HPT: WHIRLWIND SCHEDULE & RACE IS ON FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bonnie Demos
Heartland Poker Tour will wrap up a banner year with a whirlwind fall schedule that includes an unprecedented five events over the next three months. Here’s their tour season: October 1-14, Golden Gates Casino, Black Hawk, Colorado. Contact: 303.582.2906. The first HPT event to be hosted in Colorado promises to be huge. Due to Colorado gaming laws, there will be NO direct buy-in options to the Main Event, however, there will be eight opportunities offered to qualify into the Main Event.
October 13-21, Lucky Nugget Card Club, Deadwood, South Dakota. Contact 605.578.1816. This is the second HPT event to take place at the Lucky Nugget. The first event produced a sellout crowd in March of 2007 with a prize pool totaling $270,878. In view of the previous overwhelming turnout, this event will be flighted to allow for more players to participate and an even larger prize pool.
October 27-November 4, Meskwaki Casino, Tama, Iowa. Contact: 800.728.GAME. The Iowa State Poker Championships will run in conjunction with this event and an additional $10,000 in cash will be awarded based on a points system. The casino is adding extra tables, and the event is scheduled to take place in the new Event Center. Players attending the event will receive a special $50 room rate; this will be a sellout!
November 10-18, Casino del Sol, Tucson, Arizona. Contact: 800.344.9435. Another HPT first, an event in warm, sunny Arizona. This event will be flighted to accommodate larger crowds; in addition, there will be seating for 140 players for each qualifying round.
December 1-10, The Heartland Poker Tour First Annual Championship Open, Majestic Star Casino, Gary, Indiana. Contact: 888.2B.LUCKY. The final and largest event of the year will feature a prize pool expected to exceed one million dollars! Three flights are scheduled to accommodate the sell out crowds as they compete with all the 2007 HPT champs for the coveted Player of The Year Title. Majestic Star has produced unprecedented HPT prize pools in their past three events, and this one promises to be their biggest and the best yet.
Dennis Dubay, 2006 Player of The Year, from Menominee, Michigan will be handing over his crown to one lucky player at the final event in December at the Majestic Star in Gary, Indiana. The enviable position of Heartland Poker Tour Player of the Year brings with it numerous perks, including entry into every event of the 2008 season.
Currently, the standings are very close, and the title is up for grabs. Additional information on the structure and point system is available on the HPT website, www.heartlandpokertour. com.
The twelve top twelve finalists are:
Daniel Zogman . . . $229,754
McHenry, IL
Jimmy Kroll . . . . . . $142,293
New Lenox, IL
Jenny Kriewald . . . . $52,973
Valley City, ND
James Gibson . . . . . . $77,720
Stonewall, MB
Jason Fish . . . . . . . . . $82,545
Urbana, IA
Mark Sandness . . . . $53,199
Moorhead, MN
Antone Haddad . . . . $63,348
Northville, MN
Tyler Reimer . . . . . . $51,335
Morton, IL
Samuel Britton . . . . . $75,006
Gillette, WY
Michael Baran . . . . . $88,442
Binghamton, NY
Steven McLaughlin . $46,011
Las Vegas, NV
James Mutchler . . . . $35,378
Brighton, CO
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