Two big tournaments wrapped up last week. Our friends at the Heartland Poker Tour kicked off 2011 with a bang, drawing 553 players to the main event, which was held at the Red Rock Resort Casino in Las Vegas. Several big names were in attendance, including First Lady of Poker Linda Johnson, Annie Duke, Scotty Nguyen, Tiffany Michelle, Darvin Moon, and Jen Harman. From this group, only Darvin Moon cashed, placing 37th.

However, it was a behind the scenes poker insider, Rob Perelman, known for his work on Poker after Dark and other shows, who claimed the title and over $150,000 in winnings. Other notables at the final table were the flamboyant JJ Liu and MMA fighter Heath Herring. Check out the HPT site for more details and a complete wrapup.

The celebrity turnout appears to be part of a new marketing strategy for the HPT, as they strive to remain loyal to their brand as the everyman player's tour, while seeking to mix in just enough glamour and celebrity appearances to draw more viewers. It's a strategy which we believe should serve them well.

The big tournament of the week, meanwhile, took place at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where incoming Stanford grad student Galen Hall survived an epic heads up battle with Chris Oliver to win the main event and $1.8 million. Team PokerStars pro Chris Moneymaker enjoyed a good run, finishing 11th for $130,000. The main event also witnessed the highest finish for a woman in the PCA, as Ana Marquez came in 10th. Other events included the $5000 Bounty Shootout, won by Andrew Chen, the $100,000 Super High Roller event, taken down by British pro Eugene Katchalov, and the $25,000 High Roller event, claimed by Canadian Will Molson. For a complete write up of all the events, go here.

The Championship Open of the Heartland Poker Tour has reached the final table at Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Just missing the television cut was pro player Tiffany Michelle, who finished 7th and will take home $19,927 for her efforts.

Michelle was not the only pro at the event, however. Joining her were her good friend (and new UB pro) Michelle Ho, Scottie Nguyen, Darvin Moon, and Bernard Lee. Nguyen and Moon were both eliminated in day 1, while Ho finished in the money. Lee, meanwhile, finds himself at the final table, where he is playing for $176,865 and first place.

For additional details, follow our good friend @Scarlet_lv who is reporting live via Twitter and also on Pokerati.

Case Jack just returned from an exciting weekend at the Rio, where we witnessed WSOP history as Jonathan Duhamel became the first Canadian to take down the coveted title. Upon returning home, however, we experienced some minor technical difficulties and the fossil Mac is out of commission for now. My guess is it was a particularly uber exuberant airport Nazi TSA agent getting a little rough with the equipment, so to speak. (Both of) Our regular readers have asked us why we've been so quiet, so we thought we'd pass along the 411.

Also, since we've sort of adopted the Heartland Poker Tour for being so hot our favorite local poker tour, we thought we'd share another, even more interesting and helpful piece of information. For the inside scoop on the recent HPT event featuring former November Niner Darvin Moon, please check out our friend, Scarlet_LV's YouTube channel.

Finally, we'll have an exclusive interview with Jason Senti up shortly; in the meantime while working through our computer issues, we'll just have to "make it work."

If you've visited us before, then you know we're big fans of the Heartland Poker Tour. They're based out of the Midwest, like CaseJack, they're genuine people, and, well, it doesn't hurt that they're all hot. So we were disappointed to read Scotty Nguyen's Tweet earlier today announcing that he would be unable to attend the HPT event in Tama, IA this coming weekend due to illness.

However, not all news was bad news. Annie Duke will join the HPT to kick off next season's opener at Red Rock Casino Resort in January. Duke will raffle off 50% of any money she earns in the main event to benefit the Disabled American Vets, the HPT's charity of choice. The kickoff event is almost certainly going to sell out, so contact Red Rock to book your tickets now.

The Heartland Poker Tour just concluded an exciting weekend at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, MN, and CaseJack was there to provide a roundup.

Did someone say rural? Farmer Les Haagenson announced after his fourth place finish that he would be back in the fields the next day harvesting corn, but It was Adam Whiting from Bemidji, Minnesota, who seemed to be in the biggest hurry. The blackjack dealer, whose facial expressions and mannerisms evoked memories of Gus Hansen, came out firing as he had done throughout the tournament. Whiting entered the final table with a big chip lead but wound up in third as he seemed to tire toward the end. He admitted to me during his somber exit that he "couldn't play any worse than I just did." If your worst day of poker is a 3rd place finish at the Heartland Poker Tour, you've got a bright future ahead of you!

One player who apparently does not know how to have a bad day of poker is Free Poker Network regular Mark Wadekamper, an engineer from Lonsdale, MN. He's played in four HPT events, cashing each time. He provided perhaps the best line of the night when he was asked what he's learned after back to back 5th place finishes at the HPT, "Apparently nothing, since I finished in exactly the same place as last year."

One thing we learned is that apparently you can survive a few beers (and a lengthy penalty) and still make the final table. Just ask second place finisher Ryan "Barefoot" Botner, who was clipped for a penalty when he went for his cell phone late in day one. The gregarious Botner didn't let it phase him at all, as he played strong throughout, finishing in second place and taking home just over $20,000.

Finishing in 5th place was bar manager Michael Hlebechuk from Fargo, whose shy demeanor during interviews belied a confident poker presence on the felt. The big story, though, was Brandon Dosch, who stormed all the way back from the short stack. He entered play with less than 3% of the chips, yet walked away with the title and just over $40,000.

Just another wild one at the HPT!

Action resumes at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, MN at 10:00. 30 players from the initial field of 148 are playing for the top prize of $40,600. We are at level 12, and the blinds are 2500/5000 with a 400 ante. Minnesota Magazine's Brayn Mileski has around 100,000 chips. Greg Raymer will not be joining the field after a bad beat and bad push ended his night.

The televised final table should begin around 5:00 pm.

Case Jack is live at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, Minnesota for the Heartland Poker Tour! Greg "the fossilman" Raymer heads a field of 148 real people playing for unreal money, to paraphrase the HPT's slogan.

Case Jack will not be playing, unfortunately, as his tournament life ended in the satellite when his pocket 9's did not hold up. I re-raised the short stack's all in with my own all in hoping to isolate her, as I was starting to run low myself. Mr. Pocket Kings immediately to my left almost laid it down, thinking I had bullets. After an interminable pause he made the call and the rest, as they say, is history. Looks like Raymer caught a break!

The Heartland Poker Tour continues to make a big splash this year. Next week they visit Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, Minnesota, where they will give away free t-shirts to all their Facebook fans! CaseJack.com will be there to cover the tournament and also the 5 year anniversary bash hosted by the Fossilman, Greg Raymer.

Then, next month Scotty Nguyen joins the Heartland Tour at Meskwaki in Tama, Iowa. This is a great opportunity for regular folks to test their garage and bar league skills against a true poker legend.