Hundreds of players converged on central Iowa in the US this past week for the Heartland Poker Tour’s Iowa State Poker Championship, held at Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel, near the town of Tama, Iowa.

In the end, Donny Carlton, a 23 year old professional poker player and recent University of Iowa graduate, took down the latest HPT championship and won over $85,000. The main event prize pool was $307,280.

“This is awesome,” said Carlton. “Taking down a tournament like this is a great feeling, and I’m glad my friends were here to share it with me.”

Carlton, who plays professionally as a cash game player, has been on the road with his poker buddies the past month competing in various tournaments, including the last three HPT events.

Their group has been doing very well as both Michael Banducci (finished 3rd at the Black Hawk Colorado event) and Larry Barbetta (finished 2nd at the Walker MN event) made HPT TV tables in the last couple months. Unlike his buddies, Carlton managed to win the whole thing and take down the group’s first HPT title.

“I was there when those other guys made their final tables” said Carlton. “I guess now it’s my turn.”

For a while it looked like it was going to be a cake walk for Carlton as he entered the final six as a huge chip leader with nearly 40% of the chips in play.

He knocked out his first victim in the second hand of the final table when truck driver Tom Wessling of Denison, Iowa, pushed with pocket queens.

Carlton called with AK, spiking an ace on the flop and sending Wessling to the rail. Carlton overwhelmed the table with his monster stack for the next hour, knocking out three more players, including recent HPT champion Mark Sandness (Northern Lights Casino, Walker, Minnesota).

Things got interesting as the players entered heads-up play. Carlton and his 2.8 million chips squared off with local poker pro, John Oetker, from nearby Marshalltown, Iowa, and his 400,000 chips.

The momentum swung back and forth until the deciding hand - Carlton’s A8 of diamonds caught up to Oetker’s AK, when a magic eight appeared on the turn.

For the Heartland Poker Tour, the finish line is clearly in site with only two more events until the end of the year. First up is a stop at Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona, a first time visit for the HPT.

After that it’s the grand finale as the HPT Championship Open gets underway at Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Indiana. Majestic Star is one of the HPT’s favorite stops and the tournament is expected to be the first million dollar prize pool for the tour.

Final Results:
1. Donny Carlton (Woodstock, IL) $85,198 (plus $3000 champion package)
2. John Oetker (Marshalltown, IA) $42,599
3. Cal Dykes (Las Vegas, NV) $27,385
4. Mark Sandness (Wayzata, MN) $21,300
5. Steve Sloan (Sublette, IL) $18,257
6. Tom Wessling (Denison IA) $15,214