POKER

GARY | Rockford's Leon Morford is $233,016 richer. The 65-year-old retired engineer won The Heartland Poker Tour Texas Hold 'em tournament at Majestic Star Casino on Monday.

"This is my biggest payday. This is just really great," Morford said.

The tournament began in November with a field of 1,000 players. It was whittled down to 344 players for the qualifying rounds, and six competed in Monday's finals: Jason Glass, Richard McMahan, Tom Stambaugh, Christopher Brand, Nick Woolworth and Morford.

Glass was the first to leave the table, losing all of his chips in the first few hands to take sixth place and $39,530. Stambaugh left the table shortly after, earning $45,771.

Things remained tightly played for the next couple hours when McMahan bet big and lost for a fourth-place finish and $56,174. Next out was Glass, who was in the lead for the majority of the day but lost everything in a few short hands to end up in third with $74,898.

Morford and Brand went head to head with only $45,000 separating their pots; Morford had $2.5 million in chips while Brand had $2.6 million.

Morford took Brand's last $60,000 in chips and the tournament championship with a hand showing three queens.

Brand won $116,508, the highest payout he has won in a poker tournament.

"It was unbelievable," Brand said. "I never expected this. It's really amazing."