Main Event
Day 2 Completed
Main Event
Day 2 Completed
Day 2 of the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Hollywood Casino Columbus saw the final 93 players from a 588-entry field return to action. By the end of the night, the field was whittled down to the final table of nine. They will return on Monday to battle it out for the $191,723 first-place prize on the live-streamed final table.
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.
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 |
More than two dozen players busted short of the money on Sunday including Chris Moon, Stephen Song, and bubble boy Andrew Jeffrey, who ran pocket eights smack dab into aces to burst the bubble.
From there the in-the-money finishes began to mount and included Frank Lagodich (58th - $3,067), Andy Spears (39th - $3,919), HPT’s all-time money leader Craig Casino (35th - $4,686), Shawn “Reginald” Roberts (26th - $5,623), Day 1c chip leader Mike Comisso (22nd - $5,623), HPT The Meadows champ Dan Wagner (20th - $5,623), Day 1a chip leader Brian Frye (16th - $7,498), Nick Guagenti (14th - $9,798), and Mike Sabbia (11th - $13,121), who moved into fourth place on the HPT Season XV Player of the Year leaderboard.
It was actually the elimination of Sabbia that helped propel Amer to the top of the counts. Sabbia fired all three streets on a Big Slick bluff and Sabbia picked him off with second pair. As for Friedman, he began the day as a big chip leader and rode it to the final, though not without getting lucky a time or two.
That included putting a bad beat on Guagenti, who got his chips in preflop with ace-ten against Friedman’s ace-eight. Guagenti’s kicker had him out in front through the flop and turn, but then Friedman found an eight on the river to steal the pot.
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.
In what would be the final hand of Day 2, Jeff Hart raised to 100,000 from middle position and Kevin Eyster called from the small blind. The short-stacked Griffin Abel then moved all in for 130,000 total from the big and both his opponents called.
The two active players checked the flop and then Hart folded to a bet of 150,000 from Eyster on the turn.
Eyster:
Abel:
Abel, who finished 11th in the HPT The Meadows earlier this month, was looking for a jack to stay alive, but he was left wanting as the bricked on the river.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Griffin Abel | Busted |
Seat | Player | Chip Count |
---|---|---|
1 | Mandeep Sah | 2,900,000 |
2 | Spenser Cramer | 1,400,000 |
3 | Thila Narayanan | 1,300,000 |
4 | Kevin Eyster | 900,000 |
5 | Griffin Abel | 200,000 |
6 | Joey Couden | 2,200,000 |
7 | Abdul Amer | 3,800,000 |
8 | Jeff Hart | 1,800,000 |
9 | Ryan Wince | 1,450,000 |
10 | Adam Friedman | 1,700,000 |
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Abdul Amer |
3,800,000
2,300,000
|
2,300,000 |
Mandeep Sah |
2,900,000
-300,000
|
-300,000 |
Joey Couden |
2,200,000
550,000
|
550,000 |
|
||
Jeff Hart | 1,800,000 | |
Adam Friedman |
1,700,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
||
Ryan Wince |
1,450,000
350,000
|
350,000 |
Spenser Cramer |
1,400,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
Thila Narayanan |
1,300,000
-500,000
|
-500,000 |
Kevin Eyster |
900,000
-550,000
|
-550,000 |
|
||
Griffin Abel |
200,000
-400,000
|
-400,000 |
Mike Sabbia raised under the gun to 100,000, Kevin Eyster in the cutoff made the call and Abdul Amer made the call in the hijack. The flop came ,Sabbia bet 200,000 and Amer called.
The turn was the , Sabbia continued with another bet of 320,000 and Amer called.
The river came the , Sabbia went all in for 880,000, and Amer tanked for a long time before making the call.
Sabbia showed and said "Good call, you're good" and Amer slammed the for a winning pair of nines.
Sabbia was eliminated in 11th place and brought about the final table redraw.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Abdul Amer |
4,400,000
2,900,000
|
2,900,000 |
Mike Sabbia | Busted |
Abdul Amer raised on the button to 100,000 and Ryan Wince went all in for 550,000. Griffin Abel came over the top and shoved all in which forced Amer to out of the hand as he folded.
Wince was behind as he turned over the to go up against the of Abel.
Wince came from behind the unconventional way to double up and remain alive as the board ran out , giving him trip nines to best the queens.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ryan Wince |
1,100,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
Griffin Abel |
600,000
-520,000
|
-520,000 |
Level: 25
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 40,000
PreFlop both Brady Churches and Mandeep Sah got it all in.
Churches:
Mandeep:
The board ran out and Mandeep's pocket tens held to eliminate Churches in 12th place.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Mandeep Sah |
3,200,000
800,000
|
800,000 |
Brady Churches | Busted |
Bryant Miller moved all in from the cutoff with his remaining short stack of 280,000. He was called by Thila Narayanan in the small blind.
Mandeep Sah came over the top and shoved all in forcing Narayanan to commit his whole stack if he wanted to stay in the pot. But Narayanan quickly folded.
Sah turned over the which was favored over the of Miller.
The board would run out a flush for Miller as it came but it was dominated by Sah's nut flush and was powerless to save Miller from elimination in 13th place.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Mandeep Sah |
2,400,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
Bryant Miller | Busted |
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Mandeep Sah |
2,100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
Jeff Hart |
1,800,000
284,000
|
284,000 |
Thila Narayanan |
1,800,000
350,000
|
350,000 |
Mike Sabbia |
1,750,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
Adam Friedman |
1,660,000
-400,000
|
-400,000 |
|
||
Joey Couden |
1,650,000
1,230,000
|
1,230,000 |
|
||
Abdul Amer |
1,500,000
-160,000
|
-160,000 |
Kevin Eyster |
1,450,000
830,000
|
830,000 |
|
||
Griffin Abel |
1,120,000
720,000
|
720,000 |
Spenser Cramer |
1,100,000
-260,000
|
-260,000 |
Ryan Wince |
800,000
-200,000
|
-200,000 |
Brady Churches |
450,000
-170,000
|
-170,000 |
Bryant Miller |
280,000
-580,000
|
-580,000 |