw a flop of , including Qartomy and Fortini. Qartomy bet 11,000, Fortini raised to 25,000, and Qartomy put in a third bet to 50,000. Fortini called. The turn was an , Qartomy moved all in for about 100,000, and Fortini called with for bottom set. Qartomy turned over for a pair of tens, and the river was a brick.
Raj Vohra was the overall chip leader entering into Day 2, but was unable to survive the day. During Level 16, Vohra was all in and at risk preflop holding the against the of Ben Tarzia. The flop fell , leaving Vohra drawing very slim, and the turn and river both bricked to eliminate Vohra from the tournament just a few spots shy of the money.
The story of the day was the near two-hour money bubble. Hand-for-hand play began at 12:30 a.m. the start of Level 17 (2,500/5,000/500), and lasted until 2:28 a.m. On the final hand of play, Dibella, winner of the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, was all in for 47,000 on a board of , and Fortini made the call. Dibella held for a straight, and Fortini turned over for a flush and straight draw. The completed the board, and the money bubble finally burst.
Joining Vohra and Dibella on the rail on Day 2 were Noah Schwartz, Adam Levy, Amanda Musumeci, Ryan Eriquezzo, Ravi Raghavan and Tommy Vedes.
Play will resume on Monday at 1 p.m. ET with less than five minutes remaining in Level 17. The winner is set to take home $323,804, including a $25,500 seat in the WPT World Championship, so stay tuned to PokerNews for daily recaps from the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open in Hollywood, Florida.
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