From March 2-12, the HPT will be in action with their 100th tournament in the heartland of America, St. Louis, MO. For the first time ever, two casinos – the River City Casino and the Lumiere Place Casino & Hotel – will play as dual hosts of the HPT tournament. Lumiere Place will serve as a satellite play area as well as offer extra hotel and dining options, while the River City Casino (located approximately ten minutes from downtown St. Louis) will serve as the home of the Main Event and other qualifiers.

“The heartland has been good to us,” HPT co-founder Greg Lang stated during the announcement of their St. Louis event. “We’re pleased to bring our centennial celebration right into the backyard of our most loyal supporters.” Anthony Chester, the poker manager of Lumiere Place, echoed Lang’s sentiments in saying, “Not only will it be a thrilling tournament, but what a great opportunity to show St. Louis and the surrounding cities the incredible poker experience a player can have at both the River City Casino and Lumiere Place.”

For players who stay at Lumiere Place, shuttle service will be provided for them to be able to reach the action at River City Casino.

Beginning on March 2, players will contest for seats in the St. Louis HPT Main Event for as little as $45 in the qualifying rounds. The Main Event will feature three Day Ones from March 8-10 and Day Two play will take place on March 11, when the field will be whittled down to the final six players. On March 12, the champion of the 100th event in HPT history will be determined in front of television cameras taping the event for the HPT syndicated broadcasts.

Leading up to the tournament in March will be two events that should also prove to be popular with poker players of any bankroll or experience level. Beginning February 2, the HPT will make a sojourn to the Florida beaches for ten days of tournament action at the Daytona Beach Kennel Club and Poker Room. The HPT has announced that two of the top female players in the game, Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle, will be at the HPT Main Event in Daytona Beach to take on the best that the HPT has to offer.

Following the Daytona Beach tournament, the HPT will traipse off to one of their more popular destinations, the Downstream Casino Resort in Quapaw, OK. From February 16-26, the HPT will have qualifiers for their $1650 Main Event, which begins February 25. In a unique twist, Downstream Poker Room Manager Dale Hunter has stated that there will be re-entry allowed in the HPT Main Event, which could create a huge prize pool for the combatants.

Both the Daytona Beach and Downstream tournaments are allowing players as young as 18 to participate in the tournament, while the centennial St. Louis stop will be an over 21 affair.

These three tournaments should get the 2012 calendar year off to a roaring start for the Heartland Poker Tour as players look to take down a nice chunk of change for a minimal buy in. For more details on the HPT and their upcoming events, visit hptpoker.com to learn more.

Here is how the chip stacks looked going into the final table:

Martin Staszko (Czech Republic), 40,175,000
Eoghan O’Dea (Ireland), 33,925,000
Matt Giannetti (United States), 24,750,000
Phil Collins (United States), 23,875,000
Ben Lamb (United States), 20,875,000
Badih Bounahra (Belize), 19,700,000
Pius Heinz (Germany), 16,425,000
Anton Makiievskyi (Ukraine), 13,825,000
Sam Holden (United Kingdom), 12,375,000

Each player was guaranteed at least $782,115, though nobody wanted to wait as long as they did to not make at least one jump in payout.  And one jump was significant, as the 8th place finisher was going to win over $1 million.

And now, without further ado, some of the highlights of the afternoon and evening:

5:30pm ET – Heinz Begins Ascent

Pius Heinz raised to 1,300,000 pre-flop, 2011 WSOP Player of the Year Ben Lamb called, and then Eoghan O’Dea re-raised to 4,100,000.  Heinz cold called and Lamb folded, bringing on a flop of 8c-8d-4c.  O’Dea bet 4,600,000 and Heinz flat called once again.  After the 2c on the turn, O’Dea bet 8.2 million, putting Heinz to what ESPN commentator Antonio Esfandiari said was an all-in or fold decision, as the bet was for more than half his stack.  After several minutes, Heinz made the all-in move, forcing O’Dea to fold a very strong hand: Qs-Qc.  Heinz was on virtually a pure bluff, holding Ah-Qc.  With that, Heinz was up to 44,175,000, good for second place, while O’Dea, who started in second, was down to 11.5 million.  As we’ll see later, that hand signaled the start of O’Dea’s decline.

