Brian Altman Wins World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open

A total of 1,027 players showed up in south Florida in early February for the $3,500 buy-in World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, creating a prize pool of $3,286,400. After five days of play, it was 26-year-old poker pro Brian Altman from Longmeadow, Massachusetts who came out on top, banking $723,008 for his first major live tournament victory.
Altman, who has a doctorate degree from the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, was a top-ranked online player before Black Friday and had a previous best live score of $74,418 for taking fifth place in the Borgata Fall Poker Open in 2014. He now has $946,000 in career lifetime live tournament earnings.
Here’s a look at the five biggest hands that propelled Altman to victory.
The Tournament: WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open
Buy-In: $3,500 • No. of Entries: 1,027 • First Place: $723,008

Hand No. 1 – Altman Climbs Leaderboard On Last Hand of Day 3

The Action
On the final hand of day 3 with just 19 players remaining, Brian Altman raised to 70,000 from the hijack and Andy Philachack three-bet to 150,000 immediately behind him in the cutoff. Altman called and the flop came down 5♠ 4♠ 2♠. Altman checked and Philachack moved all in for 720,000. Altman quickly called with J♠ 9♠ for a flopped flush and Philachack turned over A♠ J♦ for the nut flush draw. Philachack needed a spade to survive, but the turn and river fell K♥ K♦ to send him to the rail in 19th place. Philachack earned $14,789 and Altman went into the penultimate day of the tournament in second place overall just behind Mark Dube.

Hand No. 2 – Altman’s Straight Crushes Jaffee’s Set On the River
The Action
At the ten-handed unofficial final table, Jared Jaffee completed from the small blind and Brian Altman raised to 180,000 in the big blind. Jaffee called and the flop was K♣ 10♣ 6♠. Jaffe checked and Altman checked behind. The turn was the 7♠ and Jaffee checked again. Altman bet 225,000 and Jaffe called. The river was the 9♦ and Jaffee checked for a third time. Altman bet 410,000. Jaffee called and said, “This is pretty much the worst run out in history.” Sure enough, Jaffee’s 6♥ 6♦ was cracked on the river by Altman’s 10♥ 8♥ for a rivered straight. The pot increased Altman’s lead and sent one of the more dangerous players towards the bottom of the leaderboard. Jaffee was later eliminated in tenth place, banking $39,437.

Hand No. 3 – Altman Comes From Behind To Bust Minkin

The Action
With Brian Altman and Mark Dube battling it out with big stacks, short stacked 27-year-old attorney Kelly Minkin was looking for an opportunity to double up. She found it in the small blind, moving all in for her last 1,880,000. Altman called with pocket fours and saw he was in rough shape against her pocket nines. Minkin would win the pot 80 percent of the time, according to the Card Player poker odds calculator, but instead, the board ran out 6♣ 5♥ 3♥ 9♥ 7♣, giving Altman a straight and setting up a heads-up battle with Dube. Minkin earned $262,912 for her third-place finish.

Hand No. 4 – Altman Doubles Into the Chip Lead Heads-Up

The Action
After nearly 20 hands of back-and-forth heads-up action, Brian Altman raised to 450,000 on the button. Mark Dube reraised to 1,300,000, and Altman called. The flop came down Q♠ 8♣ 6♣ and Dube continued for 1,550,000. Altman thought about it for a minute before calling and the turn was the 4♠. Dube then put his opponent all in and Altman snap called with 7♦ 5♦ for the turned straight. Dube had 8♥ 8♦ and needed the board to pair to win the title. According to the Card Player poker odds calculator, Dube had just over a 22 percent chance of winning with one card to come. Instead, the river was the 7♣ and Altman doubled up into the chip lead.

Hand No. 5 – Altman Finds A Cooler To Win the Title

The Action
After working his way to a 2-1 chip lead, Brian Altman was finally able to secure the title thanks to a massive cooler. Mark Dube raised on the button to 900,000 and Altman called. The flop came down A♠ 5♠ 3♠ and Altman checked. Dube bet 1,100,000 and Altman check-raised to 2,600,000. Dube took about 40 seconds to think it over before moving all in for his last 9,600,000. Altman immediately called with K♠8♠ for the nut flush, but he had to fade the board pairing because Dube had A♥ A♦ for top set. According to the Card Player poker odds calculator, Dube would make the best hand just more than 34 percent of the time, giving him a 2-1 chip lead in the match. Instead, the board ran out 4♣ 8♥ and Altman won the pot, the tournament, and the $723,008 first-place prize. Dube picked up the consolation prize of $434,462.

Final Table Tournament Results
1. Brian Altman $723,008
2. Mark Dube $434,462
3. Kelly Minkin $262,912
4. Greg Rosen $220,189
5. Sanjay Gehi $180,752
6. Jon Graham $146,245
7. Dean Baranowski $116,667
8. Nathan Tuthill $88,733
9. Walter Fisher $60,798