Main Event Day 2 | 2019 Heartland Poker Tour Ameristar East Chicago

09-01-2019 19:29 UTC

Event #1: $350 Monster Stack Ends in a Six-Way Deal

Anthony Thompson

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Our updates may be focused on the keystone $1,650 Main Event, but this is not the only tournament that’s played out during the latest Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Ameristar East Chicago stop.

There has been a slew of side events all week long including Event #1: $350 Monster Stack, a tournament that drew 957 runners and created a $287,100 prize pool.

Among those to cash it was Mike Younan (3rd - $27,572), Greg Koutelidakis (14th - $2,957), Howard Hankin (18th - $2,125), Mike Shin (26th - $1,701), Abraham Montenegro (34th - $1,462), and Bob Chow (47th - $1,160).

The tournament came to an end with the final six players working a deal that resulted in Michael Tullia of Lombard, Illinois taking $30,435 in prize money and Matthew Porter $30,283. However, it was Brandon Casto who got the trophy plus $25,250 in prize money.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Michael Tullia	Lombard, Illinois	$30,435*
2	Matthew Porter	McHenry, Illinois	$30,283*
3	Mike Younan	Chicago, Illinois	$27,572*
4	Brandon Casto	Parma, Michigan	$25,250*
5	James Calvo	Las Vegas, Nevada	$24,426*
6	David Oppenheim	Mercer Island, Washington	$16,810*
7	Andrew Campbell	Oswego, Illinois	$7,034
8	Ali Reza Mehraban	Bolingbrook, Illinois	$5,943
9	Thomas Matteucci	Mount Prospect, Illinois	$4,938

_{*Denotes final table deal.}

09-01-2019 19:33 UTC

More Updated Chip Counts

Anthony Thompson

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Josh Reichard	1,100,000 39,990	39,990
Steve Williams	975,000 425,000	425,000
Henry Zou	900,000 425,000	425,000
Nick Davidson	800,000 460,000	460,000
Ran Stone	725,000
Kevin Albers	725,000
George Vazanellis	650,000
Brett Apter	625,000 85,000	85,000

Ed Sebesta	600,000 -350,000	-350,000
Peter Kelly	600,000 85,000	85,000
David McDermott	560,000
Blake Whittington	520,000 110,000	110,000
Kevin Theodore	455,000

Gregory Baird	450,000 340,000	340,000
Brian Gabriel	410,000 195,000	195,000
Dan Sepiol	400,000 100,000	100,000

Jacob Connelly	390,000 140,000	140,000
Chris Moon	390,000
Mike O'Neill	375,000 25,000	25,000
Kyle Pikorz	334,000 -116,000	-116,000
Ruslan Sladkov	291,000 -9,000	-9,000
Roger McKinney	284,000 54,000	54,000
Paul Fisher	280,000 20,000	20,000

09-01-2019 19:44 UTC

Eliminated 63-55 ($2,898)

Anthony Thompson

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Vanderwoude	Busted
Michael Younan	Busted
Yoon Kim	Busted
Bill Dowell	Busted
Kenneth Baime	Busted
Joseph Saltanovitz	Busted
Jason Schroeder	Busted
Nadda Magnus	Busted
Richard Crooks	Busted

09-01-2019 19:49 UTC

Connelly Triples Up, Froehlich Eliminated

Anthony Thompson

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Jacob Connelly open-jammed for his remaining stack from early position and Randy Froehlich called from middle position. Action was on Edward Sebesta who three-bet to 200,000 from the cutoff and Froehlich called for less.

Jacob Connelly:
Randy Froehlich:
Edward Sebesta:

Sebesta was in good shape to eliminate both opponents as the flop fell pairing Connelly's ace.

The turn came the and Froehlich needed a king or ten to win the hand.