6:28pm ET – Sam Holden Eliminated in 9th Place

Ben Lamb raised to 1,700,000 pre-flop under the gun and called Sam Holden’s 11,125,000 chip all-in.  Lamb had him dominated with A-K versus A-J and clinched the hand with a turned flush.  This hand sent Lamb up to 34,400,000 in chips.

7:05pm ET – Anton Makiievskyi Eliminated in 8th Place

With the first elimination finally out of the way after about three hours, the shorter stacks began to get more aggressive, feeling better than they were going to make more money than they had already won prior to the final table starting.  From the small blind, after everyone prior folded, Anton Makiievskyi moved all-in for 10,500,000 with K-Q.  Heinz called from the big blind with 9-9 and the race was on.  It was a great flop for Makiievskyi, but he was devastate on the turn when a 9 gave Heinz a full house.  The river was a 7 – no help – and Makiievskyi was gone in 8th place.  That increased Heinz’s chip stack to over 61,000,000, cementing him firmly in the lead.

7:25pm ET -  Badih Bounahra Eliminated in 7th Place

Severely short stacked, Badih Bounahra went all-in for 4,475,00 after Martin Staszko raised pre-flop to 1,700,000.  Staszko called and showed A-9, dominating Bounahra’s A-5.  Nothing positive happened for Bounahra with any of the community cards and he was shown the door in 7th place.

7:37pm ET – Phil Collins Finds Himself in an Unfamiliar Situation

Phil Collins moved all-in pre-flop with Qh-Jd and is called by Ben Lamb, who is holding a dominating Ac-Qc.  The flop was uneventful – Kd-5d-3s, but the turn brought the Td, giving Collins both a straight and flush draw.  All of a sudden, he had 14 outs.  The river was the Qd, making Collins’ unlikely flush and taking his chip stack to 28,150,000, good for 4th place.  Lamb fell to 15,325,000.  Interestingly, that was first time Phil Collins had all of his chips at risk (called by an opponent, of course) during the entire Main Event.  At this point, Heinz, Matt Giannetti, and Staszko were the clear top three stacks, closely bunched together.

8:30pm ET – O’Dea Crippled

On the last hand before break, Eoghan O’Dea raised pre-flop to 1,600,000 million only to see Lamb move all-in for 14,225,000 million.  After three minutes of thought, O’Dea called, risking most of his chips in the process.  When the cards were turned over, Lamb told O’Dea, “Good call,” as he saw that O’Dea held Ac-9d, while he himself only had Qd-8d.  The flop made things interesting, as the Js-Jd-6d presented Lamb with a diamond draw.  The 4c on the turn did nothing for either player, but the 8h on the river gave Lamb a pair and the double-up to around 30 million chips.  O’Dea was crippled, down to 2,200,000 million chips.

When the players came back from the fifteen minute break, O’Dea moved all-in pre-flop.  As Esfandiari explained, O’Dea had no choice, as the big blind was now 1 million chips.  O’Dea had Qh-6c and was called by Staszko, holding 8h-8d.  By the time the turn was dealt, O’Dea had a straight draw to go along with his Queen outs, but nothing helped him on the river and he was eliminated in 6th place.  The pot took Staszko up to 41,050,000, good for 3rd place at that point.

8:57pm ET – Phil Collins Eliminated

Just a minute or two after O’Dea was gone, Phil Collins found himself all-in and called for just the second time in this year’s Main Event.  With 18,300,000 million at risk and Ad-7d in his hand, he was up against Pius Heinz and 9h-9c.  This hand gave everyone a good sweat.  The flop of 6d-5c-4d gave Collins an open-ended straight draw and then the turn 9d gave him a flush draw to go along with it.  With 13 outs, Collins was far from a longshot, but after the river only paired his 7, he hit the rail in 5th place.  Heinz was now up to 86,700,000 and in complete control of the final table.

Before the dinner break, there wasn’t much in the way of eventful hands, though Giannetti did make a hero call against Heinz with just bottom pair on the river, raking in a 12,900,000 pot.  Lamb also made some hay, getting more aggressive pre-flop and chipping up to 46,300,000.

12:17am ET – Staszko Doubles-Up

In the first huge hand after the dinner break, Heinz raised pre-flop to 2,100,000 and then Staszko, who entered the final table as the chip leader, but who had seen his stack whittled away by the aggression of his younger opponents, moved all-in for 21,520,000.  After a couple minutes of though, Heinz made the call with pocket 6’s.  Staszko loved the 8-5-8 flop, as he held A-8, giving him trips.  The 4 on the turn gave Heinz a shot, but the river bricked for the German and Staszko was back to around where he started the final table, at 44,650,000.  Heinz took a big hit, but was still the healthy chip leader with 77,950,000 chips.

