Russia’s Aleksandr Shevelev topped the leaderboard after Day 3 of the ongoing WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship. The player will lead 14 survivors into Day 4 with a chip stack of 3.965 million.
Shevelev climbed to the top of the chip stacks chart for Day 3 mainly thanks to two major pots he scooped. He first doubled through fellow contender Curt Kohlberg during the 23rd level of play. On the next level, he doubled through Darryll Fish. Of his performance throughout the day, the Russian player told WPT staff that he played big pots and had good cards running his way. Shevelev also admitted that he does not play live poker that frequently, but it feels good when he does.
The player has so far captured a little over $22,000 in live tournament winnings from his tournaments. Being one of the 14 survivors in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship, the player has locked a minimum cash of $31,989 from the event.
The 14 remaining players will return at the host casino later today. They will contend for a seat in the official six-handed final table, with the event’s finale being slated to be played on Wednesday. The tournament’s champion will receive a first-place prize of $511,604, which includes a seat into the WPT Tournament of Champions. He or she will also have their name engraved in the WPT Champions Cup, which has the names of all its Main Tour champs over the years.
More about the 2018 WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open
The tournament drew 911 contenders, keen to try their skills and challenge their luck in a major WPT event. They generated a prize pool of $2,915,200, exceeding the guaranteed prize pool by nearly a million.
As usual, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in sunny Hollywood, Florida plays host to the tournament. This is the first WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open festival to be taking place in three years. The last such event was held in 2015. Back then, Brian Altman emerged victorious to win a first-place cash of $723,008. The player was the last man standing from a field of 1,027 entries.
Day 4 of this year’s Championship will kick off with 14, as mentioned earlier. There are not former WPT Main Tour champions among the survivors. The last such players dropped from the race on Monday, with some of those being Mohsin Charania, Jason Brin, and Matas Cimbolas. Darren Elias, who was eying his record-breaking fourth WPT title, was, too, eliminated at an earlier stage of play. In fact, the player busted even before the money bubble burst.
Notables still in contention include former WPT Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger and German poker star Rainer Kempe, who will enter Day 4 action as the short stack. Play resumes at noon local time at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
