2017 Lucky Hearts Poker OpenSeminole Hard Rock Hotel and CasinoEvent 12$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) Total Entries: 129Prize Pool: $135,500January 23-24, 2017 k45d

Hollywood, Fla. (January 24, 2017) – Event 12 of the 2017 Lucky Hearts Poker Open, a $1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) , drew 129 entries and generated a prize pool of $135,500. The event lasted two days, and 15 players came back on Tuesday to battle it out for a first-place prize of nearly $40,000. When the dust settled, a deal was agreed upon by the final three players and Igor Merda earned the victory as the chip leader.

The 30-year old husband and father was born and raised in Croatia. He moved to at the age of 13 and after traveling for a while, he settled down with his wife and child in Miami a few years ago.

“I’ve been playing poker professionally since 2010, mostly cash games locally,” said Merda. “This is the first tournament I’ve won, and I’m very happy about it. That’s why I was so willing to do the deal. Just having the feeling of winning a tournament.”

Despite his success playing cash games, Merda plans to transition into tournament poker.

“I played tournaments every so often over the years, but I plan to play a lot more this year and really focus on it. I think I played maybe 15 at the Seminole Hard Rock last year, but I’ll be playing more this year, especially after getting this win.”

*denotes three-handed deal

$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) 
Level 24: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 129

The remaining three players ran the numbers and agreed to a deal. Here were the chip counts at the time, and the resulting payouts.

1st: Igor Merda (pictured above) – 875,000 (54 bb) – $33,361

2nd: Frank Silverstein (pictured above) – 427,000 (26 bb) – $23,218

3rd: Stewart Newman (pictured above) – 254,000 (15 bb) – $19,301

$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) 
Level 24: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 3 of 129
Average Stack: 516,000 (32 bb)

Joey Weissman (pictured) raised all in from under the gun for 129,000 and Frank Silverstein called from the small blind.

Weissman:
Silverstein:

The board came down , giving Silverstein tens and sevens to eliminate Weissman in fourth  place.

Frank Silverstein – 380,000 (23 bb)
Joey Weissman – Eliminated in 4th Place ($10,840)

$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) 
Level 24: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 129
Average Stack: 387,000 (24 bb)

Igor Merda raised to 33,000 from under the gun, Frank Silverstein reraised all in from the button for 159,000, and Merda called.

Merda:
Silverstein:

The board came down , safe for Silverstein to double up.

Frank Silverstein – 350,000 (21 bb)
Igor Merda – 585,000 (36 bb)

$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) 
Level 24: 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 129
Average Stack: 387,000 (24 bb)

Igor Merda – 549,000 (34 bb)
Stewart Newman – 414,000 (25 bb)
Frank Silverstein – 266,000 (16 bb)
Joey Weissman – 220,000 (13 bb)

$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) 
Level 23: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 129
Average Stack: 387,000 (32 bb)

Stewart Newman raised to 25,000 from the button, Joey Weissman three-bet shoved from the small blind for 104,000, and Newman called.

Newman:
Weissman:

The board fell , giving Weissman a pair of aces to double through Newman.

Joey Weissman – 228,000 (19 bb)
Stewart Newman – 470,000 (39 bb)

$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) 
Level 23: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 4 of 129
Average Stack: 387,000 (32 bb)

Stanley Lee (pictured) raised all in from the cutoff for about 150,000 with and found action from Igor Merda in the small blind with .

The board came down , no help to Lee, ending his tournament in fifth place.

Igor Merda – 590,000 (49 bb)
Stanley Lee – Eliminated in 5th Place ($8,130)

$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) 
Level 23: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 129
Average Stack: 309,000 (25 bb)

Stanley Lee raised to 25,000 from the cutoff, Joey Weissman reraised all in from the button for 36,000, and Frank Silverstein called from the big blind.

The flop came down and Silverstein checked to Lee who shoved for 138,000. Silverstein folded.

Lee tabled for a pair of nines, leading Weissman’s .

The turn, though, was the to give Weissman the lead. The river was the , safe for Weissman to triple up.

Joey Weissman – 124,000 (10 bb)
Stanley Lee – 138,000 (11 bb)

$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) 
Level 22: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 129
Average Stack: 309,000 (30 bb)

Following a flop of , Joey Weissman checked to Igor Merda who bet 19,000. Weissman called.

The turn was the and Weissman checked. Merda bet 23,000, Weissman called, and the river completed the board. Weissman checked for a third time and Merda bet effectively 85,000-ish.

Weissman tanked for about five minutes, but ultimately opted to fold.

Merda had taken the chip lead this level from Stewart Newman, and is now up to about 530,000.

Igor Merda – 530,000 (53 bb)
Joey Weissman – 85,000 (8 bb)

$1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Purple Chip Bounty (Re-Entry) 
Level 22: 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante
Players Remaining: 5 of 129
Average Stack: 309,000 (30 bb)

Stewart Newman – 639,000 (63 bb)
Stanley Lee – 436,000 (43 bb)
Igor Merda – 233,000 (23 bb)
Frank Silverstein – 123,000 (12 bb)
Joey Weissman – 122,000 (12 bb)