David Gutfreund Wins Heartland Poker Tour Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort Main Event for $156,649

The 10^th Season of the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) concluded at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Former two-time finalist David Gutfreund (cover image), found the proverbial 3^rd time lucky for him, as he won the $1,650 Main Event, taking home $156,649!

An entry field of 465 entries, created a prize pool of $666,600. An exultant Gutfreund stated, “I thought if I got here enough times, I’d run good at a final table. It makes up for a lot of times when things didn’t go my way… It’s a great feeling and I can’t wait to get paid.”

The final table had a mix of players, including a mother-son duo in Antoinette “Toni” Fiorenza and Vincent Fiorenza, both from Florida.

The first elimination of the day was Yaroob Kaskorkis, who succumbed to Shawn “Reginald” Roberts’ pocket sixes. 2009 WSOP Main Event winner, Joe Cada was next to hit the rail at No.8 in Level 26.

Toni failed to sustain and was next to exit at 7^th. James Wetherell, a retired pipefitter and Vietnam vet who rode into the tournament on a qualifier of $370, made a good profit of $25,331, as he retired at 6^th place. Vincent was the 5^th casualty, following his mother a rank later.

The 4^th and 3^rd eliminations of Cuong Tran and Michael O’Neil left the final two opponents for a heads up play.

Gutfreund had a 6 to 1 chip advantage over Shawn Roberts.The final hand arrived on Level 32, when Roberts opened for 360,000. Gutfreund three-bet all in and Roberts called off.

Roberts had , but the flop came , favoring Gutfreund’s . The turn of and the river only served to make Gutfreund’s case stronger and he walked off with the trophy and the prestigious title. Roberts, who has earlier won two HPT titles had to settle for 2^nd place.

After the win, Gutfreund happily said, “It feels amazing, it really does. Maybe some of the Massey run good rubbed off on me a little. They’ve been inspirations to my game. I really love the Heartland Poker Tour – these are the events where I belong.”

Season XI of HPT will roll from Nov. 25 to Dec. 7 at the Iowa-Prairie Meadows Racetrack Casino Hotel.

HPT Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort Main Event Final Table Results