Scott Eckert Wins HPT Event in South Dakota

A painting contractor is the latest hometown hero to win a Heartland Poker Tour event.

Scott Eckert, from Fargo, North Dakota, won the $1,500 HPT event that took place at the Lucky Nugget in Deadwood, South Dakota, this weekend. He outlasted 161 players and won $64,133, and more than 550 players tried to qualify for the event.

"This is terrific" said Eckert. "I can't tell you how good it feels to finally win something like this."

The HPT has three more events to go this season. It will be in Tama, Iowa, starting Sunday, Oct. 28, at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel, followed by a first-ever trip to Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona, in mid-November. The season wraps up with the HPT Open Championship at Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Indiana, starting Dec. 1.

The final table of this event featured a player who has made three HPT events in 2007. James Mutchler, of Brighton, Colorado, finished in second place on Sunday. He made a huge mistake during threehanded play, which virtually assured Eckert's victory, when he misread his hand. He thought he flopped trip nines with Q-9. In fact, he held Q-8.

"That was a huge mistake" said Mutchler. "The weird thing is that's actually happened to me once before with the exact same hand, and I swore then that I'd always re-check my cards so it never happened again."

The top-six finishers follow: Eckert, $64,133; Mutchler, $32,066; De Glassgow, $20,614; Jayson Smith, $16,033; Shane Blakney, $13,743; and Tom Kruger, $11,452.

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