After dominating much of the tournament over the final three days of play, Brian Altman completed the job in finishing off his only nemesis, Mark Dube, to win the World Poker Tour’s Lucky Hearts Poker Open at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL, last night.
To say that Altman, who picked up the chip lead on Day Two and hovered in that exosphere until the start of the final table, and Dube were the class of the six-handed final table would be an understatement. Dube actually held a slight edge over Altman (11.62 million to 10.33 million in chips) at the start of the final day of play and, between those two men, almost three-quarters of the tournament chips sat. Kelly Minkin, looking to become the first woman to win an open WPT event, held third with 3.78 million chips while Sanjay Gehi (2.515 million), Jon Graham (1.4 million) and Greg Rosen (1.15 million) were looking just to become viable in the tournament.
Seated beside each other, Dube and Altman were willing to wait to see who would emerge from the bottom of the ladder to issue a challenge. Minkin was the first to draw blood, knocking off Graham a dozen hands into play when her pocket Queens held up after Graham pushed all-in with a K-Q. A few hands later, Dube and Altman would step into the fray by taking on Gehi in a hand that saw a sizeable swing of chips.
After Altman made it 175K off the button and Dube called off the small blind, Gehi pushed all-in. Altman didn’t have a call in mind as he slid his cards to the muck, but Dube did. Gehi’s pocket tens were racing against Dube’s A-J and the race was a short one; an Ace appeared in the window to give the lead to Dube and, after no ten appeared on the turn or river, Gehi was out in fifth place.
Down to four players, Rosen now came to life. He would earn double-ups through both Dube and Altman to push Minkin into the basement, but Minkin would fight back with a double of her own against Dube to climb over Rosen. What would be a pivotal moment in the tournament then occurred, involving the entirety of the table.
After Minkin opened the betting to 300K, everyone else made the call to see the flop. A Q-8-6 flop in the “family pot” saw everyone check to Rosen on the button, who made a strong play by moving all-in. Altman looked him up from the small blind and, after Dube and Minkin got out of the way, Altman saw his Q-J (top pair) was ahead of Rosen’s A-6 (bottom pair). After a four hit the turn and a seven fell on the river, Altman had eliminated Rosen in fourth place.
Minkin’s run at history ended soon after Rosen headed to the rail. With very little ammunition (her 2.28 million stack was dwarfed by Altman’s 10.13 million and Dube’s 18.385 million), Minkin got her final chips in good with pocket nines against Altman’s pocket fours, but the board opened some doors in coming down 6-5-3. Minkin closed a couple of those doors in hitting a nine on the turn for a set but Altman, drawing at eight outs, found one of them when a seven came on the river to give him a straight and knock off Minkin in third place.
That set the stage for the mano y mano battle between Dube (17.75 million) and Altman (13.06 million) and it would be an outstanding fight. Over the span of about an hour, Dube was able to chip away at Altman’s stack to move out to a 2:1 lead in the tournament. Altman would fight back to bring the counts closer over another half-hour of action until one hand sealed the deal.
After an Altman bet, Dube rocked the table with a 1.3 million chip three-bet that was called by Altman. A Q-8-6 flop saw Dube lead out and, after Altman called, a four came on the turn. Dube pushed his stack to the center and, after an immediate call from Altman, the hands were turned up; Dube had flopped the middle set with his pocket eights, but Altman had come from behind with his 7-5 to turn a straight. Looking for the board to pair, Dube instead saw another seven on the river to seal the hand for Altman and allow him to take over the lead.
Altman wouldn’t look back after that win over Dube. Over the next 30 hands, Altman crept farther away from Dube, ending the tournament in a stunning hand.
After Dube popped the action to 900K and Altman called, a monochrome A♠ 5♠ 3♠ flop saw every chip hit the center of the table. Dube showed a strong pocket pair of A♦ A♥ for top set, but Altman had run him down again with his K♠ 8♠ for the flopped nut flush. Altman couldn’t better his hand with the turn or river, but Dube had hope in pairing the board to capture a boat that would best the nut flush. Instead, Dube saw a four and an eight on the turn and river, ending the tournament and crowning Altman the champion.
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
There’s no rest for the wicked on the WPT as their next event begins tomorrow. The WPT Fallsview Poker Classic kicks off on Friday with a $5000 tournament that usually is one of the more popular stops on the WPT schedule. For now, however, Brian Altman can bask in the glow of being the latest champion on the WPT.
