Monday, February 13, 2017 8:40 PM Local Time
Harwood collects third Circuit ring in the anniversary week of her first
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (February 13, 2017) — Five years ago, a 22-year-old Loni Harwood won her first live poker tournament in one of her very first attempts. It was a WSOP Circuit event at the Palm Beach Kennel Club, and she defeated a field of 500 entries to earn her first gold ring. It was the start of something special; Harwood has gone on to cash in 77 more tournaments since, winning another ring and two WSOP bracelets in the process.
She’s done it once again at the kennel club.
Harwood outlasted a huge field of 1,117 entries in Event #2, winning her third gold ring and the top prize of $61,156. Her victory in this $365 re-entry event comes less than a week shy of the fifth anniversary of her first.
The champ is a 27-year-old professional poker player originally from Staten Island, New York. She now makes her home in nearby Tamarac, where she has direct access to the thriving Florida poker community. Her father is nearby, too, and he’s had a significant influence on Harwood’s poker career. “My dad played online a lot,” she explained. “And he taught me how to play through that. I got into poker initially when I was about 15, but I started playing more in college.”
She studied Finance at SUNY Albany, and although she had her parents’ blessing, it wasn’t a free pass by any means. “They told me to go to college, and when I graduated they would support me in poker,” Harwood said. That plan went off without a hitch. Harwood moved to Florida shortly after earning her degree, and she promptly began winning live poker tournaments in her adopted home state. This most recent result brings her total career earnings comfortably across the $2-million milestone.
Harwood played Day 1B of this four-flight event, bagging up 183,400 chips to enter Day 2 inside the top ten with 127 players remaining. She surged to the top of the leaderboard shortly after the money bubble burst, but she found herself short on chips late in the day with just a couple tables left in action. Harwood found a big double-up with pocket nines against ace-king, though, and that proved to be the spark that propelled her to an impressive stretch run.
Entering the final table as the chip leader, Harwood’s position only improved as the table shrank. By the time four remained, she held nearly 70 percent of the chips in play and more than twice as many as all three of her opponents combined.
The final four ran out of time on Day 2, and they were forced to return on Monday for an unscheduled Day 3. It was more of the same for Harwood, who steamrolled through her final three opponents in just 24 minutes of play. When the dust settled, she was sitting alone at the table, posing for photos with a broad smile and her third gold ring.
In her postgame interviews, Harwood credited her brother, Scott, for providing a great deal of remote support form his home in New York. “He’s, like, my best friend,” she said. Harwood’s boyfriend, poker pro Phil Hui, was in the room during the moments of victory, and he was the first to congratulate her on her most recent addition to a long and growing list of poker accomplishments.
Monday, February 13, 2017 3:39 PM Local Time
It took barely a half hour of Day 3 action for Loni Harwood (pictured above) to finish what she started yesterday. Harwood has just put the finishing touches on her third Circuit victory, defeating A.J. Kelsall in quick heads-up match to win Event #2.
On the last hand of the match, Kelsall puts his short stack at risk with ace-five, and Harwood's pocket deuces are flipping for the title. Five clean community cards later, and it's all over, with Harwood snagging her third ring in the same building in which she won her first. She also collects $61,156 for her work over the past few days.
Kelsall (below) finishes as the runner-up, earning $37,772.
Monday, February 13, 2017 3:22 PM Local Time
Monday, February 13, 2017 3:17 PM Local Time
Monday, February 13, 2017 2:59 PM Local Time
The final four players have returned to the table, and the cards are in the air once again.
Monday, February 13, 2017 2:57 AM Local Time
Monday, February 13, 2017 1:50 AM Local Time
The clock has run out on Day 2, and the final four players have bagged up their chips for one more overnight soak. Loni Harwood was just a few chips short of needing a second bag. Her lead has only grown since the final table began, and she'll enter the unscheduled Day 3 with more than twice as many chips as her three opponents combined.
