Matt Culberson Wins HPT Missouri For $129,147

The latest stop on the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) took place at the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles in Missouri, with a total of 383 players entering the $1,650 Main Event to create a prize pool worth $538,115. Two days of action later, and it was local baseball instructor Matt Culberson who topped the field to walk away with the HPT title, as well as the $129,147 first-place prize. Even more impressively, Culberson only needed to put up a fraction of the HPT Main Event’s $1,650 buy-in amount, as he managed to qualify for the competition via a $375 satellite.
Following his impressive victory Culberson, whose previous biggest score was a win at the 2008 Gold Strike World Poker Open for $72,705, now takes his live career earnings to $566,627.
By the time the final table had been reached, Matt Culberson was the chipleader on a 2.22m stack, followed by Johnny Masters (1.974m), Jeffrey Brin (1.635m), Matt Cannella (1.585m), Michael Ross (1.407m), Shawn Roberts (877k), Ron Amos (841k), Matthew Mueller (681k), and Joshua Turner (378k),
Matt Culberson (Q-Q) then eliminated Johnny Masters (9-9) in 8th for $15,067, before later being dealt pocket queens again and making a full-house on a Qh-3h-2h-2c-Qd board against Matt Cannella (Kh-7h) to consign him to the rail in 5th for $27,444.
Matt Culberson (A-9) continued by steamroll by doing likewise to Ron Amos (A-10) in 4th ($36,592), and then Jeffrey Brin in 3rd ($52,446), to herald in heads-up play against Michael Ross for the title.
As the final battle commenced, Culberson held a 3 to 1 chip advantage over his remaining opponent, but Ross was able to eek out a small lead before a pre-flop raising war occurred in which his Q-Q was beaten by Culberson’s A-A. Down to just a few chips, Michael Ross (9-6) was out the very next hand against Culberson’s 8-7, and so he had to settle for a runner-up finish worth $78,450, while Matt Culberson was crowned the champion.
Final Table Results:
1 Matt Culberson – $129,147
2 Michael Ross – $78,450
3 Jeffrey Brin – $52,446
4 Ron Amos – $36,592
5 Matt Cannella – $27,444
6 Shawn R. Roberts – $21,525
7 Joshua Turner – $18,188
8 Johnny Masters – $15,067
9 Matthew Mueller – $12,915