Greg Radosh made his second appearance at a nationally
televised Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Final Table today. His first showing came
last year when he was in the dealer’s box pitching cards to the final nine
competitors. This time around Radosh was there as a player. When it was all
said and done, the Barnhart, Missouri man was crowned champion at Ameristar
Casino Resort Spa St. Charles to the tune of $113,000.
“It feels pretty surreal,” said Radosh after securing the
victory. “Like I’m dreaming right now.”
Local attorney Christian Montroy was the last man
standing between Radosh and the title. The final hand saw the two get all the
chips in the middle with Montroy holding a pair to Radosh’s straight. Montroy
was playing in his first live tournament and was thrilled to finish in second
place. “I’m going to buy the largest TV ever created,” he said in his exit
interview. The second-place finish was good for a $71,536 payday.
One of the most successful players in HPT history, Reginald
“Shawn” Roberts, has plenty of experience under the bright lights of an HPT
Final Table. The Springfield, Missouri man sat down in front of the cameras for
the ninth time on Monday. Roberts is also HPT’s current Player of the Year.
Though he was unable to add a fourth victory to his long list of
accomplishments, he did climb all the way to third place before being
eliminated. That finish earned him $47,904.
Several tour regulars were spotted in the field at Ameristar
St Charles throughout the weekend, including past champions Greg Jennings and
Paul Belken. All-time money leader Craig Casino added another cash to his
resume as well. In all, there were 346 entrants in the Main Event. Last week’s
opening event saw over 500 participants.
Poker player Paul Fehlig is another player who is
no stranger to playing on TV with HPT, with two previous appearances. The title
remained elusive for Fehlig who was eliminated in fourth place for $33,410. He
plans to use the winnings to “buy my cat something nice.”
William Fitzgerald enjoyed his first time playing with
the tour. Fitzgerald, of Germantown, Tennessee, came into the day with one of
the smaller stacks at the table. He played his stack well and managed to climb
the pay ladder all the way to a fifth-place finish for a $25,057 score.
Chesterfield, Missouri’s Joe Christian invested
just $400 to get to Monday’s Final Table. The technology salesman listed his
career winnings at $0. Christian can now add $19,653 to that total as that is
what he collected for sixth place.
Michael McKuin plans to donate a portion of his
earnings from the tournament to the Jr National kids youth program. The Fisk,
Missouri native wasn’t able to get much going early on. McKuin put the last of
his chips in the middle before the flop with five-six. He was called by
Montroy’s ace-jack. The flop and turn gave McKuin a shot at a flush, but alas
the diamond he needed did not come on the river and he was sent to the rail in
seventh place. He will take home $16,607 for his efforts.
Like Fitzgerald, Tim Bullard was playing in his
first HPT event. The retired salesman from Houston, Texas would go on to finish
in eighth place, collecting $13,757 along the way. Not bad for a weekend’s worth
of work.
Detention Specialist Tremell Jones had the least
amount of chips at the table when play began. He put the last of them at risk
with pocket queens only to be called by Robert’s ace-king. Jones came out on
the losing end of the proverbial coinflip, sending him to the exit. The
Edmunson, Missouri man earned $11,841 for the ninth-place finish.
From here, HPT will take a short break before returning to
the road in July. The next scheduled tour stop is in Colorado July 7-18. That
series will culminate with an $1100 Main Event. Several other 2016 stops are
listed at HPTpoker.com, including the Season XII championship event in Northern
California which will feature a $2,500 nationally televised Main Event.
- Here are the payouts for the @HPTPoker $1,650 Main Event at Ameristar St. Charles
346 Entries
$491,320 Prize Pool
Pays 36 Places
| Place | Name | City | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greg Radosh | Barnhart, MO | $113,000 |
| 2 | Christian Montroy | St. Louis, MO | $71,536 |
| 3 | Reginald Roberts | Springfield, MO | $47,904 |
| 4 | Paul Fehlig | St. Louis, MO | $33,410 |
| 5 | William Fitzgerald | Germantown, TN | $25,057 |
| 6 | Joe Christian | Chesterfield, MO | $19,653 |
| 7 | Michael McKuin | Fisk, MO | $16,607 |
| 8 | Tim Bullard | Houston, TX | $13,757 |
| 9 | Tremell Jones | Edmundson, MO | $11,841 |
| 10 | Robert Wilson | Gower, MO | $9,335 |
| 11 | Bill Byrnes | Wentzville, MO | $9,335 |
| 12 | Vijay Natarajan | St. Louis, MO | $9,335 |
| 13 | Don Havener | Union, MO | $7,026 |
| 14 | Jason Simon | O'Fallon, MO | $7,026 |
| 15 | David Hipperson | St. Louis, MO | $7,026 |
| 16 | Craig Casino | Winfield, IL | $5,503 |
| 17 | George Robbins | St. Louis, MO | $5,503 |
| 18 | William Haner | Collinsville, IL | $5,503 |
| 19 | Garrett Riley | Quincy, IL | $4,422 |
| 20 | Jeffrey Brin | Olathe, KS | $4,422 |
| 21 | Brian Nguyen | O'Fallon, MO | $4,422 |
| 22 | Peter Brooks | St. Louis, MO | $4,422 |
| 23 | Eric Sieler | St. Louis, MO | $4,422 |
| 24 | Robert Joyce | St. Peters, MO | $4,422 |
| 25 | Melvin Jackson | St. Louis, MO | $4,422 |
| 26 | Philip Gilreath | Waterloo, IL | $4,422 |
| 27 | Si Vo | St. Louis, MO | $4,422 |
| 28 | Timothy Palmer | Springfiled, Il | $3,685 |
| 29 | Xiaoyan Wang | Palm Beach, FL | $3,685 |
| 30 | Cameron Rezaie | Eureka, MO | $3,685 |
| 31 | Stephen Green | Wright City, MO | $3,685 |
| 32 | William CmCracken | Bolivar, MO | $3,685 |
| 33 | Saikrishna Tarapareddy | St. Charles, MO | $3,685 |
| 34 | Jason Darland | Merriam, KS | $3,685 |
| 35 | Craig Welko | Ballwin, MO | $3,685 |
| 36 | Terry Stuhldreher | St. Charles, MO | $3,685 |
