John Bunch became the champion of the Heartland Poker Tour Stratosphere $1 650 Main Event. The event was held in the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas. 441 players participated in it and a prize pool of $638 655 was created. Bunch took $150 081 of it for his first place.
It was really hard for the technical advisor from Las Vegas to acquire his winning position, for the final table was quite tough one. It seated professional players like Dan Sindelar and Ryan Laplante. The first took part in the WSOP Main Event, where he took seventh position. This further draws attention to Bunch’s outstanding achievement.
Ben Palmer was the first to be eliminated from the final table. He was unfortunate enough to meet Laplante. It was Sindelar who left the table next. He was eliminated by Joey Brown and was sent home with $17 244 of the overall prize pool.
Then, four more players – Paul McCaffrey, Ryan Tosoc, Gary Bolden and, Peter Nigh, were rapidly driven out of the game until the names of the final three were clear. Brown, Laplante, and Bunch had to determine the big champion.
Brown eliminated Laplante after several rounds. The professional poker player from Brainerd, Minnesota took a total of $60 672 for his third position. After sending Laplante home, Brown was in possession of the majority of chips in the game. He was really likely to win the event, surpassing his best achievement at the HPT Championship, held back in 2010, when he finished second and took home the amount of $88 434. Bunch, however, did not lose his composure even for a second and slowly but steadily regained control over the game.
When the time for the unavoidable final hand came, Brown pushed all in and Bunch called, holding [8d][7c]. Brown, on the other hand, had [Qd][9d]. Nothing could be determined when the board showed [2d]. Yet, when the [7d] was drawn, the winner became clear.
Bunch was awarded the total sum of $92 605 for his runner-up position. As it seems, he have managed to improve his accomplishment from the 2010 HTP event.
The big winner, who managed to top a total of 441 players, took $150 081 for his impressive performance. The first place at the HPT Stratosphere $1 650 Main Event was the most significant achievement in the poker career of the technical advisor, who currently works for the Zappos footwear company.
The Heartland Poker Tour has one more stop before it puts an end to its tenth season. This last event will be held in the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant, Michigan and the winners throughout the season will take part. It starts today and will continue up to November 24.
