Sean Saninikone Wins First HPT Event of 2009

We are just two months into 2009 and already major poker tours are in full swing. The first Heartland Poker Tour main event took place on February eighth in Oklahoma at the Downstream Casino Resort. A field of four hundred and fifty seven players competed for the first place prize and it was Sean Saninikone who took down the $1,000 Main Event.

Saninikone really needed the win as he is a factory worker who will be laid off from work later this month. Saninikone commented that the win could not have come at a better time.

When final table play began no one imagined that the competition would last as long as it did. It turned out that final table play for this event was one of the longest final tables in the tours history. The final table was filmed and will air on television as the ninety-ninth and one hundredth episodes. The final table standings are as follows:

1: Sean Saninikone -- $127,404
2: James Jennings -- $63,702
3: Matt Newcombe -- $38,221
4: Chad Long -- $29,728
5: Daniel Haley -- $25,481
6: George Miller -- $21,234