Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2019 Heartland Poker Tour East Chicago
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2019 Heartland Poker Tour East Chicago
Prize Pool
$820,800
Entries
570
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
80,000
Shooting the Moon: Chris Moon Far Ahead at HPT Final Table
Level 24
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
After a flurry of eliminations put a furious finish to Day 2, the final table of Heartland Poker Tour Ameristar East Chicago $1,650 Main Event is set with Chris Moon pacing way in front of the competition after bagging more than one-third of the chips in play.
With over $300,000 in cashes, Moon certainly isn't lacking experience, but he still seeks his first trophy in live poker. Several years back, in 2015, he had his closest call, which came in another HPT event in his home state of Michigan. Moon would finish in second place for his biggest cash, $101,823.
He's certainly put himself in fantastic position to break through with a win. Moon will enter the final table toting just shy of 6.2 million, more than double that of second-place Craig Casino.
Aside from Casino's 2,750,000, Artem Zverkhovskyy is the only other player north of 2 million at 2,160,000.
HPT Ameristar East Chicago Final Table
| Seat | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Salazar | 760,000 |
| 2 | Craig Casino | 2,750,000 |
| 3 | Bret Martin | 545,000 |
| 4 | Dennis Ng | 1,000,000 |
| 5 | Paul Elfelt | 1,265,000 |
| 6 | Artem Zverkhovskyy | 2,160,000 |
| 7 | Mike O'Neill | 970,000 |
| 8 | Chris Moon | 6,195,000 |
| 9 | Bryant Miller | 1,470,000 |
When it comes to HPT events, perhaps nobody has as much final-table experience as Casino. He has two wins and 10 other final table appearances, most recently last July in Colorado.
Casino was able to win a massive pot when he flopped the nut straight with nine-seven and watched in amazement as two players moved in ahead of him, a short-stacked player with top pair and another player who flopped top pair. Casino held up for essentially a double knockout, moving well over 100 big blinds to get to the final table bubble.
As for Moon, he found himself all in with three outs fairly early in the day but hit a seven with ace-seven against ace-king. He didn't look back from there as he busted player after player, most notably fellow big stack Mark Morris in a dream spot holding top pair when Morris couldn't find a fold with a weaker pocket pair on the turn and had just two outs.
The last nine players compete on the streamed and televised final table starting Tuesday at noon, with the stream coming in on a slight delay. There's $183,899 plus an HPT Championship Package worth $3,500 on the line, with everyone having $16,346 locked up.
Come back to PokerNews for updates or catch the stream on HPT's Twitch channel.
End of Day 2 Counts
Level 24
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
6,195,000 | 95,000 |
|
2,750,000 | 170,000 |
|
2,160,000 | -375,000 |
|
1,470,000 | -305,000 |
|
1,265,000 | -65,000 |
|
1,000,000 | 350,000 |
|
970,000 | -580,000 |
|
760,000 | 275,000 |
|
545,000 | -30,000 |
Lavonne Schaafsma Eliminated in 10th Place ($12,586)
Level 24
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Action folded to Lavonne Schaafsma, and she jammed in the small blind for 150,000. Eric Salazar called out of the big after thinking briefly.
Eric Salazar: 
Lavonne Schaafsma: 
Schaafsma was in decent shape and things looked pretty good for her to survive after the 
flop. However, Salazar turned a pair on the 
turn and Schaafsma began moving to exit. The 
river confirmed her demise.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Level: 24
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 30,000
Elfelt Doubles Through Schaafsma
Level 23
: 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Paul Elfelt got his stack of 640,000 in from middle position holding 
and was up against the 
of Lavonne Schaafsma in the small blind. The board ran out 
and Elfelt collected the majority of his opponent's chips.
"I don't think I'm supposed to fold that," Schaafsma said with a sigh.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,330,000 | 690,000 |
|
|
140,000 | -660,000 |
Final Table Draw and Counts
Level 23
: 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
| Seat | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Salazar | 485,000 |
| 2 | Craig Casino | 2,580,000 |
| 3 | Bret Martin | 575,000 |
| 4 | Dennis Ng | 650,000 |
| 5 | Paul Elfelt | 640,000 |
| 6 | Artem Zverkhovskyy | 2,535,000 |
| 7 | Mike O'Neill | 1,550,000 |
| 8 | Chris Moon | 6,100,000 |
| 9 | Bryant Miller | 1,775,000 |
| 10 | Lavonne Schaafsma | 800,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,100,000 | 490,000 |
|
|
2,580,000 | -620,000 |
|
|
2,535,000 | 535,000 |
|
|
1,775,000 | 50,000 |
|
|
1,550,000 | 305,000 |
|
|
800,000 | -55,000 |
|
|
650,000 | -110,000 |
|
|
640,000 | -15,000 |
|
|
575,000 | -170,000 |
|
|
485,000 | -21,000 |
Billy Wolfe Eliminated in 11th Place ($12,586)
Level 23
: 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Billy Wolfe got his remaining chips in and was called in two spots. They checked the board down and Wolfe showed an unpair 
. One player had 
but Chris Moon paired up with 
, hitting a nine to score the knockout.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
"I Just Didn't Want to See the River"
Level 23
: 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Mike O'Neill bet 75,000 from middle position on 
and Chris Moon made it 300,000 on his left. O'Neill peeled and the 
hit. He checked and Moon bet 350,000. O'Neill slid in 725,000 and Moon thought about a minute then announced himself to be all in.
It looked like O'Neill had 1,245,000 back and he put his head in his hat. After some tanking time, he announced a fold, saying something we couldn't hear to Moon.
"I just didn't want to see the river," Moon said with a smile.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,610,000 | 1,645,000 |
|
|
1,245,000 | -855,000 |
Up but Back Down for "Big Daddy"
Level 23
: 15,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Paul "Big Daddy" Elfelt opened for 75,000 under the gun and Mike O'Neill made it 200,000 on his left. Elfelt shoved all in for about 775,000.
"I was just kidding," O'Neill said with a sigh, tanking about a minute before mucking.
The next hand, Dennis Ng jammed for 360,000 in the cutoff and Elfelt snap-called in the big blind.
Paul Elfelt: 
Dennis Ng: 
The 
board gave Ng a flush.
"Very lucky," he said, letting out a deep breath.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,100,000 | -100,000 |
|
|
760,000 | 260,000 |
|
|
655,000 | -215,000 |