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St. Louis, Missouri - Terry Ring of Durant, Iowa had some unfinished business on HPT. He was the runner-up at HPT’s Iowa stop last fall at Prairie Meadows Racetrack Casino Hotel. “I’d like to get a first place with HPT,” he said. After flopping a pair in a marathon heads up battle, he got what he came for at River City Casino Hotel. Ring walked away a champion with $111,968.
“I’ve got a tough table today,” said Ring before play began. Over half of the players at the televised Final Table have been there before. Eighth-place finisher Trevor Renner had experience from a 2012 stop in Daytona Beach, Florida where he finished fifth at HPT’s TV table. “I worked hard to get here again,” said Renner. His hard work paid off Monday; he collected $13,064.
Despite all the experience at the table, it was first-timer Parminder Singh who battled Ring for 128 hands heads up. Singh traveled from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to play in his first HPT event. It was worth the trip. He took home $7,931.
Singh was responsible for the elimination of Michael Hahn of Indianapolis. Hahn found himself all-in for a 3-way pot with pocket jacks. Singh’s pocket aces took him out in seventh place for $15,770.
"It was a long road to get back to the Final Table," said Keith Brodie of St Louis, who finished 7th last time HPT visited his hometown. “It seems like it was an easier road last time.” That may be the case but he did better this time. Brodie took home $31,726 for a fourth-place finish.
Darryl Ronconi is no stranger to the lights and cameras of an HPT Final Table. He made his second HPT Final Table appearance after a fourth-place finish in Indiana last year. Ronconi went out in fifth place at the hands of Ring. He took $23,791 home to Naperville, Illinois.
It was déjà vu for Roger Campbell, an executive from Centralia, Illinois. “I’m thinking, wow, I can’t believe that I am here again,” said Campbell, who won the same event last year for $131,681. His quest for another title ended in sixth place for $18,886.
Third-place finisher Chris Cornell is stepping up to a bigger stage with his winnings. The Clarksville, Tennessee logger is planning to use part of his $ $45,490 prize to play the WSOP Main Event for the first time.
Haris Delic needed to make an early move as the short stack at his first Final Table. He had a good opportunity in one of the first hands when he picked up pocket jacks. He moved all-in and Darryl Ronconi called with ace-ten. An ace on the flop was all it took to eliminate Delic in ninth place for $11,197.
Another big prize pool is already building at HPT’s stop this weekend at Agua Caliente Casino Resort in Palm Springs, California. Another six-figure prize is anticipated for first place. Information about upcoming stops is available at HPTpoker.com.
