Greg Jennings has overcome a fearsome final table to capture the first prize in the Heartland Poker Tour Ameristar Kansas City Main Event.
Greg Jennings has overcome a trio of talented poker performers to capture the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Main Event at the Ameristar Kansas City.
The local businessman has now earned close to $290,000 in live tournament earnings, after collecting his $118,560 purse, applying the steamroller over his previous best score of $22,021 for a fifth place finish in the $1,675 buy-in World
Stan Jablonski is a HPT legend. He has accrued $1.1m in live tournament earnings, and was making his eighth final table appearance. He has never won one. The closest he came to taking home the title was last year, when he finished runner-up to Aaron Massey in the Main Event in Ameristar Casino East Chicago.
And lo and behold, who should also make the final table, but that man Massey. The reigning HPT Player of the Year (POY) has accrued $2.5m in live tournament earnings, and is a two-time HPT champion. He also owns a couple of World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP) gold rings, and once won $651,559 when he topped a field of 1,394 entrants in a Winstar Casino event.
Justin Young was the third main draw to make the final table. Young had amassed $3.5m in live tournament earnings, including $936,760 when he finished runner-up to Chino Rheem in the 2008 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
And what a week it’s been for Alan Curl. Seven days after winning $64,655, and the title, in the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Main Event in South Dakota, he also crept onto the final stage of this one.
Curl was the first of that quartet to leave the building. He moved all-in holding [Qc] [6c] and was called by Massey holding [Kh] [Ts]. The board produced straight possibilities for Curl but none of them materialized by the time the river card fell.
Young would exit in fifth place, and then Massey would bow out in fourth. The HPT POY moved all-in holding pocket sixes, was called by Jennings and AQ, and two aces on the flop sealed that particular deal.
Joey Brown’s contest ended in third leaving Jablonski with the opportunity to finally break his HPT winning duck. He started with a 2:1 chip lead, but a double up for Jennings flipped the tie in his favor and he powered on to finish Jablonski off and pick up the first major title of his career.
Final Table Results
1st. Greg Jennings – $118,560
2nd. Stan Jablonski – $73,195
3rd. Joey Brown – $58,711
4th. Aaron Massey – $33,763
5th. Justin Young – $25,515
6th. Matt Bond – $19,845
7th. Jon Lawson – $16,495
8th. Alan Curl – $13,660
9th. Tom Tolbert – $11,546
The next event on the Heartland Poker Tour calendar is the Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago in Indiana Aug 27 – Sep 7.
