The HPT Championship Open at Majestic Star

The HPT Championship Open at Majestic Star Top 6

First Place Leon Morford Rockford, IL $233,016	Second Place Christopher Brand Okauchee, WI $116,508	Third Place Jason Glass Buffalo Grove, IL $74,898
Fourth Place Richard McMahan Chicago, IL $56,174	Fifth Place Tom Stambaugh Nevis, MN $45,771	Sixth Place Nicholas Woolworth Plainfield, IL $39,530

The HPT Championship Open at Majestic Star Top 34 Finishers

The HPT Championship Open at Majestic Star Recap

The Heartland Poker Tour wrapped its third season in fine fashion today, awarding its largest prize to date, when recently retired engineer Leon Morford captured first place in the HPT Championship Open, taking home $233,016.

“I just rode the wave” said Morford, whose friends nicknamed him “sailor” for his ability to ride the ups and downs of tournament poker. Morford certainly found himself on a wave for the whole day, entering the final six as chip leader, nearly going out in fourth when he was the small stack, only to bounce back and take down the tournament.

“I look at tournament poker as riding a wave,” said Morford. “You have to be able to ride it out.”

Morfords’ wave rode him all the way to the promised land at Majestic Star Casino in Gary Indiana, where over 1,000 players showed up to play in what turned out to be the largest tournament in HPT history. The field included this past year’s HPT Champions from around the country, but the final table came down to six Midwesterners, including a student, a teacher, an engineer and a paint salesman.

“I guess now I can play more poker next year” said Morford as he cradled the bundles of cash, “after my wife gets her cut of course.”

This was also the first event to see representatives from the Heartland Poker League (HPL), a new weekly poker league that began this past fall, where poker participants play weekly at their local casinos competing for a seat into an HPT main event. Seven HPL winners were on hand this past week at the HPT Championship, and one, Tom Stambaugh, took full advantage of the freeroll and made the TV final table, taking home fifth place and $45,771.

For the Heartland Poker Tour, this was the finale in what was a tremendous 2007 tour season. All the past champions were on hand but only Meskwaki champion Jason Fish made the final thirty, finishing in 19^th place. The HPT will be taking a month off before resuming the tour stops when the 2008 campaign begins in February and another trip to Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Central Minnesota.

“It’s been a phenomenal year” said HPT co-founder Greg Lang. “We’ve awarded several million dollars in prize money and met some great people along the way. We’re looking forward to an even better 2008.”