Painting Contractor from Fargo North Dakota Wins Heartland Poker Tour’s Crown

In a town famous for lawlessness and gun slinging cowboys from the Old West, six poker players filled the Heartland Poker Tour’s final table at the Lucky Nugget Card Club in what can only be described as a good old fashion shootout.When the smoke cleared after only 64 hands of final table action, Scott Eckert, a painting contractor from Fargo ND, took down the championship, leaving with a first place prize of $64,133, plus a prize package worth $3000 into the year-end HPT Open Championship.

“This is terrific” said a nearly speechless Eckert.“I can’t tell you how good it feels to finally win something like this.”

With his Fargo contingent cheering him on in the audience, Eckert had to fight his way from the back of the pack, having entered final table action with the short stack of $250,000 in tournament chips.He got a huge break in the first couple hands when he moved all in after a flop of J99 and was instantly called by one of the chip leaders, James Mutchler.Mutchler, who was making his third final table appearance on the HPT in 2007, had misread his hole cards, thinking his Q8 was actually Q9.The mistake allowed Eckert to double up early and get back into contention.

“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.”

Very much in line with the HPT’s ongoing theme of “real people” the final table consisted of a butcher, a painter, a construction manager, retired sheriff, poker dealer and a hunting guide.The spirit of the old west must have been in the air as the players went at each other fast and furious, creating the shortest final table in HPT history.

Early on it was the retired county sheriff who controlled the action and built a big chip lead.De Glassgow, 59, was born in Deadwood and spent several years as the county sheriff in nearby Custer County.Now retired, Glassgow certainly looked the part of a Deadwood gunfighter, dressed in a leather vest, boots and a black cowboy hat.The former sheriff ruled the table for the first hour and had a respectable chip lead midway through the final table match.

At one point, he had eventual champ Eckert, all in and in deep trouble with A7 vs. A3, but a lucky river card paired the board and gave Eckert a split pot.The crippling blow for Glassgow occurred when there were three players remaining.In a hand versus eventual second place finisher James Mutchler, Mutchler moved all in on a board of 6 – 8 – 9 and was instantly called by Glassgow.Mutchler frowned as he turned over A9 for top pair top kicker and Glassgow turned over K10 for a gut shot straight draw with two over cards.In the spirit of a true gambler, Glassgow missed his chance at almost a sure HPT victory and eventually took third place.

“I really thought he (Glassgow) had it won when we got to three handed,” said Eckert. “He was playing great and I was in trouble with the short stack.It’s unbelievable how it turned out.”

For Mutchler, the huge pot seemed to position him for his first HPT championship.However, the third time at an HPT final table wasn’t the charm for Mutchler, who lost his chip lead on the very first heads up hand when his straight fell to Eckert’s flush.From there it only took a few hands more for Eckert to close it out.

“What can I say…I’m really bummed” said Mutchler.“I can’t stop thinking about that hand early on when I misread my cards and doubled him (Eckert) up. One of these days I’m going to win one of these things.”

The good news for Mutchler is the second place HPT finish gives him the lead in the point standing for HPT Player of the Year award.With three events remaining in 2007, Mutchler is in good shape to complete the year and win the POY award.

As for Eckert, he was looking ready to celebrate his win with his poker playing buddies, including his friend Allison, who recently finished 7^th in an HPT event (on the final table bubble), and cheered him on from the front row.

“I’m really not sure what I’m going to do with the money,” said Eckert. “I guess I’ll pay some bills and maybe play in some bigger tournaments.”

The Heartland Poker Tour is in the homestretch for its 2007 season, with three more events to go.The HPT will be in Tama Iowa starting Sunday October 28^th at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel, followed by a first ever trip to Casino Del Sol in Tucson, AZ, in mid November, and wrap up the year with the HPT Open Championship at Majestic Star Casino in Gary Indiana.

Final Results from Deadwood SD, Lucky Nugget Card Room

Total entries into qualifiers – 529

Total entries into Main Event – 162

Total prize pool – $232,046

1. Scott Eckert, 36, Fargo ND -$67,133
2. James Mutchler, 34, Brighton CO – $32,066
3. De Glassgow, 59, New Underwood SD – $20,614
4. Jayson Smith, 38, Broomfield CO – $16,033
5. Shane Blakney, 47, Spearfish SD – $13,743
6. Tom Kruger, 57, Wall SD – $11,452

Founded by Todd Anderson and Greg Lang in 2005, Heartland Poker Tour is built on a grass roots strategy, “Real People, Unreal Money”. HPT provides poker enthusiasts a televised Texas No Limit Hold’em poker tour with affordable buy-ins. HPT owns and operates the Heartland Poker League where poker players can build their skills through local weekly tournaments.HPT is currently in Season III and is viewed in over 60 million homes throughout the United States. For more information and a complete schedule of upcoming events, visit www.HeartlandPokerTour.com.

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