In an amazing final of just twenty nine hands, Joseph Christman managed to sweep out Jon Des Pois for the Heartland Poker Tour first spot game. The main event was held in Thunder Valley, where Joseph earned a spot at the Heartland Poker Tour Championship and of course, the big prize of the number one spot.
In an interview, Joseph Christman shared that he wished the HPT was hosted every single day at the Thunder Valley. And of course, he would wish that after he won over $165,000 after fighting through 485 players who reached the final qualification stages. The casino which hosted the event is located in Northern California.
Christman is a well-known poker player who secured other tournaments in the past and has build a reputation already. He and other six finalists sat at the final table, where other distinguished names would be those of Alex Greenblatt and Jeff Griffiths.
It is not a surprise that Greenblatt was anticipated to win the event as well, as he managed to take close to $250,000 last year at the 2013 Heartland Poker Tour event. He was also a runner-up at two other big poker events last year – the Black Hall Main Event and the SPC event in California, with respectively Jeff Madsen and Richard Monroe taking the first places.
This year, the HPT final game for the first and second spot was surprisingly between Christman and Jon Des Pois. Jon Des Pois is not known by anyone yet, as this year’s HPT was his first big event. Christman was satisfied to finish the game with a river bluff in just twenty nine hands. Securing first spot was important for him, as he now can surely join the final HPT Championships event later this year.
As for Des Pois, he seemed very satisfied with the second spot. And he had every reason to be, as he won over $100,000 by registering with a $300 satellite sign up. ‘I’m tickled to death’, he commented.
The Heartland Poker Tour Main Event is part of the HPT Gold Rush Series. The next such event will be held in Fresno at the Club One Casino. The current Gold Rush Series high score leader-board is headed by Michael Rocco, followed closely by Jonathen Chen and Peter Hengaskul.
Poker players, who participated in any of the preliminary events or the main events of the Gold Rush Championship, earn points which are then summed up to elect a number one player. The winner is to be sponsored for the event to be held in Las Vegas from November 7 to November 16 at the Stratosphere Casino. The sponsored packages include everything the player would need during the events, from travelling expenses to an all-inclusive hotel package. The Gold Rush events are traditionally broadcast on the national television.
