Joseph Christman takes just 29 hands to dispose of Jon Des Pois, in heads-up action, to take the title, top prize, and Heartland Poker Tour Championship seat, after victory in the Heartland Poker Tour Main Event in Thunder Valley.
Christman was one of seven members of the final table who’s secured career high scores, with only fifth place finisher, Alex Greenblatt, and seventh place finisher, Jeff Griffiths, having found more success elsewhere.
Indeed Greenblatt was the star attraction of the final table after taking a quarter of a million dollars away from the HPT tables in the past year. Greenblatt coming so close on two occasions with runner-up finishes to Jeff Madsen, in the California State Poker Championships, and another runner-up finish to Richard Monroe in the 2013 Main Event held at Black Hawk.
The heads-up action came down to a battle between Christman and the inexperienced Jon Des Pois – who was cashing for the first time in his life – and after 29 hands the contest ended with Christman calling a river bluff from Des Pois to take the title, and secure a seat in the season ending HPT Championships.
“I’m tickled to death,” said Des Pois after collecting $101,888 from a $300 Satellite buy-in.
The event was part of the HPT Gold Rush Series, where Michael Rocco holds a slight lead over Peter Hengsakul and Jonathen Chen in the Gold Rush Series leaderboard.
The next event will be held at the Club One Casino in Fresno.
Final Table Standings
1st. Joseph Christman – $165,130
2nd. Jon Des Pois – $101,888
3rd. Erie Mankin – $66,754
4th. Haroun Dalaig – $46,377
5th. Alex Greenblatt – $34,431
6th. Abrahim Aboukhalil – $26,702
7th. Jeff Griffiths – $23,118
8th. Archie Snider – $18,972
9th. Sargon Shiba – $15,459
