Mike Puccio Wins Heartland Poker Tour Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago for $164,249
The Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) recently completed its second stop of Season 11, which took place at Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago. The $1,650 Main Event attracted 498 entrants and created a prize pool of $714,120, and after three days of play, it was landscape contractor Mike Puccio of Deerfield, Illinois, that emerged victorious to capture the $164,249 first-place prize.
"I've been excited and nervous for the last two days," Puccio said of the experience. "I haven’t been able to close my eyes. It’ll be a nice Christmas, I’ll tell you that.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Puccio | Deerfield, IL | $164,249 |
| 2 | Bledar “Blade” Shaholli | St. Clair Shores, MI | $100,405 |
| 3 | Joshua Turner | St. Louis | $66,556 |
| 4 | Shiva Dudani | Chicago, IL | $46,275 |
| 5 | Ben Castle | Western Springs, IL | $34,635 |
| 6 | Arris Kontos | Baldwin, MI | $26,780 |
| 7 | Nicholas LaFata | Springfield, IL | $21,781 |
| 8 | Yaroob Kaskorkis | Grand Rapids, MI | $17,853 |
| 9 | William Miner | Chicago, IL | $14,282 |
According to HPT live updates, the first elimination of the final table came in Level 26 (20,000/40,000/5,000) when William Miner open-shoved under the gun and Shiva Dudani isolated by moving all in over the top.
Miner: J♠8♣
Dudani: Q♣Q♠
Miner picked up a gutshot straight draw on the 10♠7♥3♣ flop, but he failed to complete it as the 5♥ blanked on the turn followed by the 7♣ river. The college grad exited in ninth place and took home $14,282 for his performance.
After Yaroob “Ruby” Kaskorkis, who was at an HPT final table last month, and Nicholas LaFata, who qualified via a $375 satellite, fell in eighth and seventh places, respectively, investment banker Arris Kontos followed them out the door in sixth.
From there, Ben Castle fell in fifth when his A♥8♥ failed to hold up against the K♣Q♠ of Josh Turner, and then Dudani exited in fourth when he ran pocket tens into the jacks of Turner. Despite scoring back-to-back eliminations, Turner was the next to go when he got his stack all in holding the A♦6♣ and was a slight favorite against the K♣10♣ of Bledar “Blade” Shaholli. The K♠8♠5♥ flop gave Shaholli the lead, and he held onto it as the J♣ appeared on the turn followed by the 7♥ on the river. Turner took home $66,556 for finishing third while Shaholli took a nearly 3-1 chip lead into heads-up play over Puccio.
The two played for nearly three hours, during which time Puccio clawed his way into the chip lead. Then, in Level 33 (100,000/200,000/30,000), the final and went down when Shaholli got his chips all in on a 7♦4♣3x flop.
Shaholli: A♦Q♦
Puccio: 7♥3♦
Shaholli was in trouble as Puccio had flopped two pair, but he picked up some help when the 10♦ turn delivered him a flush draw. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t come in as the 2♣ blanked on the river. Shaholli finished as runner-up for $100,405, while Puccio captured the title and $164,249 first-place prize.
“It’s going to be a good Christmas this year,” Puccio told the tournament reporter after the win. “My wife’s in tears. I was worried when he had me 3-1, but then I hit a rush of cards.”
The HPT is done for the year, but returns in 2014 with a weeklong poker cruise before heading to Northern California and Reno/Tahoe.
For more on the Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago stop, check out the HPT’s interview with Greg Raymer:
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