Dan Smith will always remember his first live poker tournament cash, and he has his friends to thank. The 19-year-old University of Maryland student won the $1,500 Heartland Poker Tour event that was held at Turning Stone Casino this weekend after his buddies insisted that he join them in New York.
“I actually wanted to stay home and go to the beach,” said Smith. “My buddies talked me into coming out here this weekend. I guess it worked out pretty well for me.”
He won $101,960 for outlasting a field of 250. Smith went wire-to-wire in the two day event by taking an early chip lead and riding his stack to the end. Maybe he has New York Yankee Jaba Chamberlain to thank, as well. A diehard Yankee fan, he wore his lucky Chamberlain jersey for the event. He said most of the money will go toward education bills.
The top six finishers were:
- Dan Smith (Manalapan, New Jersey) — $101,960
- Nick Tollefson (Mountain Top, Pennsylvania) — $62,710
- Greg Miller (Corning, New York) — $39,395
- Carl Doyon (Montreal, Canada) — $28,045
- Newton Graziano (Cheektowaga, New York) — $20,442
- Garen Nichaniam (Montreal, Canada) — $15,714
The next HPT event takes place at Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Indiana. Qualifiers for the $2,500 main event start July 19, and the main event itself starts July 25.