Unfortunately, the river fell the and Froehlich was eliminated. Connelly would be eliminated shortly after.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ed Sebesta	550,000 -50,000	-50,000
Jacob Connelly	Busted
Randy Froehlich	Busted

Tags: Randy Froehlich Jacob Connelly Edward Sebesta

09-01-2019 20:01 UTC

Another Round of Chip Counts

Anthony Thompson

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Nick Davidson	1,150,000 350,000	350,000
Josh Reichard	1,070,000 -30,000	-30,000
Eric Salazar	820,000 405,000	405,000
George Vazanellis	800,000 150,000	150,000
Eddie Blumenthal	600,000 100,000	100,000
Peter Kelly	580,000 -20,000	-20,000
Ruslan Sladkov	510,000 219,000	219,000
Gregory Baird	420,000 -30,000	-30,000
Blake Whittington	415,000 -105,000	-105,000
Brett Apter	375,000 -250,000	-250,000

Brian Gabriel	300,000 -110,000	-110,000
Aaron Johnson	220,000 20,000	20,000
Paul Fisher	220,000 -60,000	-60,000
Ben Grise	220,000 -28,000	-28,000
Todd Sladek	120,000 -20,000	-20,000
Chris Moon	25,000 -365,000	-365,000

09-01-2019 20:16 UTC

Budzakoski Flushes Lutz, Sends Him Packing

Anthony Thompson

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

There was three-way action that saw a flop. Kyle Pikorz checked his option from the small blind and Keith Lutz jammed for 60,000 from the big blind. Nikola Budzakoski called from the button while Pikorz mucked his hand.

Keith Lutz:
Nikola Budzakoski:

Lutz was ahead but needed to dodge a heart to stay alive.

Lutz liked the turn but the fell on the river to end his tournament run.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kyle Pikorz	350,000 16,000	16,000
Nikola Budzakoski	300,000 84,000	84,000
Keith Lutz	Busted

Tags: Nikola Budzakoski Kyle Pikorz Keith Lutz

09-01-2019 20:25 UTC

Puccio Survives All In

Anthony Thompson

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

There was heads up action after the flop between Peter Kelly on the button and Michael Puccio from the big blind.

The board showed and Puccio checked his option to Kelly who bet 30,000. Puccio then jammed for 115,000 and was called by Kelly.

Michael Puccio:
Peter Kelly:

Puccio was behind as Kelly flopped a six but the turn brought a gutterball for Puccio.

The river would answer Puccio's prayer as it indeed fell the to give him the double.

Player	Chips	Progress
Peter Kelly	340,000 -240,000	-240,000
Michael Puccio	220,000 -35,000	-35,000

Tags: Michael Puccio Peter Kelly

09-01-2019 20:27 UTC

Take 15

Anthony Thompson

Level 19 : 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante

Players are on their second 15-minute break of the day.

Level: 20

Blinds: 6,000/12,000

Ante: 12,000

09-01-2019 20:48 UTC

Yuryi Moskovoy Claims Title in Event #5: $300 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack Bounty

Anthony Thompson

Level 20 : 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante

Our updates may be focused on the keystone $1,650 Main Event, but this is not the only tournament that’s played out during the latest Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Ameristar East Chicago stop.

There has been a slew of side events all week long including Event #5: $300 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack Bounty ($100 bounties), a tournament that drew 140 runners and created a $21,700 prize pool.

The top 18 got paid including Jay Crain (10th - $521), Sandra Morse (11th - $521), Brad Sailor (16th - $347), Homi Syodia (17th - $347), and Randel Vanderhyden (18th - $347).

The tournament came to an end when the final two players – Yuryi Moskovoy and Tomas Stundzia – worked a deal that saw the former claim the title and a smooth $5,000 in prize money. The latter secured $4,506 for finishing in second place.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Yuryi Moskovoy	Skokie, Illinois	$5,000*
2	Tomas Stundzia	Woodrige, Illinois	$4,506*
3	Michael Fryett	Palm City, Flordia	$2,213
4	Marius Toderici	Chicago, Illinois	$1,628
5	William Conway	Bartlett, Illinois	$1,215
6	Theodore Davis	Fort Wayne, Indiana	$998
7	Joshua Taff	Combined Locks, Wisconsin	$879
8	Gary Lindesmith	Lowell, Indiana	$770
9	Ben Castle	Western Springs, Illlinois	$651

_{*Denotes heads-up deal.}