Mike Englert Wins HPT Golden Gates for $200K
February 23, 2018 5:56 pmLast week, the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) concluded its latest stop at the Golden Gates Casino & Poker Parlour in Black Hawk, Colorado with its $1,650 Main Event. The tournament proved a popular draw, too, with 607 players entering to create a prize pool of $891,665, with state resident Michael Englert ultimately besting his fellow competitors to claim a top prize of $200,762.
Following his triumph, Englert now has $283,735 in career earnings since 2009, with his previous biggest score coming last year at the same tournament after finishing in 3rd place for $53,550.
This time around, Englert secured the chip lead on Day 1A, leaving him a couple of free days spare before returning to the action on Day 2. He then managed to maintain his big stack before eventually progressing all the way through to the final table second in chips only to Matt Bond.
In the meantime, amongst the notable players seeing a return on their buy-ins but falling short of a final table appearance was Jacob Bazeley in 55th ($3,212), Jeff Fielder in 23rd ($5,885), Todd Anderson in 16th ($7,852), and Benjamin Keeline in 12th ($13,741).
At the final table, Englert (A-K) then eliminated Jacob Phillips (K-Q) in 9th, followed by Chris Denz in 8th. Matt Bond subsequently took over the reigns, taking care of Michael Hinde (7th), and Nick Pupillo (6th), by which stage he had commandeered 40% of the all the chips still in play.
Soon after, Mike Englert (A-Q) sent Will Berry (7-7) to the rail in 5th, while Bond (10-10) eliminated John Beauprez in 3rd to set up the final battle against Englert for the title. Despite starting at a 2-1 chip advantage, however, Bond had to make do with a runner-up finish worth $124,028, in the process bringing his live earnings to $977,196.
Englert, on the other hand, was crowned the HPT Golden Gates champion, with all of past winnings having now been recorded at the same casino.
Final Table Results:
1: Mike Englert $200,762
2: Matt Bond $124,028
3: John Beauprez $81,288
4: Steve Klaus $56,482
5: Will Berry $41,045
6: Nick Pupillo $31,855
7: Michael Hinde $26,769
8: Chris Denz $22,307
9: Jacob Phillips $17,846