Main Event Day 1a | 2019 Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates

02-15-2019 01:14 UTC-6

Craig Casino Leads Day 1A of HPT Black Hawk Main Event

[user196975]

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Craig Casino (Photo courtesy of Hold'em Radio)

The first of three starting flights for the $1,650 HPT Black Hawk Main Event drew 81 entrants while the rest of the world participated in Valentine's Day. Fifteen levels of action trimmed the field to 13 remaining players with Craig Casino leading the field.

Casino finished the night with 438,000, Nick Pupillo finished second in chips with 389,000, and Pierce McKellar rounded out the top three with 273,000. WSOP bracelet winner John Beauprez lost a big hand on the final hand of the night, leaving him only with a couple of blinds and he elected to surrender his stack and try again.

Casino had a wild day where he was down to just 6,500 at one point. He tangled with two big stacks - Jason Mangold and Daniel Carrales - where he came out on top.

HPT veterans Ed Sebesta and Ossama Estafanous both joined the field but did not make it to Day 2. HPT on the High Seas winner Marty Gorenc played deep into the day but will have to return to make another deep run.

The surviving players return Sunday at 11 a.m. where the field will make the money and play down to a final table. Friday and Saturday will each host a starting flight kicking off at noon, with Saturday's field expected to be huge.

Tags: Craig Casino

02-14-2019 14:14 UTC-6

Here's What's in Store for Season XV of the HPT

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 100/200, 0 ante

Season XV of the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) is shaping up to be a big one with stops at the Hollywood Casinos in St. Louis and the Cincinnati area (Lawrenceburg, Indiana), The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Pittsburgh, and Ameristar East Chicago. What's more, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team plans to be at each of them to capture all the action.

“HPT is excited to have PokerNews providing additional event coverage in 2019,” said Korey Stewart, HPT Marketing Manager. “Season XV is shaping up to be another record-breaking year for the tour. We’ve already added several new venues to the schedule and we’re hoping to announce a few more new additions soon. There will be plenty of opportunities for poker enthusiasts across the country to take a shot at winning life-changing money at nationally televised final tables. We’re looking forward to having an industry leader like PokerNews there to report on it every step of the way.”

Here’s a look at the current Season XV schedule with more stops expected to be announced in the near future. For more information, visit hptpoker.com and follow them on Twitter @HPTPoker.

HPT Season XV Schedule

Series Dates	Venue	Location	Main Event Buy-In
February 6-18	Golden Gates Poker Parlour	Black Hawk, Colorado	$1,650
March 7-18	Hollywood Casino & Hotel	St. Louis, Missouri	$1,650
March 21-April 1	Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg	Lawrenceburg, Indiana	$1,100
April 4-15	The Meadows Racetrack & Casino	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	$1,100
April 18-29	Hollywood Casino Columbus	Columbus, Ohio	$1,650
Mary 2-14	Ameristar East Chicago	Gary, Indiana	$1,650

Tags: Heartland Poker Tour HPT

02-14-2019 14:06 UTC-6

Get to Know Reigning HPT Player of the Year Aaron Johnson

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 100/200, 0 ante

One of the best stories of 2018 was the incredible year of Minnesota’s Aaron Johnson. Back in May, PokerNews spoke with Johnson about leading the Player of the Year races on both Season 9 of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) and Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Season XIV.

Over the next seven months, Johnson maintained his lead on the MSPT, and while he lost the HPT lead for a bit, he ultimately ended with it thanks to a deep run in the season finale. That allowed Johnson to become the first player to ever win POY titles on two different tours in the same year.

For doing so, Johnson won a $10,000 prize package for each tour.

“It feels amazing,” Johnson told PokerNews. “Coming into the year I certainly wanted to make a run at MSPT POY (which has always been a goal of mine), but I never imagined that I’d be in contention for multiple POY titles. To actually achieve it is unreal.”

For more on the reigning HPT POY, check out his full interview here on PokerNews.

Tags: Aaron Johnson

02-14-2019 13:05 UTC-6

HPT Black Hawk Main Event Kicks off Day 1A

[user196975]

The Heartland Poker Tour kicked off Season XV at Ameristar East Chicago and then headed out for HPT on the High Seas for a Caribbean cruise event. Now the tour returns to the Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado where they've booked several million dollar prize pool events. Wendy Freedman took down the previous HPT event in September for $167,696.

Day 1A is scheduled for 15, 40-minute levels of action before players bag and tag for Sunday's Day 2. Registration remains open until the start of Level 10, with players allowed to fire as many bullets as needed.

There are 31 entrants on the tournament clock for the start of play and cards are in the air.