Giuseppe Iadisernia delivered a composed and dominant performance on Wednesday to claim the $3,500 buy-in WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship, earning $611,700 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Entering the final table as chip leader, Iadisernia successfully closed out the tournament against a tough field of 1,229 entrants. His biggest challenge came during an intense heads-up battle with Jorge Gomez, but once he gained momentum, Iadisernia never relinquished control.
Star-Studded Final Table
The final table featured several notable names, including defending champion Martins Adeniya and in-form tournament standout Thomas Boivin. Adeniya came close to a rare repeat title, while Boivin continued his strong run of results, but both ultimately fell short against the eventual champion.
Day 5 began with Eddie Blumenthal as the shortest stack, holding 18 big blinds. His run ended quickly when his small pocket pair ran into a bigger one held by Boivin, resulting in a sixth-place finish worth $127,000.
Key Eliminations Shape the Finish
Anatoly Nikitin, one of the larger stacks entering the day, was eliminated in fifth place for $167,000 after his pocket nines were unable to overcome Jorge Gomez’s pocket tens. From that point forward, the tournament increasingly became a battle between Iadisernia and Gomez.
Adeniya’s bid to defend his title ended in fourth place, earning him $220,000. Last year, he outlasted 1,162 entrants to win the same event for $512,600, though it was not officially a WPT Main Tour stop.
Heads-Up Dominance
Thomas Boivin entered three-handed play as the short stack and briefly stayed alive with a double-up. However, his tournament concluded in third place for $295,000 when his ace-seven ran into Iadisernia’s pocket aces.
Iadisernia began heads-up play with better than a 2-to-1 chip advantage and quickly extended it. Gomez continued to fight but was eventually reduced to seven big blinds. The final hand saw Gomez’s nine-five fail to improve against Iadisernia’s pocket jacks, securing Gomez the runner-up prize of $395,000.
Career-Defining Victory
The win marked Iadisernia’s first WPT Main Tour title and pushed his live tournament earnings beyond $3.5 million, according to The Hendon Mob. He previously captured a $10,000 High Roller title at the 2021 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
In addition to the $611,700 first-place prize, Iadisernia also earned a seat in the $10,400 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas this December, capping off a standout performance on the WPT stage.
