28 Feb
Loni ‘Luscious_Lon’ Harwood and the WSOP go hand in hand and the Staten Island pro has just landed her 5th WSOP Circuit ring by taking down the $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the Rio in Las Vegas – adding $72,802 to her $2.5million+ career earnings and enhancing her trophy cabinet which also holds two WSOP bracelets.
Harwood dedicated her most recent victory to her ‘donk dad’ – Joel Harwood, the man she learned the game from by watching him play online.
“He wanted me to win a tournament for him, since I won a tournament last week and dedicated it to my brother’s wife. So, thanks to my ‘donk Dad'”, Harwood joked, just two weeks on from her Coconut Creek Circuit-stop victory.
With 130 entries, $260,000 in the prizepool and a number of big names in the field, there would be no easy route to victory for the Florida-based 28-year old, but a healthier lifestyle helped her survive the two-day event, Harwood claiming that Crossfit has “really helped me out”.
“Ever since I’ve been working out I just feel better, I’ve been eating better. I’m obviously with Phil (Hui) all the time – he’s super healthy. He cooks all the time, so it makes it a lot easier when I’m not traveling. I don’t feel tired – I just feel a lot better from working out.”
With the WSOP blog describing the final table as ‘full of heavy-hitters’, Harwood kept her fans updated on Twitter as she ran deep for the second time in as many weeks…
…and after surviving a few scares when short-stacked she finally toppled Ankush Mandavia in third, and then Joseph Cheong heads-up when her A♦Q♦ held up against his A9 offsuit, to claim the ring and the big payout…
With her WSOP earnings alone now standing at over $1.7 million, Harwood plans to play some smaller events back in Florida before heading back to Vegas for the summer shindig that is the World Series of Poker and it would be a foolish person indeed who bet against her adding to her tally this year.
WSOP Circuit Las Vegas $2,200 High Roller Final Table Results
| 1 | Loni Harwood | $72,802 |
| 2 | Joseph Cheong | $44,998 |
| 3 | Ankush Mandavia | $32,089 |
| 4 | Stephen Bierman | $23,340 |
| 5 | Phue Nguyen | $17,308 |
| 6 | Seth Davies | $13,081 |
| 7 | Ryan Leng | $10,070 |
| 8 | Vincent Moscati | $7,896 |
| 9 | Viet Vo | $6,302 |
