Available in every room To ensure a comfortable stay, all of our guest rooms are appointed with the following items and services: New furniture, pillow-top mattresses, complimentary Wi-Fi, HD flat-screen TVs with over 80 channels, coffee/tea maker, refrigerator, laptop compatible safe, iron and ironing board, and blackout curtains. All Team Members and Guests in the casino will be required to wear a mask. No smoking or food allowed in the Poker Room. The number of tables available for play will be ten, and the number of players at each table will be limited to seven. Table changes may be restricted.
Adjacent to Hollywood Casino, Hollywood Casino & Hotel St. Louis is one of the top choices for your stay based on our traveler data, and this 3.5-star hotel offers a casino and 7 restaurants. Other good choices close by include Ameristar Casino Resort and Spa (St. Charles) and Holiday Inn Express St. Hollywood Casino St. Louis, Maryland Heights: Address, Phone Number, Hollywood Casino St. Louis Reviews: 3.5/5. All Team Members and Guests in the casino will be required to wear a mask. No smoking or food allowed in the Poker Room. The number of tables available for play will be ten, and the number of players at each table will be limited to seven. Table changes may be restricted.
The Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) was at the Hollywood Casino St. Louis for the second time this year, and the $1,650 Main Event drew 480 entries and created a $698,400 prize pool. In the end, it was Wisconsin poker pro Mike Shin who emerged victorious to claim a $160,632 first-place prize and his first HPT Trophy.
'It feels good,' Shin told PokerNews after the win. 'I've been working on my game a lot so it was something I expected, I mean, my games not the fanciest but I'm always playing to get the job done.'
Shin came into the final table as the chip leader but his Day 2 journey was a different story: 'I started Day 2 with 237,000 and then I got down to 70,000, but I never give up. I know this tournament is a long one and I just waited for my spots. I'm confident in my game, so you know, I just grinded it out, picked my spots, and it worked out.'
Shin went on to add: 'When I play poker tournaments, I try to make zero mistakes, win or lose, if I make zero mistakes I'll be happy with the results.'
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Whatever holes were in Shin's game before he has definitely made the right changes. Prior to the win, Shin started off the year with a first-place victory taking down MSPT Majestic Star for nearly $69K, finished 12th at MSPT Meskwaki, came in ninth at HPT Lawrenceburg followed by a15th-place finish at HPT East Chicago, and added a third-place finish at MSPT Venetian for $334K.
With his victory, Shin sits in thrid-place on HPT Season XV Player of the Year leaderboard while also sitting atop the MSPT Player of the Year list. When asked if this victory changes any of his future plans on playing more HPT's he said, 'I plan to play more MSPT's as I'm in first place for POY. I know Nick [Pupillo] sits in first for HPT and he got a lot of points for finishing second, but I'll try and play all the HPT's I can. I'll go home and check the schedule and if I can play, I will.'
After the HPT win, Shin's career tournament earnings total $1,511,695. When asked about the year he's been having, Shin had this to say, 'This year, results are coming to my favor.'
In 2019 alone, Shin has 24 cashes for $650,427 and there is still a lot of time before the year is over.
The first final table elimination came just a few shorthands into the day when Jason Darland jammed his ace-queen offsuit into Shin's pocket sevens. Darland didn't get so much as a sweat and was sent packing in ninth place.
Not long after, Robert Mitchell fell when he ran his ace-ten suited into Thomas Gabriel's pocket tens and couldn't pair his over. One level later would see Hal Kirkpatrick take his exit in seventh place. Kirkpatrick lost half of his stack in a coin flip holding ace-king against Josh Turner's pocket eights and then got his remaining 670,000 in the middle on a three-four-four-two board holding pocket jacks only to see Austin McCormick had-turned the wheel.
Six-handed play would last over two-hours before Turner would take his leave. He lost a few big hands and came back from break with the shortest stack getting it in holding ace-queen and was called by Shin, who held pocket jacks. Unfortunately for Turner, he was unable to pair and took home $26,190 for his sixth-place finish.
Not long after, Jeff Sauer jammed his remaining 1,165,000 in the middle from the small blind after Shin had raised on the button. Shin called with queen-jack and dominated the queen-ten of Sauer, who caught a glimmer of hope as a ten appeared in the window. Unfortunately for him, it was an illusion as a jack also appeared on the flop and another would follow on the turn to send Sauer out in fifth place for $33,872.
After losing the majority of his stack in a flip against Gabriel, McCormick would be next on Shin's hit list as he jammed his 320,000 stack holding jack-four from the small blind. Shin called with suited connectors from the big, and while McCormick was able to pair his jack on the flop, Shin turned an open-ender and connected on the river to send McCormick home with $45,256.
Shin would continue his dominance with another final table knockout, this time busting Gabriel. Shin opened with a 250,000 raise and Gabriel jammed for 2,620,000 from the big blind. Gabriel held a suited king-jack but was dominated by Shin's suited ace-jack. Gabriel failed to improve and took home $65,091 for finishing in third place.
Heads-up action began with Shin holding a 3:1 chip advantage over Nick Pupillo and it only took an hour for Shin to hold all the chips. There were a few back-and-forth scuffles but all the chips went into the middle when Shin open-jammed preflop and Pupillo called holding a made hand of threes. It was a flip as Shin held a suited eight-five.
Hollywood Casino St. Louis Poker Room
Pupillo didn't like to see Shin flop a flush draw and called for a nine on the turn. Mount shasta news. One came but it was the nine of spades to give Shin the flush and send Pupillo home in second place for $98,195.
In 2019 alone, Shin has 24 cashes for $650,427 and there is still a lot of time before the year is over.
