Matthew Alexander of Robbinsdale, Minn., won the Heartland Poker Tour event in December at Prairie Meadows. Alexander pocketed $69,043 after he eliminated friend Kou Vang of Maplewood, Minn., who earned $42,961 for second. The main event had 176 entries for a prize pool of more than $250K. In other events, Ronald Thomas won $2,861 in the $150 pot-limit Omaha tourney, besting a field of 53. The $250 deepstack drew 161 players and Patrick Hoberg won the title and $9,561. There was a $150 NLHE survivor event that had 23 players and chopped three ways between Anthony Wildes, Michael Tidman and Steven Fox, who each received $900.
RAID UPDATE: Last issue, we covered the raid by Iowa authorities of home poker game.
Three of those charged have filed motions to dismiss based on Iowa rules for criminal procedure. It seems an indictment must be filed within 45 days or charges must be dismissed.
In this case, the prosecution appears to have failed to meet that timeframe.
A judge hasn’t ruled on the motion, however, at press time. Three others charged in this case entered guilty pleas and two were granted six months of unsupervised probation and the third was fined $625.
HORSESHOE: The Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs held its annual Holiday Poker Classic between Christmas and New Year’s Day. There were several events and another strong turnout. The $770 main event drew 134 players and went to Brent Kallman, who took home $25,512. There was a $250 Omaha/8 event that ended in a three-way chop, as did the $130 Fat Stack event. The $200 pot-limit Omaha event ended in five-way chop. Matthew Sztamburski won the $350 Fat Stack for $4,440.
With so many chopped tournaments, one wonders what happened to the competitive spirit in Council Bluffs. Does anyone want to win anymore?
The Horseshoe also announced the Run Good Series. This is similar series to the one that just completed and will run March 4-8. I hope to attend. Rest assured no chop will happen if I’m in the money.
Here’s the schedule: March 4 kicks off with main-event satellites and a $125 bounty event. March 5 hosts more satellites, a $200 PLO and a $160 deepstack event. On March 6, there is an interesting $40 all-in-or-fold event at noon and the $675 main event gets started at 7. There will be two more main-event flights March 7 and the final event is a $125 tourney at 11 a.m. on March 8.
— Email Ken at anteupken@gmail.com.
