The Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Hollywood Casino Columbus began with 588 entries, but today just nine return to battle it out for the title and $191,723 first-place prize.
Leading the pack is Abdul Amer, who is no stranger to poker in Ohio. Last year he topped a 581-entry field to win the $1,100 MSPT Cleveland Poker Open at JACK Cleveland Casino for $118,350.
Others returning to action are World Series of Poker bracelet winners Adam Friedman and Joey Couden and World Poker Tour champ Kevin “1$sickDisea$E” Eyster. Interestingly, Amer is friends with Friedman, who finished third in the aforementioned MSPT Cleveland.
Here's how things stack up:
Final Table Lineup
| Seat | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mandeep Sah | 2,985,000 |
| 2 | Spenser Cramer | 1,265,000 |
| 3 | Thila Narayanan | 1,180,000 |
| 4 | Kevin Eyster | 1,205,000 |
| 5 | Joey Couden | 2,075,000 |
| 6 | Abdul Amer | 4,295,000 |
| 7 | Jeff Hart | 1,485,000 |
| 8 | Ryan Wince | 1,480,000 |
| 9 | Adam Friedman | 1,66o,000 |
The final nine players will return at Noon on Monday to play down to a winner with 23:50 remaining in Level 25 (20,000/40,000/40,000). The action will not only be lived reported here on PokerNews but also live streamed worldwide. It’ll also be filmed for television, which marks the first time Ohio will have held a nationally televised poker tournament.
Stay tuned to see who emerges victorious in the HPT Hollywood Casino St. Louis Main Event!