The Heartland Poker Tour $1,650 Main Event at Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago attracted 366 entrants and created a prize pool of $524,040. The tournament attracted some of the area's top players such as Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler, Craig "The Legend" Casino, and the tour's current Player of the Year Aaron Massey; however, in the end it was another familiar face sitting with all the money.
Nick Pupillo, a Mid-States Poker Tour Team Pro who was recently the subject of a PokerNews feature piece, scored the largest prize of his career by becoming the newest HPT champion for $120,537.