November Niner Jerry Wong Wins 4,756-Entry LHPO Event in Florida
Jerry Wong may have been the second one out at the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event final table, but he hasn't let any lingering disappointment slow him down in the aftermath. The former November Niner won $250,000 at the top of a four-way deal to end Event #1: $360 Unlimited Reentry at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open, running jointly with WPTDeepstacks at Seminole Hard Rock in Florida.
The event drew 4,756 entries, second all-time in the state after a 2016 event at Seminole Hard Rock and nearly 700 more than the same event last year.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Wong | $250,000* |
| 2 | Nancy Thomas | $104,113* |
| 3 | Victor Figueroa | $103,826* |
| 4 | Steven McCoy | $91,241* |
| 5 | Christopher Arcidiacono | $45,765 |
| 6 | Michael Laake | $34,830 |
| 7 | Fabio Pereira | $26,730 |
| 8 | Jose De La Cruz | $19,440 |
| 9 | Gal Erlichman | $13,770 |
Reflects a final table deal
The format of the tournament resulted in some of those entries not actually playing on Day 2 of the event if they survived Day 1, as players were allowed to bag more than one stack and cash them in for $2,500 apiece. In any case, some of those who advanced to Day 2 and failed to make the final table included Steven Wolansky, Neil Blumenfield, Cory Zeidman, Zo Karim, Mark Dube, Matt Waxman and Jake Schwartz.
According to the live updates, when there were eight players left, Wong made his move from the middle of the pack. Wong got it in for 20 big blinds with jacks against the ace-king of Jose De La Cruz and won unimproved.
De La Cruz ended up busting next when he ran nines into the kings of Victor Figueroa. Fabio Pereira had the same problem, only he held ace-queen against the kings of Christopher Arcidiacano, also failing to overtake the cowboys.
Then, Wong found A♣K♦ and shoved all in from the small blind for almost 30 big blinds effective against an open from Michael Laake, who called with A♠Q♠. Laake found the a queen on the turn on a board of 9♠8♣3♣Q♣, but Wong had outs to the river. He found one in the K♣ and surged to a big lead, eliminating Laake.
Arcidiacano then jammed his last nine big blinds in with A♣2♣, but Wong picked up another big hand in jacks and busted him when Arcidiacano didn't find any improvement.
The players battled for a little while with Wong scraping up a few more pots and holding about two-thirds of the chips four-handed. Discussion of a deal resulted in Wong taking $250,000, a hair under the winner's take of $251,100, and the rest of the remaining players — Nancy Thomas, Steven McKoy and Figueroa — flattened out the remaining money (so each took home near $100,000).
“I didn’t win [the Main Event], but it feels good to win this one,” Wong told tournament staff. “I played with some pretty tough players and had a nice run of cards, especially after the dinner break.”
Photo courtesy of Seminole Hard Rock
