The Hollywood Poker Open kicks off this month in Lawrenceburg on Nov. 13-24. The main-event winner will be awarded a seat to the $500K guaranteed HPO Championship in June at the M Resort in Las Vegas. HPO ambassador Chris Moneymaker is scheduled to play. For more information on the HPO’s other regional events, please see the ad in our November issue on Page 47.
WCPC: Recently, the Windy City Poker Championship offered free entries to any player who traveled to Toledo with executive director Kirk Fallah. Angelo Fuscone was one of those players who freerolled into a Hollywood Poker Championship qualifier. After winning his main event seat in the qualifier, Fuscone went on to win the $1,070 main event, beating 210-plus players to take home the championship bracelet and $31K. Fuscone and Fallah agreed to give 30 percent of the winnings to Shady Oaks Camp as a donation for the next big charity event Dec. 13.
“It’s great seeing our tournament players give back to charities,” Fallah said.
HORSESHOE SI: The opening weekend at Horseshoe Southern Indiana’s World Series of Poker Circuit experienced nearly a 30 percent increase over last year. The $365 opener had 184 entries as David Leonard won the first ring of the series and $14K.
John Mesplay came out on top of nearly 700 players for $42K in Event 2 ($365 re-entry). The Danville, Ky., golf course GM credits most of his success to his experience from playing in home games. The re-entry event had a $208K prize pool.
MAJESTIC STAR: The recent $120 Autumn Breeze Deepstack bounty opener turned out to be a marathon heads-up battle, lasting into the early morning. Jason Trezak, a pro out of Portage, lost his lead several times to Grant Fussell. As the back-and-forth play seemed endless, Trezak finally made his way to victory.
The Saturday edition saw David Baer win against one of Chicagoland’s top tournament players, Andre Pierre. The Warsaw, Ind., native was short-stacked until play reached six-handed. He then gained the lead and quickly eliminated Pierre.
Boulos Estafanous won the $330 main event for $5,500. A longtime local player, Estafanous won one of the earliest Chicagoland tournaments on record, the Chicago Poker Championship in 2005. His biggest win was the 2004 Bayou Poker Championship in New Orleans, winning $74K. His runner-up finish to Andy Frankenburger at the Venetian Deep Stack in 2010 for $98K was his biggest cash.
AMERISTAR EAST CHICAGO: The Heartland Poker Tour returns for a 10-day series Dec. 4-14. The property also is running weekly tournaments so see our Where to Play section in the back of the magazine for details. Sunday’s $150 event features a mystery bounty.
— Email “Chicago” Joe at chicago.joe@comcast.net.
