HPT – Meskwaki Casino – Tama, Iowa

268 players rolled into Meskwaki Casino Saturday for the HPT main event.  There were many Minnesotans on hand to take their shot at the title: Everett Carlton, 3 Putts, the Hendrickson clan (Dan, Derek & Darren), John Morgan, last week’s HPT Shooting Star champ Matt Alexander, Fall Poker Classic champ Naser Alkahtib, Mille Lacs HPT champ Matt Hyland, Babe O’Gorman, Sting Ray, Robbie Wazwaz, myself and many more.

Play started at 3:00, they were playing down to the final 30 (money) last night.  I busted with 85 remaining when my KQ of diamonds ran into a set of 6’s on a K high flop.  When I left, Alkahtib was rolling along at around $100K after flopping the nut straight versus a set of 9s.  The board failed to pair and Alkahtib raked a big pot.  Everett Carlton was short stacked but still alive.  John Morgan was average stack and I believe Hyland was still surviving as well.

MSPT Mille Lacs & 2-time HPT champ Jeremy Dresch (bachelor party in Vegas) and 2009 Meskwaki runner-up Tim Peters were not in attendance.

Check back later tonight for results and a recap.  Hopefully one or more of our MN players can make a deep run!