Poker Tournament Results

Heartland Poker Tour

Place	Name	Prize
1	Dustin Hamers (Waite Park, MN, USA)	$74,642
2	Ray Bendijo (Ramsey, MN, USA)	$37,321
3	Brad Flanagan (Brainerd, MN, USA)	$22,393
4	Gabe Schultz (Faribault, MN, USA)	$17,416
5	Brian Midtling (Brownton, MN, USA)	$14,928
6	Justin Filtz (Stevens Point, WI, USA)	$12,440
7	Mike Hakenburger (Parker, CO, USA)	$8,708
8	Justin McNicholas (Moorhead, MN, USA)	$7,464
9	Ernest Thomas (Prior Lake, MN, USA)	$6,220
10	Paul Ratajczyk (Champlin, MN, USA)	$4,976
11	Dave Westrum (Delano, MN, USA)	$4,230
12	Duane Marquardt (Burnsville, MN, USA)	$3,732
13	Pete Baker (Chisholm, MN, USA)	$3,234
14	Brad Sprijgel	$2,737
15	Todd Becker (New York Mills, MN, USA)	$2,488
16	Beau Carey (Grantsburg, WI, USA)	$2,115
17	Brandon Lamrock (Millington, MN, USA)	$2,115
18	Mitch Augeson (Rochester, MN, USA)	$2,115
19	Brandon Tweeton (Pelican Rapids, MN, USA)	$2,115
20	Chris Orlander (Crosby, MN, USA)	$2,115
21	Robert Lamrock (Millington, MN, USA)	$1,692
22	Eric Ramynke (Rogers, MN, USA)	$1,692
23	Bob Eigenhoer (Lindstrom, MN, USA)	$1,692
24	Nik Meuangsaksith (Mankato, MI, USA)	$1,692
25	Shatara Roerich (Fargo, ND, USA)	$1,692
26	Dianna Moder (Moose Lake, MN, USA)	$1,368
27	Derek McMasters (Richfield, MN, USA)	$1,368
28	Joe Moelter (Haywood, WI, USA)	$1,368
29	Mark DeSec (Champlin, MN, USA)	$1,368
30	Steven Qualley (Baxter, MN, USA)	$1,368

Tournament Report

Heartland Poker Tour Kicks-off Season IV at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs 28 Year Old Dusty Hamers Wins First Place Lake Mille Lacs, MN-February 26 2008--The Heartland Poker Tour's fourth season got under way last week as players traveled from the four corners of the U.S. to play in the 'real people' poker tour. Grand Casino Mille Lacs, a regular HPT tour stop and located 90 miles north of Minneapolis, was the host of 2008's first HPT event. In all, there were five no-limit events and over a 1400 entries for the week's tournaments. The main event got under way Sunday morning with 176 players, eager to be the first champion of 2008. All but 36 of those players were able to earn their $1650 seat through the HPT qualifying rounds on Thursday through Saturday. At 1AM Monday morning, a champion was crowned when Dusty Hamers, a 28 year old machine operator from Waite Park, MN, watched a Ace hit the board, allowing his AQ to prevail over second place finisher Ray Bendijo's pocket two's. Hamers, who is a self proclaimed 'poker fanatic' took home the $74,642 first place prize (plus a $3000 champions package). 'I told everyone I know that I was going to win this thing' chuckled Hamers. 'I guess I had to do what I said.' Hamers, who has a full time job at a wood craft company in St. Cloud MN, admits that his passion for poker begin when he was 8 years old. His hobbies include 'watching poker,' 'reading about poker,' and 'going on-line to study and read about poker.' His passion paid off this week with his biggest cash to date. 'I definitely think I have the skills to be a pro poker player' said Hamers during his pre-final table interview. 'Right now, the only thing stopping me is bankroll. Winning this tournament could put me in the right direction. ' Once again this week the Heartland Poker Tour lived up to its reputation as the only TV poker tour that caters to the smaller buy in, 'regular' American poker player. Included on the final table was a contractor, a retail home improvement store manager, a plumber, and a former marine. 'We're thrilled to get the new season under way and to have another diverse and interesting final table' said HPT co-founder Greg Lang. 'I know we made a lot of new friends this week that we'll be seeing down the road. It's going to be a great year.' The Heartland Poker Tour will be back on the road March 2nd when the tour makes another stop to Meskwaki Casino in central Iowa. In all, there are 16 total tour stops for the HPT in 2008 as far east as New York and as far west as Colorado.