The first final table elimination came just a few shorthands into the day when Jason Darland jammed his ace-queen offsuit into Shin's pocket sevens. Darland didn't get so much as a sweat and was sent packing in ninth place.
Not long after, Robert Mitchell fell when he ran his ace-ten suited into Thomas Gabriel's pocket tens and couldn't pair his over. One level later would see Hal Kirkpatrick take his exit in seventh place. Kirkpatrick lost half of his stack in a coin flip holding ace-king against Josh Turner's pocket eights and then got his remaining 670,000 in the middle on a three-four-four-two board holding pocket jacks only to see Austin McCormick had-turned the wheel.
Six-handed play would last over two-hours before Turner would take his leave. He lost a few big hands and came back from break with the shortest stack getting it in holding ace-queen and was called by Shin, who held pocket jacks. Unfortunately for Turner, he was unable to pair and took home $26,190 for his sixth-place finish.
Not long after, Jeff Sauer jammed his remaining 1,165,000 in the middle from the small blind after Shin had raised on the button. Shin called with queen-jack and dominated the queen-ten of Sauer, who caught a glimmer of hope as a ten appeared in the window. Unfortunately for him, it was an illusion as a jack also appeared on the flop and another would follow on the turn to send Sauer out in fifth place for $33,872.
After losing the majority of his stack in a flip against Gabriel, McCormick would be next on Shin's hit list as he jammed his 320,000 stack holding jack-four from the small blind. Shin called with suited connectors from the big, and while McCormick was able to pair his jack on the flop, Shin turned an open-ender and connected on the river to send McCormick home with $45,256.
Shin would continue his dominance with another final table knockout, this time busting Gabriel. Shin opened with a 250,000 raise and Gabriel jammed for 2,620,000 from the big blind. Gabriel held a suited king-jack but was dominated by Shin's suited ace-jack. Gabriel failed to improve and took home $65,091 for finishing in third place.
Heads-up action began with Shin holding a 3:1 chip advantage over Nick Pupillo and it only took an hour for Shin to hold all the chips. There were a few back-and-forth scuffles but all the chips went into the middle when Shin open-jammed preflop and Pupillo called holding a made hand of threes. It was a flip as Shin held a suited eight-five.
Hollywood Casino St. Louis Poker Room
Pupillo didn't like to see Shin flop a flush draw and called for a nine on the turn. Mount shasta news. One came but it was the nine of spades to give Shin the flush and send Pupillo home in second place for $98,195.
Season XV of the HPT will continue this weekend with a $1,100 buy-in Main Event at Ameristar Vicksburg in Central Mississippi, and once again the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there to capture all the action. Click here for a look at that stop's full schedule.
The Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) was visiting the Hollywood Casino St. Louis for the first time, and the $1,650 Main Event drew 444 entries, which created a $646,020 prize pool.
In the end, 47-year-old criminal defense attorney Bill Byrnes emerged victorious to claim a $148,587 first-place prize.
'It was awesome,' Byrnes said after the win. 'I was pretty comfortable the whole time. I came in third in chips today, which I felt good about. The guy that came in second, I'd been playing with the past couple of days, he was a hell of a player. I was definitely worried about him. There was a number of good players at the table but I felt comfortable going in. I'm going to take my wife to Europe, not sure what else to do with the rest.'
Byrnes pledged to donate some of his winnings to the charity First Descents, which offers young adults living with and surviving cancer a free outdoor adventure experience designed to empower them.
Interestingly, Byrnes almost didn't get the chance to compete at the final table as he had a court meeting Monday morning that had the potential to keep him preoccupied.
'I had a case set for jury trial this morning. If it was going to go I would've had to be blinded down,' he admitted. 'I wouldn't have made it back here. I was pretty far down the list so didn't think they'd get to me but I was holding my breath.
Prior to the win, Byrnes had $429,719 in career tournament earnings including a previous best of $55,968 for finishing 11th in the 2015 World Series of Poker Colossus.
The first final table elimination came about an hour into play when Greg Wood jammed ace-jack only to run it smack dab into Steve Green's two black aces. Wood didn't get so much as a sweat and was sent packing in ninth place.
Not long after, Joe Landazzi fell when his pocket aces were cracked by Kou Vang, who had flopped a set of fives, and Tim Burden followed him out the door in seventh place. Burden, the 2018 MSPT Indiana State Poker Champion, began the final table with a big chip lead but nothing seemed to go his way. Eventually, he was whittled down before four-betting all in with pocket four. Dave Simon, who had three-bet with nine-seven suited, called and turned a straight to eliminate Burden.
With six players remaining, Andy Echele had pocket aces and flopped two pair. Unfortunately for him, Keith Heine flopped trips and turned a boat, which is when the chips went in. The river wasn't an ace and Echele headed for the payout desk to collect $24,872.
Minnesota poker pro Kou Vang bowed out in fifth place after shoving his short stack from the small blind with ace-deuce and getting called by Simon, who held six-three in the big. A six on the turn was the final nail in the coffin for the MSPT Hall of Famer, who took home $24,872 for his fifth-place finish.
Simon was the next to go after running a bluff against Heine, who had flopped a full house, and then Green took his leave in third place after losing a flip with deuces to Bill Byrnes' ace-queen.
Byrne entered heads-up play with 6.33 million to Heine's 6.975 million and immediately set about chipping up.
Eventually, he had Heine on the ropes when the final hand developed. Byrnes slow played pocket aces and flopped a set while Heine flopped a flush draw. The chips went in on the turn and Heine failed to find a fifth heart to fall in second place for $91,735. It was one spot better than last year when he finished third in the HPT St. Louis for $48,042.
