Amateur Golfer Wins Heartland Poker Tour in Indiana

A 23-year-old budding professional golfer and options trader is $206,273 richer after winning the $1,650 Heartland Poker Tour event that wrapped up at the Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Indiana, yesterday. Today, Shane Sigsbee is playing in the 36-hole U.S. Amateur qualifier in Indiana.

“This feels pretty good,” Sigsbee said. “Now it’s off to the golf course.”

The final table ended up being the shortest in HPT history, lasting only 42 hands. Sigsbee outlasted 479 other entrants to take home the top prize. More than 1,200 entrants tried to qualify for the $2,500 event by playing in satellites leading up the championship.

The top nine finishers were:

• Shane Sigsbee (Chicago, Illinois) — $206,273
• Jason DeWitt (Granger, Indiana) — $103,136
• Frank Berrettoni (South Chicago Heights, Illinois) — $61,882
• John Sladek (Mount Prospect, Illinois) — $48,130
• Paul "ComeOnPhish" Lieu (Aurora, Illinois) — $41,255
• Ryan Henline (Luckey, Ohio) — $34,379
• Alexander Tinsley (Wauconda, Illinois) — $21,727
• Brian Johnson (Grand Forks, North Dakota) — $18,565
• Jerry Matlock (Elgin, Illinois) — $13,201

Sigsbee, who graduated from Notre Dame, said his short time as an options trader prepared him for the poker tournament. He also won a $3,000 entry into the HPT championship.

“Options trading and poker are very similar,” he said. “It’s all about managing risk and taking advantage of probabilities.”

This event marks the halfway point on HPT’s Season IV schedule of events. The next event takes place at the Soaring Mountain Casino in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, Aug. 24. Satellites for the $1,640 event are now taking place and have buy-ins as low as $41.

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