HPT crowns winner in Iowa

The Heartland Poker Tour's fourth season is officially in full swing after crowning a new champion at Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Tama, Iowa.

Jesse Green, a farmer from Harcourt, Iowa, had plans to vacation in Cancun, Mexico. His decision to stay at home and enter the $1,000 HPT event proved to be a good one when he finished in first place, taking home $80,664 for the win.

"This was really awesome," Green told the HPT after his win. "And it was especially great that my dad could be here to watch the whole thing."

It was Green's father who taught him to play Seven-Card Stud during the long Iowa winters of his childhood.

"I owe it all to my dad," said Green.

Along with the lion's share of the prize pool, Green won a $3,000 seat in the HPT championship to be held at Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Ind., this November.

The HPT main event at Meskwaki drew a field of 189 players, building a $271,881 prize pool. In the end, 30 players cashed in the season's second event.

The final standings came out like this:

There was a bit more experience at the Meskwaki final table than there had been two weeks earlier at Grand Casino Mille Lacs. Professional poker player Dan Quade, the fourth-place finisher, and technology entrepreneur Larry Barbetta, who finished sixth, both earned their fourth career HPT cash at Meskwaki.

Fifth-place finisher Dave Westrum, meanwhile, became the only player to cash at both HPT Season 4 events held to date (he finished 11th at Grand Casino Mille Lacs).

The HPT returns to action next at Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, Colo. Preliminary events will begin March 29, with the main event beginning April 11.

Related Article: HPT Returns for Third Season