12:41am ET – Heinz Sucks Out on Giannetti

It was a new level, with blinds at 600,000/1,200,000 and antes at 200,000.  Giannetti, who had been quiet for a while, raised pre-flop to 2,600,000, Heinz took it up to 7,100,000, and Giannetti called.  After the K-K-7 flop, Heinz led out with a 6,900,000 chip bet and Giannetti called once again.  The two players checked both the turn Queen and river 9 before showing their cards.  Giannetti had pocket 8’s, which was good until the river, which gave Heinz and his Q-8 the best pair.  The 30,000,000 chip pot sent Heinz back up to 89,600,000 (he had previously been close to 100,000,000), while Gianetti fell to 41,800,000.

12:55am ET – Staszko Grabs Another Big Pot from Heinz

On the button, Staszko bet 2,500,000 pre-flop and was called by Heinz in the big blind.  Heinz checked the Ah-10s-4d flop and then called the same 2,500,000 bet from Staszko.  Heinz checked again on the 7d turn and once again called a bet, this time 7,500,000.  On the river – Qs – Heinz checked and Staszko threw out a 13,750,000 bet, building the pot to 40,150,000.  Heinz went into the tank, finally mucking after 4 minutes. ESPN cameras showed that it was a bad beat after the flop for Heinz, as he had Td-9d, but Staszko, holding Kd-Jh, made broadway on the river.

Staszko jumped into second place with that pot, building his stack to 56,800,000.  It was a big hit to Heinz’s stack, but he was still well in front with 75,500,000.  Giannetti was in third with 39,000,000 and Lamb was the short stack at 34,600,000.

1:30am ET – Lamb Doubles Up

Giannetti raised pre-flop to 2.6 million and Lamb moved all-in for 26.8 million with Ah-7h.  Giannetti made a very quick call with pocket Jacks and Lamb was in big trouble.  As guest commentator Phil Hellmuth said, aside from getting an Ace, the flop of Kh-9d-5h was as good as Lamb could’ve hoped for.  The turn clinched it for Lamb, as the 4h gave him an unbeatable flush.  Giannetti was crippled, falling to 6,500,000, while Lamb skyrocketed to 55,000,000.

On the very next hand, Giannetti was able to pull himself up off the mat a bit, doubling up through Staszko with Q-T beating Q-2.  He was still short after this, but with 14,400,000, Giannetti wasn’t in nearly as bad shape as he was a moment ago.

1:40am ET – Heinz Becomes First 100K Chip Player

Heinz raised to 2,500,000 and was called by Lamb.  On the T-2-6 flop, Heinz bet 2,800,000 and Lamb again called.  On the Queen turn, Heinz bet more – 6,300,000 – and was called by Lamb.   When the Jack fell on the river, Heinz thought for a minute or two before finally double-fisting a huge 20,000,000 chip bet.  Lamb pondered his move briefly, but eventually mucked pocket 9’s.  ESPN showed that Heinz had flopped top pair and turned two pair and would’ve won the hand.  He    107,400,000

1:47am ET – Matt Giannetti Eliminated in 4th Place

Pre-flop, Giannetti moved all-in for his last 12,000,000 A-3 and was snap called by Ben Lamb and his pocket Kings.  The rest was academic as Lamb flopped quad Kings.  Lamb and Giannetti shook hands and Giannetti quickly exited the final table area, obviously still frustrated from his bad beat earlier.  He told ESPN interviewer Kara Scott that he was very happy with how he played had was not as disappointed with his ouster as he would have thought, though he will probably be “crushed” later.  The brief exit interview concluded with Scott asking Giannetti if anyone at the table impressed him over anyone else.  To that, he simply said, “No,” hung his head, and walked away.

And that elimination ended play for the night as the final three players – Pius Heinz, Martin Staszko, and Ben Lamb – will get a break for a day before returning on Tuesday to decide the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Heinz is in control with more chips than his two opponents combined: 107,800,000.  With that final elimination, Lamb jumped into second place with 55,400,000, while Staszko is third with 42,700,000.