2014 World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open Day 1a: Former WPT Champ Cristos Leads
The World Poker Tour was back in action on Friday with Day 1a of the Lucky Hearts Poker Open at the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino in Florida. The first starting flight saw 183 entries generated, with 75 players advancing to Day 2. At the completion of play, 2013 WPT Legends of Poker champion Jordan Cristos was the chip leader with 205,200 in chips.
Last September, Cristos defeated Dan Heimiller to win his WPT title. He earned $613,355 for that victory. Heimiller was eliminated on Day 1a of this WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open, but could decide to take a other shot with a reentry.
On Heimiller's final hand, he was done in by Josh Kay, according to the WPT live updates. During Level 8 with the blinds at 300/600/75, Heimiller was all in on the Q♥J♦2♣A♥ board holding the A♠J♥ for two pair. He was behind the K♣10♣ for Kay, though, and would need to find a board pair to give him a full house. The 3♠ on the river was no help to Heimiller, and he was out the door.
Others who joined Heimiller on the rail were Darryll Fish, Zo Karim, Lily Killeto, Shannon Shorr, and Jon Aguiar.
Aguiar's day came to an end on the final hand at his table during Level 10 with the blinds at 500/1,000/100. The man who recently made the jump out of poker and into the business world, Aguiar, moved all in from middle position for approximately 15,000. An opponent called from the big blind with the A♠K♠ to have Aguiar's 8♣8♥ in a coin flip. Following a board of A♥Q♦5♠10♠5♣, Aguiar was eliminated.
Former WPT winners Matt Waxman, Jared Jaffee, Tony Dunst, and Anthony Zinno all advanced to Day 2, as did notables James Calderaro, Andy Philachack, Ben Zamani, and Ebony Kenney. Kenney bagged up right around 44,000 in chips and will be looking to continue her recent hot streak in WPT events. She had four deep runs in WPT events in 2013, with her best result coming from November when she took 10th in the WPT Caribbean Poker Tour. In a recent feature interview with PokerNews, Kenney discussed her love for the game, modeling, acting, and women in poker.
Day 1b will take place starting at 12 p.m. local time with the second starting flight slated to play through 10 levels. You can be sure to catch the day's recap right here on PokerNews following the completion of play.
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