WPT Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open, Day 1B Recap

By BJ Nemeth

Royal Flush Girls Brittany Bell (left) and Jeannie Duffy were posted just outside the poker room here at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino, welcoming players to Day 1B of the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open with complimentary gift bags.

Todd Terry has had a bad run in Florida lately, claiming on Twitter that he hadn’t even won a hand over the course of three Day 1s (two starting days at WPT Jacksonville in November, and Day 1A here). He hadn’t even made it thru four levels to the second break.

On Day 1B, Terry’s luck changed, as he was chipleader with nearly 100,000 in chips at the second break. While he lost about half that stack by the end of the day, he did survive to Day 2.

WPT Raw Deal analyst Tony Dunst (right) also provides commentary on the WPT Final Table Live Stream. On Day 1B, he was seated next to Christian Harder (left), who has won more than $900,000 on the World Poker Tour, including a second-place finish earlier this season at WPT Foxwoods.

Each season, the World Poker Tour highlights some young players as "Ones to Watch," and this season’s group includes Ebony Kenney from nearby Miami. Unfortunately, the homefield advantage didn’t work in her favor here, and was eliminated on Day 1B.

With both starting days in the books, the prizepool information was released, and the field of 295 players created a prizepool of nearly $1 million. The top 27 players will finish in the money, and first place is worth $268,444. The winner will also receive the WPT Champions Trophy (left), a slightly smaller version of the WPT Champions Cup that travels with the World Poker Tour.

There is also a bonus prize for the highest-finishing 18-20 year old in the field — the electric guitar on the right. (Florida is the only U.S. state on the World Poker Tour that allows players under the age of 21.)

Jeremy McLaughlin (left) asked Royal Flush Girl Brittany Bell to sweat his action for a couple of hands. He folded the first hand in the small blind, but played the next hand from the button.

The board came [Kd8s6d5dQc], and when his opponent called the river bet, McLaughlin turned over [AdAh] to win the pot with a little luck from the Royal Flush Girls.

The Mizrachis are the most famous poker family from south Florida, and two of them showed up to play on Day 1B — two-time WPT winner Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, and the youngest Mizrachi brother, Donny (pictured above).

Though Donny is known to poker fans after all four Mizrachi brothers cashed in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, this was Donny’s first WPT event. Unfortunately, he’ll have to wait for his first WPT cash, as he was eliminated on Day 1B.

Earlier this season, Artie Rodriguez (left) earned his entry into WPT Jacksonville online at ClubWPT.com, and then played his way to the final table, finishing fifth to earn more than $55,000. Rodriguez had such a great time that he came back for more WPT action.

On this hand, Rodriguez bet big on the river with the board showing [10d7d7hAsAh], and his opponent was perplexed, asking, "You really have ace-eight of diamonds?" Rodriguez pointed out that there wasn’t a flush possible on that board.

His opponent eventually called, and Rodriguez turned over [AdQd] — he flopped an ace-high flush draw, but caught running aces for a full house to win the pot.

Dan O’Brien busted out early on Day 1A, so he tried a new strategy on Day 1B. On Twitter, he wrote, "Started day 1b of the hard rock WPT in the 3rd level today to ensure I’d make it further than I did yesterday #grindin"

O’Brien did last longer on Day 1B, surviving past the dinner break, but he was eliminated before the end of the day.

Alexander Venovski (right) was one of the chipleaders in the middle of the day, but he lost most of it late in the day when Keith Ferrera (left) moved all in on a board of [KcQs5s3h6s]. Venovski tank-called, and Ferrera showed [Js8s] to win the pot with a jack-high flush.

That hand catapulted Ferrera up to about 200,000, while Venovski dropped down to 25,000. Ferrera finished the day seventh in chips, while Venovski was able to rebound a little bit to finish with 56,000.

When the dust settled at the end of the day, it was Matt Juttelstad who sat atop the leaderboard with 280,000 in chips, finishing slightly higher than Day 1A chipleader Uri Kadosh (275,500).

Juttelstad moved into the lead in the last level of the day when he aggressively reraised a five-high gutshot straight draw on the flop against Tony Dunst’s top pair, and then got it all in when he caught his straight on the turn. (More details on the hand here.)

There were 295 entrants in this event over two starting days, but with 112 players remaining, here’s a look at the top of the leaderboard heading into Day 2:

1.  Matt Juttelstad  –  280,000
2.  Uri Kadosh  –  275,500
3.  Will Durkee  –  233,100
4.  Ely Levy  –  218,500
5.  Angelo Miele Jr.  –  211,800
6.  Alex Ivanov  –  200,700
7.  Keith Ferrera  –  200,600
8.  Jason Mercier  –  176,400
9.  Hal Klein  –  172,900
10.   Omar Sider  –  170,600

Day 2 begins Sunday at 12:00 noon ET, as the field is scheduled to play down from 112 players to the final four tables (36 players). Stay tuned to WPT.com for continuing live coverage throughout the day.