Alexander Yen just shipped the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood for $975,240, adding his name to the World Poker Tour Champions Club and proving that sometimes the best player at the table actually wins. What a concept.

The Quick Hit

• What happened: Yen beat a 1,928-entry field across a $3,500 buy-in event
• The damage: $975,240 first-place prize from a $6,342,400 total prize pool
• Why you should care: The field crushed the $2M guarantee by more than triple
• The move: Yen held the chip lead for most of the final table and never looked back

The Tournament Breakdown

The WPT Lucky Hearts festival ran January 6-20 at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, with the Championship event taking center stage January 16-20. Day 1A brought 839 entries, and Day 1B added another 1,089, creating a monster field of 1,928 players and a prize pool that absolutely demolished the $2 million guarantee.

Yen entered the final table with a healthy chip lead and maintained control throughout. The crucial heads-up battle came against former online top-5 ranked player Anton Wigg, but Yen finished it with a flopped straight that left Wigg drawing dead.

This marks Yen's first WPT title and his entry into the prestigious Mike Sexton Champions Cup. Not a bad way to start 2026.

Seminole Hard Rock Delivers Again

Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood has become one of the premier poker destinations in America, and this event proves why. The turnout exceeded expectations across almost every tournament in the festival, with the Championship event generating over $6.3 million in prize money.

The venue knows how to run a poker room, and players clearly trust the operation. When you can triple your guarantee in a $3,500 buy-in, you're doing something right.

WPT Season 2026 Heats Up

The Lucky Hearts Championship kicks off what promises to be another massive year for the World Poker Tour. With the PGT Championship happening simultaneously in Vegas and WSOP Circuit events running across the country, January has become poker month for anyone serious about tournament play.

Yen's win establishes him as a player to watch moving forward. The kind of sustained chip lead he maintained requires both skill and the mental fortitude to close out a nearly 2,000-player field. That's not luck—that's poker.

The Final Table Results

The final table payouts for the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open Championship:

1. Alexander Yen - $975,240
2. Anton Wigg - $645,000
3. (Results pending full final table breakdown)

The full prize pool paid out 289 players, with min-cashes starting around $5,500.

The Bottom Line

Nearly a million dollars for first place in a poker tournament that tripled its guarantee. The WPT continues to prove it can deliver massive fields and life-changing money. Yen earned every penny of that score, controlling the final table like a veteran and closing out a tough opponent in Wigg. If you weren't paying attention to this guy before, you should be now.