Here's the lineup:
Seat 1: Loni Harwood - 7,700,000 (96 bb)
Seat 2: Keith LaBarrie - 800,000 (10 bb)
Seat 3: A.J. Kelsall - 610,000 (8 bb)
Seat 4: Alex Nguyen - 2,100,000 (26 bb)
Here are the remaining payouts:
1st: $61,156
2nd: $37,772
3rd: $28,068
4th: $21,111
In addition to the cash, the series' second gold ring is reserved for the winner. Blinds will be 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 ante when play resumes, putting the average stack at about 35 big blinds.
Cards go in the air at 3 p.m.
Monday, February 13, 2017 1:48 AM Local Time
Monday, February 13, 2017 1:33 AM Local Time
Monday, February 13, 2017 1:00 AM Local Time
John DePersio runs his short stack and his ace-ten into Alex Nguyen's pocket kings in a preflop all-in. DePersio can not catch up, and the former ring winner is eliminated in seventh place.
Monday, February 13, 2017 12:56 AM Local Time
Sunday, February 12, 2017 11:15 PM Local Time
Sunday, February 12, 2017 10:34 PM Local Time
Sunday, February 12, 2017 9:01 PM Local Time
Right at the tail end of Level 24, the field is reduced to 10 players, and they're now combining around the final table. Here's the remaining lineup:
Seat 1: Lawrence Paden - 814,000
Seat 2: Loni Harwood - 2,970,000
Seat 3: Keith LaBarrie - 618,000
Seat 4: Frank Muir - 698,000
Seat 5: A.J. Kelsall - 1,760,000
Seat 6: John DePersio - 1,290,000
Seat 7: Sergio Rivera - 214,000
Seat 8: Robert Georato - 1,816,000
Seat 9: Debra Dorcy - 415,000
Seat 10: Alex Nguyen - 538,000
It's a pretty stacked finale considering the size of the initial field, and it includes a handful of players who've experienced considerable Circuit success in the past. Robert Georato has three rings already, and A.J. Kelsall, John DePersio, and Alex Nguyen each have one apiece. Loni Harwood has two of them, and she's also the only player at the table who's won a WSOP bracelet. She's won two, in fact, including one in the 2015 WSOP National Championship.
Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $4,889 this evening, with a top prize of more than $60,000 reserved for the winner. Blinds are about to move to 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante, putting the average stack close to 50 big blinds.
Sunday, February 12, 2017 6:06 PM Local Time
Level 22 is nearly complete, and the field has just been reduced to 27 players. They've redrawn for new seats around the final three tables, playing with an average stack of about 35 big blinds.
The 2015 WSOP National Champion, Loni Harwood, is among the remaining field, as are A.J. Kelsall, John DePersio, and Carlos Loving, the defending champion of this very event.
Sunday, February 12, 2017 4:10 PM Local Time
The day is four hours old, and the field is shrinking about on pace with expectations. There are 44 players remaining at the moment, with each of them guaranteed to earn at least $1,133. Play is scheduled to continue tonight until a winner is determined.
Blinds are 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante in the current level, putting the average stack at about 32 big blinds.
Sunday, February 12, 2017 1:28 PM Local Time
Sunday, February 12, 2017 1:11 PM Local Time
The field has been reduced by 10, and the 117 remaining players are now
in the money. The payout desk is open, with everyone left guaranteed to earn at least $551.
Sunday, February 12, 2017 12:10 PM Local Time
Cards are in the air for Day 2.
Sunday, February 12, 2017 11:48 AM Local Time
In the overnight hours, the staff finalized the prizepool, and it'll be posted when the players enter the room for today's restart.
This $365 re-entry did draw 1,117 entries, creating a prizepool worth $335,100. That money will be shared by the final 117 players, with a min-cash worth $551. Each of the top six players will earn five figures, escalating all the way up to a top prize of $61,156.
The full breakdown of the payouts can be found in the "Prizepool" tab above.