Alex Greenblatt Wins HPT For $179,274

(Photo: Worldpokertour.com)

In Colorado this week middle America turned out en mass for the Heartland Poker Tour, with 542 people filing into the Golden Gates Casino & Poker Parlour in Black Hawk, Colorado. These 542 players had either raked in a ticket from a satellite or league game or else had raised the $1,650 buy-in through the usual methods of graft both hard and otherwise. All in all this made for a prize pool of $746,740 to be split between the 63 people who cashed.

The small scale of the Golden Gates’ poker room meant the players were split into four flights each playing across a separate day one A-D.

To The Final Table

The remnant players from these four day one’s crammed themselves into the poker room and around the poker tables on the 17th September 2017 to start playing in earnest with 114 players left. All of these players were looking to the money bubble at 64th (Matt Livingstone) and the min-cash at 63rd (Mohammad Sharif - $2,868). 

The blinds were at 4,000/8,000 with a 1k ante when the bubble burst, and although even at that point the pressure was mounting it took another eight hours of play to reach the final table of 9 players.

Final Table

The Final Table began with blinds of 15k/30k and a 4k ante. By the time the T1,000 chips were being raced for Ben Greenberg had gone when he ran pocket aces into a set on the flop.

By the time the field was down to four players the chip counts had separated into the big stacks – Boudreau (6.15million) and Livingstone (5.34million) – and the small stacks – Greenblatt (2.67million) and Galvan (2.1million).

With the blinds up to 40k/80k the small stacks were still playing with over 25bbs and could afford to make some moves. Which Greenblatt proceeded to do, doubling up through Boudreau (who soon bombed out in 4th for $50,434. Livingstone then knocked out Galvan in 3rd ($72,583) and it was on for heads up, Livingstone leading by a little under 2-1 over Greenblatt. 

Greenblatt is no stranger to these situations have cashed in 4 other HPT events and FT’d in 3, cooly and calmly dissected Livingstone’s lead and soon had him in with A-6 against Greenblatt’s A-9. The dominated Livingstone didn’t catch and went home with $110,747, but without the HPT ring which now crowns Greenblatt’s hand.

Greenblatt’s first place finish for $179,274 is his largest cash to date, and puts him into the millionaire club of tourney cashers on the Hendon Mob.

Final Table Cashes