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A story that didn’t receive much attention this past summer was the acquisition of the Heartland Poker Tour by the Epic Poker League. The first HPT tournament after the acquisition took place this past week, and saw a new record in terms of total prize-pool set; an excellent sign of things to come in the future for both the HPT and the Epic Poker League.

A total of 443 players turned up at the Turning Stone Casino with $1,500 in hand to create the record-setting prize-pool of $664,500, which was won after a grueling two days of play by 40 year-old Randy Pfeifer. Pfeifer had to deal with a tough final table that included Foxwoods spokesman Bernard Lee, who finished in third place, on his way to his first major tournament victory of his poker career.

Here is a look at the Top 10 payouts from the event:

1. Randy Pfeifer — $157,819
2. Evan Lamprea — $88,379
3. Bernard Lee — $52,144
4. George Hetelekides — $40,086
5. Jeffrey Braverman — $33,458
6. Samuel Panzica II — $26,830
7. Scott Einiger — $20,516
8. Matthew Levine — $14,203
9. Jeffrey Garza — $10,731
10. Taylor Shpur — $8,206

The HPT will next be in Colorado from September 23 through October 2, culminating with the $1,500 buy-in Main Event at the Golden Gates Casino and Poker Parlour. For more information on the heartland Poker tour you can visit their website at www.hptpoker.com