Aaron Massey Wins HPT Ameristar East Chicago

The Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, Indiana, was the latest stop on the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) and a total of 538 competitors turned out for the $1,650 Main Event to create a prize pool worth $771,720. By the end of four days of action, it was Chicago pro Aaron Massey who emerged atop of the field to claim the title, as well as the $177,502 first place prize.
Following an impressive victory which boosted his lifetime earnings to $2,019,575, Massey commented: “I don’t have any words to say how I feel right now. I really wanted to win. I just kept firing away until I finally won the title.”
The Main Event was the biggest HPT tournament yet held in the Chicago area and attracted some of the biggest names in the game. Amongst the notable pros then cashing in at the event was Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler in 54th ($3,318) and Alan Cutler in 11th ($12,502).
By the time the final table of nine had been set, Massey was the chip leader on a 3.7m stack, followed by Adam Zimowski (2.4m), Michael Vanderwoode (2.26m), Paul Vivacqua (1.9m), James Richison (1.6m), Mike Mustafa (1.6m), James Nelson (1.06m), David Berman (760k) and Stan Jablonski (734k).
Massey (Kc-10h) then proceeded to call Adam Zimowski (Qd-4h) all-in on a 10c-7c-5c flop and soon after Zimowski was out in 8th for a $19,293 payday. A little later, Massey (Q-J) did likewise and called Mike Mustafa’s (8-8) shove on a Q-2-2 flop and so he, too, hit the rail in 5th for $37,428.
After Michael Vanderwoude was eliminated in 3rd ($71,924), Stan Jablonski and Aaron Massey then faced off for the title, but it would take a further 50 hands before the final hand came with both players all-in on a K-J-10 flop. Massey (K-J) had already made two pair while Jablonski (Q-2) was hoping to fill in for a straight but after a K and 7 fell on turn and river, Stan Jablonski finished the runner-up for $108,504, while Aaron Massey picked up the third-largest score of his career.
Final Table Results:
1 Aaron Massey – $177,502
2 Stan Jablonski – $108,504
3 Michael Vanderwoude – $71,924
4 James Richison – $50,007
5 Mike Mustafa – $37,428
6 James Nelson – $28,940
7 Paul Vivacqua – $23,537
8 Adam Zimowski – $19,293
9 David Berman – $15,434