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Golden Gates Casino |
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Golden Gates Casino & Poker Parlour
Black Hawk, Colorado
March 28 - April 13, 2008
Total Prize Pool: $602,700
Congrats to Mike Thulson taking home the "HPT Champion Jacket" and $180,810!
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View the Photos from this Event |
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Golden Gates Casino Quick Summary
Another "Rocky Mountain High" in Colorado
Please check out the full event write up below. |
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Golden Gates Casino Top 6
First Place
Mike Thulson
Centennial, CO
$180,810 | Second Place
Michael Pempin
Parker, CO
$90,405 | Third Place
Xue Vang
Thornton, CO
$54,243 |
Fourth Place
Brian Johnson
Grand Forks, ND
$42,189 | Fifth Place
John Reno
Commerce City, CO
$36,162 | Sixth Place
Mark Herrera
Denver, CO
$30,135 |
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Golden Gates Casino Top 40 Finishers
| Place | Player | Cash | Points Earned |
| 1. |
Mike Thulson |
$180,810 |
1,000 |
| 2. |
Michael Pempin |
$90,405 |
750 |
| 3. |
Xue Vang |
$54,243 |
600 |
| 4. |
Brian Johnson |
$42,189 |
450 |
| 5. |
John Reno |
$36,162 |
400 |
| 6. |
Mark Herrera |
$30,135 |
350 |
| 7. |
Ted Shenefelt |
$20,371 |
300 |
| 8. |
Robert Renemans |
$17,177 |
250 |
| 9. |
Craig Martin |
$12,355 |
200 |
| 10. |
James Ballard |
$10,246 |
150 |
| 11. |
Amy Van Orman |
$8,799 |
100 |
| 12. |
John Kerrins |
$7,835 |
95 |
| 13. |
Anthony Delphia |
$6,931 |
90 |
| 14. |
Rodger Johnson |
$5,906 |
85 |
| 15. |
Dennis Sharp |
$5,304 |
80 |
| 16. |
William Duran |
$4,701 |
75 |
| 17. |
Edward Zamudio |
$4,701 |
70 |
| 18. |
Clinton Ferguson |
$4,701 |
65 |
| 19. |
Xavier Garcia |
$4,701 |
60 |
| 20. |
Jordon Meylan |
$4,701 |
55 |
| 21. |
Shawn Shymanski |
$3,255 |
50 |
| 22. |
John Edwards |
$3,255 |
45 |
| 23. |
Aric Mann |
$3,255 |
40 |
| 24. |
Adam Hudson |
$3,255 |
35 |
| 25. |
Daniel Montoya |
$3,255 |
30 |
| 26. |
Warren Phelps |
$2,592 |
25 |
| 27. |
Margaret Macrae |
$2,592 |
20 |
| 28. |
David Gomez |
$2,592 |
15 |
| 29. |
Jeff Wright |
$2,592 |
10 |
| 30. |
Michael Jones |
$2,592 |
5 |
| 31. |
Marilyn Barr |
$2,290 |
0 |
| 32. |
Michael Caplinger |
$2,290 |
0 |
| 33. |
Randy Lavalleur |
$2,290 |
0 |
| 34. |
Mike Hackenberger |
$2,290 |
0 |
| 35. |
Patrick Davey |
$2,290 |
0 |
| 36. |
Isaac Kirchner |
$1,929 |
0 |
| 37. |
Roger Lim |
$1,929 |
0 |
| 38. |
Clarence Medina |
$1,929 |
0 |
| 39. |
Michael Farnham |
$1,929 |
0 |
| 40. |
Dennis Simmons |
$1,929 |
0 |
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Golden Gates Casino Recap
Keeping with the tradition of “real people, unreal money” the Heartland Poker Tour today awarded a monster first place prize of over $180,000 to a kitchen designer from Denver, Colorado.
“I had such a great time,” beamed Michael Thulson, a 49 year old kitchen designer and part time poker player. “Who could have thought this would happen.”
Thulson entered the final table as the chip leader and used a combination of power poker and a few lucky breaks to take down the HPT championship. Now Thulson, whose largest tournament cash prior to this was $2,000, has to make good on the promise he made to his wife which was to buy her a horse if he won the tournament.
Thulson was one of thousands of players who came to Black Hawk during the two week tournament, creating the largest prize pool in Colorado history.
“What a phenomenal event,” said HPT co-founder Todd Anderson. “All I can say is the people in Colorado really love their poker. This is why we come here twice a year.”
Thousands and thousands played in satellites and qualifiers, producing a main event that had to be held in three separate flights, totaling 402 entries, and a prize pool of over $600,000.
The Heartland Poker Tour marches on as the fourth event of the new season gets under way April 17th at Majestic Star Casinos in Gary, Indiana. Expectations are high going into the spring event at Majestic where a prize pool of over $1M is anticipated.
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