Richard Thousand Wins Horseshoe Poker Classic Main Event in Council Bluffs

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Richard Thousand

While most eyes were on South Florida this week for the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $10 Million Guarantee Main Event and the inaugural World Poker Tour $100,000 buy-in Alpha8 event, another tournament series was playing out in Council Bluffs, Iowa – the 2013 Horseshoe Poker Classic.

The five-event series may not have been on the same scale as the one in Florida, but there was a connection between the two. In the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Classic Main Event, Blair Hinkle finished in first place for more than $1.7 million. Four months earlier, Hinkle won the 2012-2013 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Council Bluffs for $121,177, which was the second time he’d won that event in three years!

While Hinkle was busy in Florida, plenty of players flocked to Council Bluffs, which is just on the other side of the river from Omaha, Nebraska. From Aug. 17-21, the Horseshoe hosted five tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $150 to $1,000, culminating with the Horseshoe Poker Classic $1,000 Main Event.

"I was bummed that we overlapped with Florida," Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager Andrew Brock told PokerNews. "We have a good base of players in the Midwest — Kansas City, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota — so we focus on those first, but we're always looking to attract other players to the area. Our new AGM/VP of Ops is cousins with Brandon Steven and he was going to come and bring a $25/$50 no-limit hold'em game with him, but he picked the $10 million guarantee over us!"

Despite the overlap, Brock was pleased to attracted well-known poker player and nearby farmer Phil Mader, who finished 43rd in this year's World Series of Poker Main Event for $185,694. Brock was also excited about the cash games inspired by the tournament. "Cash games were good," Brock explained. "We had multiple $2/$5 games and $1/$3 PLO/PLO/8. The PLO ROE is running on Friday nights and the action was off the charts. The $1-$3 blinds might seem small to some players but with the 75% max buy in it plays big!"

As far as the Main Event was concerned, the tournament attracted 126 runners, and after two full days of play, Richard Thousand of Ankeny, Iowa emerged victorious to capture the $30,798 first-place prize and a Horseshoe Poker Classic trophy.

"I was real pleased on the turnouts. We increased attendance by 30% from last year," Brock concluded. "In 2012 the HPC Main Event was $900 and had 97 entries. This year the buy in was $1000 and had 126 players."

Here’s a look at the results from all the 2013 Horseshoe Poker Classic events:

Horseshoe Poker Classic $1,000 Main Event

Buy-inEntrants
$1,000126

PlacePlayerHometownPrize
1stRichard ThousandAnkeny, IA$30,798
2ndThomas LutjensColumbus, NE$19,036
3rdDaniel JensenGretna, NE$13,741
4thDarin MillerOwatonna, MN$10,097
5thMark TurnerOmaha, NE$7,548
6thMichelle HiersCouncil Bluffs, IA$5,739
7thMark FinkSioux Falls, SD$4,436
8thDewane BlahaBellevue, NE$3,485
9thDaniel ThomasLincoln, NE$2,782

Horseshoe Poker Classic Event #1 $250 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$250196$40,496

Richard Thousand Wins Horseshoe Poker Classic Main Event in Council Bluffs 101
Steven Baker

PlacePlayerPrize
1stSteven Baker$10,526
2ndShawn Marley$6,504
3rdYi Wang$4,696
4thBrad Sullivan$3,449
5thShawn Gordin$2,577
6thDustin Lindblad$1,958
7thLeonard James$1,513
8thThadd Wolff$1,188
9thDon Reinholdt$948

Horseshoe Poker Classic Event #2 $150 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$150164$11,932

Richard Thousand Wins Horseshoe Poker Classic Main Event in Council Bluffs 102
Jerry Moore

PlacePlayerPrize
1stJerry Moore$1,611*
2ndChares Kephart$1,611*
3rdMurat Agar$1,262*
4thCorey Quinonez$1,262*
5thSteven Wilburn$1,262*
6thThor Brown$1,262*
7thRandy Fisher$1,262*
8thTrevor Harrold$360
9thJeremy Seefeldt$287

*Denotes seven-handed deal

Horseshoe Poker Classic Event #3 $200 Omaha Eight or Better

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$20055$8,963

Richard Thousand Wins Horseshoe Poker Classic Main Event in Council Bluffs 103
Brandon Cordry

PlacePlayerPrize
1stBrandon Cordry$3,361*
2ndJimmy Blevins$1,721*
3rdGerald Hurst$1,721*
4thCharles Bell$941
5thBrian Brashaw$690
6thDaniel Pilloud 

*Denotes three-handed deal

Horseshoe Poker Classic Event #4 $550 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$55079$38,315

Richard Thousand Wins Horseshoe Poker Classic Main Event in Council Bluffs 104
Sean Johnson

PlacePlayerPrize
1stSean Johnson$11,086*
2ndJason Tulloss$10,000*
3rdHiew Thanh Giap$5,306
4thBarry Fleming$3,714
5thRicardo Merida-urizar$2,753
6thJohn Coolman$2,153
7thMark Fink$1,772
8thMatt Streeter$1,531

*Denotes heads-up deal

From October 7-14, the Horseshoe Council Bluffs will also play host to the Omaha Poker Open, which will feature events such as $150 Omaha/8, $200 PLO Triple Chance, $150 NLH Bounty and a $550 NLH Main Event.

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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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