Thompson Goes Rail to Rail on HPT for $131k

Daytona Beach, FL - Corey Thompson more than tripled his previous best live tournament cash Monday by winning the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Main Event at Daytona Beach Kennel Club & Poker Room for $131,720.

The poker player from Winter Park came into the day with the chip lead and managed to ride that edge all the way to victory.

Steve Karp was the last man standing in Thompson's way. The road to the final two was not an easy one for Karp. The entrepreneur from Miami began the day with less than 12 big blinds, but was able to stave off elimination time after time. Alas, his luck ran out on the final hand when his pocket nines were defeated by Thompson's pocket tens. Karp collected $81,326 for the runner-up finish.

Dallas, Texas's Matt Bond has had an impressive couple of months on HPT. Bond, a pro poker player, has made the televised Final Table at the last three events he's played with the tour. He was able to improve on his previous two finishes Monday when he climbed all the way to the final three before being eliminated by the eventual champ. The third-place finish was good enough for a $54,122 payday for Bond.

Thompson also took out fourth-place finisher Plamen Stoyanov. The software engineer put all of his chips in the middle with ace-ten only to be called by Thompson's pocket aces. Stoyanov earned $37,513 for his efforts.  The St. Petersburg, Florida man plans to use his newfound winnings to play in larger buy-in events.

This was HPT's seventh visit to Daytona Beach since 2011. The field of 389 was larger than any of the previous six stops. The Kennel Club's parent company, Delaware North, had a 100-year anniversary celebration that coincided with this weekend's nationally-televised Main Event. Some of the festivities are sure to be highlighted when the episodes make it to TV.

Poker enthusiasts traveled from all over the country to take part in Florida's only HPT series. Several referenced the tour's player-friendly structure as their reason for making the trip. Denver, Colorado's Corey Zedo was one of them. Zedo finished in fifth place for $28,350. He plans to apply a portion of the winnings towards motorcycle upgrades.

Cambridge Massachussetts' Aditya Prasetyo left his tournament life to fate when he went all in with pocket queens and was called by Bond's ace-king. A king on the flop left Prasetyo on the losing end of the proverbial coinflip. He exited in sixth place - good enough to earn $22,050.

Thomas Giorgi is no stranger to the bright lights of an HPT Final Table. The Valrico, Florida resident finished third at this event in 2013. The title remains elusive as Giorgi would end up in seventh this time around for an $18,327 score.

Shortly before Giorgi hit the rail, David Jackson made his departure in eighth place. Jackson, from Jacksonville, Florida, made good on his first ever HPT tournament by cashing for $15,177.

Results

All Paid Players Listed at HPTpoker.com

Daytona Beach Kennel Club & Poker Room

Daytona Beach, FL

October 12, 2015

Buy-in:  $1650

Main Event: 389

Total Prize Pool:  $575,720

1st: Corey Thompson (Winter Park, FL) $131,720

2nd: Steve Karp (Miami, FL) $81,326

3rd: Matt Bond (Dallas, TX) $54,122

4th: Plamen Stoyanov (St. Petersburg, FL) $37,513

5th: Corey Zedo (Denver, CO) $28,350

6th: Aditya Prasetyo (Cambridge, MA) $22,050

7th: Thomas Giorgi (Valrico, FL) $18,327

8th: David Jackson (Jonesboro, GA) $15,177

9th: Andrew Dykeman (Jacksonville, FL) $12,829