Alex Ziskin - East Chicago Champion - $201,391

Alex Ziskin used a Big Stack to his advantage throughout the day, cracking the Aces of Mike Kamenjarin on the final heads-up hand to take the HPT East Chicago title and with it a $201,391 cash  - along with a $3,500 package to the November HPT Season Championships at Ameristar East Chicago.

Ziskin was the dominant stack for much of the final table play, up to as much as 11 million early of the 18 million total in play. He eliminated both reigning HPT Belterra champ Aaron Johnson (8th, $22,377) and Niel Mittelman (7th, $26,852) in a single hand to establish that dominant stack. Johnson made his fourth final table in four months with his 8th-place finish.

Stacks leveled out by the time play was 3-handed with Kamenjarin and Ben Castle, with each of the three players having 50 or more BB. Three-handed play lasted more than three hours as Castle twice doubled through Ziskin in this timeframe, and Ziskin once through Castle.

Ziskin eliminated Castle (3rd, $81,540) a few hands after doubling-up through Castle, setting up the heads-up match where he held a 70/30 advantage to begin play.

Kamenjarin was unable to cut substantially in to that stack the first 75 minutes of HU play, but caught two doubles-up to take the chiplead for a few hands. Ziskin came back, grabbed the lead then cracked the Aces of Kamenjarin with Queen_Six, flopping two pair and rivering a full house for the win.

Castle and Johnson started Day 2 play well back of the chipleaders, starting out 93rd and 95th of the 109 players making Day 2. Kamenjarin and 5th place Mike Shin were the only two players who started Day 2 in the top-10 in chips to make the final table.

Michael Schlegel finished 4th while Tony Aldridge - in his first-ever tournament of any type - took 6th. Other notables who cashed in the 624-entry Main Event was Michael Wang (23rd), Robert Geith (25th), Jason Dewitt (27th), Michael Esquivel (40th), Reginald 'Shawn' Roberts (44th), Jason Ramos (48th), Al Hencheck (56th), Ben Ponzio (58th) Garrett Riley (60th) and Aaron Massey (62nd).

Among those who came to play the main event but did not cash was Keven Stammen, Ralph Massey, Craig Casino, Roger Campbell, Greg Raymer, Darrell Haywood, Joe Kuether, Gary Herstein, Kevin Saul, Matt Shepsky, Sameer Al-Dbhany and Nick Davidson.

Here are all the payouts from the May 2018 HPT East Chicago Main Event.

	5/10-15/18	HPT Main Event
	$1,650	Buy-in
	624	Entries
	$898,560	Prize Pool
	63	Places Paid
	*= 1st place	Also gets $3500	Champs Package
Place	Name		City	Payout
1	Alex	Ziskin	Vernon Hills, IL	$201,391*
2	Michael	Kamenjarin	Chicago, IL	$124,413
3	Ben	Castle	West. Spgs., IL	$81,540
4	Michael	Schlegel	Batavia, IL	$56,657
5	Myung 'Mike'	Shin	Mt. Pleasant, IL	$41,173
6	James 'Tony'	Aldridge	Princeton, IN	$31,954
7	Niel	Mittelman	Chicago, IL	$26,852
8	Aaron	Johnson	Red Wing, MN	$22,377
9	Brendan	Shiller	Chicago, IL	$17,901
10	Donald	Dukate		$13,784
11	Ahmad	Zughayar	Chicago, IL	$13,784
12	Joe	Kuether	Las Vegas, NV	$13,784
13	Christopher	Moon	Sterling Hts, MI	$10,293
14	David	McGowan	Chicago, IL	$10,293
15	Christopher	Weber	Chicago, IL	$10,293
16	Gary	Liebovitz	Northbrook, IL	$7,877
17	Casey	Blakeley	Athens, IL	$7,877
18	Sami	Shurbaji	Dyer, IN	$7,877
19	Matthew	Radcliffe	Westerville, PA	$5,907
20	John	Simon	Naperville, IL	$5,907
21	Ken	Komberec	Menomonee Falls, MI	$5,907
22	Perry	Ernest	Lisle, IN	$5,907
23	Michael	Wang	Livingston, NJ	$5,907
24	David	Weiss	Chicago, IL	$5,907
25	Robert	Geith	Indianapolis, IN	$5,907
26	Carter	Myers	Breckenridge, MI	$5,907
27	Jason	Dewitt	San Diego, CA	$5,907
28	Christopher	Underwood	Mooresville, IN	$4,923
29	Joe	Hack	Mokena, IL	$4,923
30	Steven	Clark	Warren, MI	$4,923
31	Alan	Aqel	Orland Park, IL	$4,923
32	Farid	Jattin	Miami, FL	$4,923
33	Shiva	Dudani	Chicago, IL	$4,923
34	Gregory	Wilson	Streamwood, IL	$4,923
35	Paul	Bianchi	Chicago, IL	$4,923
36	Todd	Ivens	Hinsdale, IL	$4,923
37	Arthur	Harb	Chicago, IL	$4,117
38	Ryan	Scully	Aurora, IL	$4,117
39	Drake	Bronk	Roscoe, IL	$4,117
40	Michael	Esquivel	Clarendon Hts, IL	$4,117
41	David	Yingling	Cape Girardeau, MO	$4,117
42	Scott	Bohlman	Lemont, IL	$4,117
43	Reginald 'Shawn'	Roberts	Ozark, MO	$4,117
44	David	McDermott	Flossmoor, IL	$4,117
45	Mark	Van Keirsbilck	Edmond, OK	$4,117
46	Andrew	Macenis	Darien, IL	$3,491
47	Steven	Pedlow	Orland Park, IL	$3,491
48	Jason	Ramos	Carol Stream, IL	$3,491
49	Raj	Dhanekula	Dallas, TX	$3,491
50	Ben	Grise	Indianapolis, IN	$3,491
51	Tracy	Garrett	DeMotte, IN	$3,491
52	Alan	Krockey	Chicago, IL	$3,491
53	RIchard	Rosas	Chicago, IL	$3,491
54	Perry	Stone	Bloomfield, IN	$3,491
55	Sandeep	Sikand	Indianapolis, IN	$3,222
56	Alexander	Hencheck	Loveland, OH	$3,222
57	Larry	Bielfuss	West Allis, WI	$3,222
58	Ben	Ponzio	Chicago, IL	$3,222
59	Robert	Koch	Indianapolis, IN	$3,222
60	Garrett	Riley	Quincy, IL	$3,222
61	James	Maahs	Chicago, IL	$3,222
62	Aaron	Massey	Chicago, IL	$3,222
63	Peter	Cowles	Seattle, WA	$3,222

-- Dan Ross, Hold'em Live Updates