2014 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Day 3: Shorr Headlines Final Table, Eyes First Title
After a long day at the tables on Monday, a field of 33 was trimmed down to six at the 2014 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open. Shannon Shorr is still in contention for his first WPT title and will headline the six-handed final table on Tuesday, but he'll be chasing chip leader Dimas Martinez, Jr. when the action resumes at the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino in Florida.
2014 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dimas Martinez, Jr. | 3,558,000 |
| 2 | Shannon Shorr | 3,478,000 |
| 3 | Keven Stammen | 826,000 |
| 4 | Evan Dollinger | 684,000 |
| 5 | Tim Kegel | 1,271,000 |
| 6 | James Calderaro | 2,649,000 |
The field with littered with talent when Day 3 began on Monday, but it didn't take long for the eliminations to pile up. Among the players to hit the rail early on were Athanasios Polychronopoulos (29th place), Lily Kiletto (19th place) and Ben Tarzia (18th place), all of whom were sent packing by Evan Dollinger. Tarzia's exit came in a three-way all in confrontation that sent Dollinger across the 1 million-chip mark. According to the WPT Live Updates, Tarzia moved all in for 101,000 (8.5 big blinds) from middle position. Dollinger called from the cutoff, and Corrie Wunstel moved all in from the small blind, having Dollinger covered. Dollinger called all in for 566,000, and the cards were turned up.
Tarzia: J♥10♠
Wunstel: A♣Q♦
Dollinger: K♣K♦
Dollinger was in front with his pair of kings, and he staved off elimination when the board ran out 8♣5♣4♦8♠2♥. That pot helped propel him to his first final WPT table.
Shorr also survived an all-in situation, but his came against the eventual chip leader Martinez, Jr. With 16 players remaining, Justin Zaki min-raised to 24,000 from the hijack and Shorr three-bet to 61,000 from the small blind. Martinez called from the big blind and Zaki folded, bringing a flop of J♥6♥2♣. Shorr check-called a bet of 60,000, and the 8♣ hit the turn. Shorr check-called again, this time for 100,000.
The river was the 3♣ and Shorr checked for a third time. Martinez moved all in, sending Shorr into the tank before he decided to call off his last 318,000. Martinez showed 7♥5♥ for busted straight and flush draws, and Shorr tabled a winning Q♦J♠ for top pair. As the two leaders heading into the final table, we're expecting many more clashes between them on Tuesday.
Two players who didn't reach the final table were former WPT champions Anthony Zinno and Matt Waxman. Zinno was sent packing in 16th place when his A♦J♦ came up short against James Calderaro's 7♦7♠, and Waxman was eliminated a short while later in 13th place by Zaki. They were followed by Ryan D'Angelo (12th) and Gregory Marcus (11th), setting up the unofficial 10-handed final table.
Wunstel was the first player out at the final table after losing a huge pot to Shorr. Wunstel three-bet all in for 670,000 with 8♦8♠ and Shorr called with 9♣9♥. Shorr flopped a set of nines and his hand held up, increasing his stack to 3.1 million while Wunstel hit the rail.
Doug Hartwick (ninth place) and Makul Pahuja (eighth place) were the next to go, leaving seven players on the final table bubble. Twenty-six hands later, Zaki was eliminated. He moved all in from under the gun for around 360,000 (15 big blinds) and Keven Stammen re-shoved from the small blind. Zaki's A♦Q♦ needed help against Stammen's Q♥Q♠, but the K♥10♣5♠5♦8♠ rang true for Stammen.
Zaki's exit marked his third straight deep finish at WPT Lucky Hearts without a final table. He is the only player to cash in all three years of the event after finishing 21st in 2012 and 30th in 2013.
The final table will kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, and the WPT Live Stream will be available for viewing starting at 1:30. As always, you can find the end-of-day recap right here at PokerNews.com.
Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.
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