Braxton man wins poker tournament at Ameristar

Published 9:20 am Friday, April 3, 2015

A Braxton man took home $32,678 Monday at the Heartland Poker Tour Final Table.

Larry White, a retiree, outlasted eight other competitors to win the final table of the Heartland Poker Tour inside the Bottleneck Blues Bar at Ameristar Casino Hotel.

“Luck was on my side,” White said, earning his nickname “Lucky Larry.”

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The total prize pool was $102,120, split nine ways.

“HPT is planning to come back in October,” Ameristar marketing manager Lori Burke said.

The buy-ins ranged from $50 to $1,650 for the main event, to be televised in November, Burke said.

This is the third stop at Ameristar for the poker tour, which is owned and operated by Ameristar parent Pinnacle Entertainment.

Founded in 2005, HPT is built on a grass-roots philosophy of “Real People, Unreal Money.” HPT is filming Season XI and is available in over 110 million homes throughout the United States each week.

Tour organizers said TV time had been secured on MAVTV and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network for the broadcasts. Both are accessible on DirecTV and DISH.

Final table winners were:

1st: Larry White (Braxton) $32,678

2nd: Jeff Niedelman (Houston, Texas) $20,424

3rd: Benjamin Thomas (Baton Rouge, La.) $13,378

4th: Michael Traylor (Spring, Texas) $9,701

5th: Michael Monaghan (Jackson) $7,148

6th: Freddie Ardoin (Lacassine, La) $5,617

7th: John Land (Frisco, Texas) $4,902

8th: Scott Mauer (Chattanooga, Tenn.) $4,391

9th: Antonio Payne (Hazlet, N.J.) $3,881

For details on the next HPT stop, visit HPTpoker.com.