Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2019 Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates
Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2019 Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates
Buy-in
$1,100
Prize Pool
$864,360
Entries
588
Level
32
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
100,000
Nick Pupillo Wins HPT Black Hawk for $194,478
![[user196975]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 32
: 100,000/200,000, 100,000 ante
On Sunday, the $1,650 Heartland Poker Tour Black Hawk Main Event came to an end as poker pro Nick Pupillo topped a 588-entry field to win his second HPT title and a $194,478 first-place prize. He did so by defeating HPT legend Reginald “Shawn” Roberts in heads-up play.
"I got lucky when I needed to and played well throughout," Pupillo said after the victory. "I'm pretty happy with how I played. Shawn's a very good competitor and it was a good match. I'm going to try to keep [the money] this time. And play more HPTs, of course."
Pupillo’s first HPT win came back in 2015 when he took down the HPT East Chicago for $120,537. More recently, he won the WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley Main Event in September of last year for $170,286, which he followed by finishing runner-up in the WSOPC Horseshoe Hammond Main less than a month later for $186,823. All told, Pupillo has won more than $2.3 million in his poker career.
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Pupillo | Gilbert, Arizona | $194,478 |
| 2 | Reginald “Shawn” Roberts | Nixa, Missouri | $120,146 |
| 3 | John Sacha | Denver, Colorado | $78,743 |
| 4 | Daniel Wojcik | Las Vegas, Nevada | $54,714 |
| 5 | Karim Abuzar | Denver, Colorado | $39,761 |
| 6 | Jack Peterson | Littleton, Colorado | $30,858 |
| 7 | Ryan Dodson | Denver, Colorado | $25,931 |
| 8 | Mike Itoafa | Littleton, Colorado | $21,609 |
| 9 | Dapo Ajayi | Gainesville, Florida | $17,287 |
Other to cash the Main Event were WSOP bracelet winner Adrian Buckley (11th - $13,311), Craig Casino (18th - $7,606), Matt Livingston (28th - $4,754), Aaron Frei (31st - $4,754), Colossus II champ Ben Keeline (42nd - $3,976), Khoa Nguyen (52nd - $3,371), and Wally Printz (59th - $3,112).
Final Table Action
The first player to fall was Dapo Ajayi, who lost ace-queen to Jack Peterson’s pocket sevens, and he was followed out the door by 2018 MSPT Denver Poker Open champ Mike Itoafa, a dentist by trade. Itoafa busted after running ace-queen smack dab into Karim Abuzar’s Big Slick.
Ryan Dodson bowed out in seventh place losing a flip with pocket nines to Roberts’ ace-queen, and Peterson took his leave after losing ace-jack to the ace-king of Daniel Wojcik. Abuzar was then straightened out by John Sacha, a 2009 HPT Black Hawk champ, before Wojcik jammed ace-deuce and failed to get there against Pupillo’s ace-queen.
Pupillo proceeded to bust Sacha in third place – the result of the latter’s queen-ten suited failing to get there against the former’s king-queen – and that allowed him to take a more than 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play. Before long, Roberts shoved with ace-nine and Pupillo called with king-eight. An eight on the flop was the final nail in the coffin for Roberts, who owns a solar company in Missouri.
Roberts, a three-time HPT champ who was making his 13th appearance at an HPT final table, earned $120,146 for his runner-up finish, which puts him within an HPT win of overtaking the all-time HPT money list from Craig Casino.
"I'm pretty happy with the way things went today," Roberts said. "I felt like I maximized what I had."
The HPT heads to St. Louis next for the first event at the Hollywood Hotel & Casino. The series kicks off March 7 and runs through March 18.
Reginald Roberts Eliminated in 2nd Place ($120,146)
Level 32
: 100,000/200,000, 100,000 ante
Nick Pupillo open-shoved and Reginald Roberts called with 2.12 million remaining.
Pupillo: 
Roberts: 
The board ran 
, Pupillo paired his eight and Roberts was eliminated from his 13th HPT Final Table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Jabbing Back and Forth Taking a Toll on Roberts
Level 32
: 100,000/200,000, 100,000 ante
Nick Pupillo and Reginald Roberts haven't played any significant pots yet. They've traded small pots back and forth with Pupillo getting an edge over Roberts.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,400,000 | -2,560,000 |
Heads Up Chip Counts
Level 32
: 100,000/200,000, 100,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
12,690,000 | -110,000 |
|
|
4,960,000 | 1,460,000 |
John Sacha Eliminated in 3rd Place ($78,743)
Level 32
: 100,000/200,000, 100,000 ante
John Sacha open-shoved all in on the button for 2.88 million and Nick Pupillo called.
Pupillo: 
Sacha: 
The board ran 
, Pupillo's hand was best and they paused to set up for heads up play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Level: 32
Blinds: 100,000/200,000
Ante: 100,000
Pupillo Catches Sacha Bluffing
Level 31
: 80,000/160,000, 80,000 ante
Nick Pupillo and John Sacha went to a raised flop of 
. Sacha check-called 350,000, the turn came 
and both players checked. The river came 
and Sacha bet 900,000.
Pupillo thought for a short bit, called and Sacha turned up 
for air and Pupillo showed 
to win the pot.
Pupillo Turning Tables on Sacha
Level 31
: 80,000/160,000, 80,000 ante
Nick Pupillo opened, John Sacha three-bet to 860,000 and Pupillo called. The flop came 
, Sacha bet 700,000 and Pupillo called. The turn came 
, Sacha checked and Pupillo bet 1.85 million.
Sacha folded and Pupillo put a dent into Sacha's chip towers he had that were stacked around 50 high. Pupillo took over the chip lead after the hand.
Pupillo Pushing Chips Around the Table
Level 31
: 80,000/160,000, 80,000 ante
John Sacha opened to 500,000 on the button and Nick Pupillo three-bet to 1.4 million. Sacha called, the flop came 
and Pupillo bet 950,000.
"I think we have around the same hand," Sacha said. "So that's why I'm folding."