Nick Davidson Wins HPT Ameristar East Chicago Main Event for $178,709
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The Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) recently wrapped up the first stop of its new season (Season XV). The $1,650 buy-in HPT East Chicago attracted 554 entrants and generated a $794,260 prize pool. In the end, Nick Davidson emerged victorious to capture the title and accompanying $178,709 first-place prize.
It marked Davidson’s second HPT title after he won the September 2016 HPT East Chicago for $166,806.
"I still can't believe I won," Davidson told HPT officials after his win. "It's overwhelming. The first one was amazing and to win two of them is just unreal. Tournament poker can go every which way. You can go up and down all in a level. I just decided to go for it.”
The latest win brought Davidson’s lifetime earnings up to $417,857, most of which is due to his pair of six-figure HPT scores. In fact, his next biggest cash was $11,992 for finishing seventh in the 2018 HPT Belterra Main Event.
The money should come in handy as Davidson, already a father of three, is expecting a new addition to the family come March.
"I guess I'm just lucky that I can play poker," he said. "I have an amazing wife."
HPT East Chicago Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Davidson | United States | $178,709 |
| 2 | Michael Sabbia | United States | $110,402 |
| 3 | Jordan Degrenier | United States | $72,357 |
| 4 | Justin Lee | United States | $50,277 |
| 5 | Andrew Campbell | United States | $36,536 |
| 6 | Hamid Izadi | United States | $28,355 |
| 7 | Brian Thomas | United States | $23,828 |
| 8 | Judson Tigerman | United States | $19,857 |
| 9 | Jonathan Cohen | Canada | $15,885 |
Others to cash the tournament were David “The Maven” Gutfreund (13th - $9,134), Adam Lamphere (16th - $6,989), Kevin McGee (25th - $5,242), Jim Kasputis (33rd - $4,368), Craig Trost (46th - $3,098), and WPT champ Ravi Raghavan (59th - $2,859).
Final Table Action
According to updates from the event, Davidson got things moving with five players remaining. That is when he called with ace-king suited against a five-bet shove from Andrew Campbell, who held pocket nines. Davidson flopped a king and won a monster.
“I figured if I won that hand with ace-king I could go on to win,” Davidson said of the hand.
Davidson then dispatched Justin Lee in fourth place – the result of Lee’s pocket tens failing to overcome his opponent’s pocket rockets – and then Jordan DeGrenier fell after an ugly beat. It happened when he got his stack all in preflop with aces and Davidson called with kings. A king on the flop was gin for Davidson and he held to take a chip lead into heads-up play.
In the final hand of the tournament, which took place with the blinds at 100K/200K/100K, Mike Sabbia three-bet all in for 2.6 million holding the 3♣3♦ and Davidson called with the 9♣8♣. The board ran out A♠K♦J♠Q♠8♦ and Davidson rivered a pair to close things out. Sabbia earned $100,402 for his runner-up finish.
The HPT will hold its next land-based stop February 6-18 at Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. In the meantime, the HPT On the High Seas will cruise the Caribbean on the Symphony of the Seas from January 26 through February 2.
Photos courtesy of Heartland Poker Tour.
