Cowboy Hoyt in poker tourney

Cowboy Hoyt from Glenwood is a "Bible-reading, God-fearing" man, but he's also a poker-playing professional.

Hoyt Corkins has walked away from the poker table with a cool million dollars in hand, so that makes him a major player in the big-time poker game.

Cowboy Hoyt, who plays wearing a cowboy hat and boots, will be one of several poker players featured on ESPN March 24 and 26 during the U.S. Poker Championships at the Taj Mahal in Las Vegas.

When he's not cashing in his chips, Corkins is a real life cowboy and is at home in Glenwood feeding cows and putting them out to pasture.

"Hoyt's a farm boy at heart," his mother, Martha Corkins, said. "He grew up in the country but he went to college in Las Vegas and played basketball. While he was out there, he went to some of the casinos and started playing poker. He picked up on it and got real good at it. So, now that's what he does. He's not home that much."

Corkins said her son has been quite successful at the poker table and has earned a name for himself in the game.

"ESPN sent a television crew to the farm to film Hoyt for the program, she said. "It was very exciting and we are looking forward to seeing him on television."

According to his mom, Corkins won the 1992 World Series of Poker Pot Limit Omaha but has only recently began playing tournaments again.

Most of Corkins' competitive poker playing is on the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. Sometimes, however, he plays just to relax.

The biggest win on his professional career, to date, is as the $1 million winner of the Foxwoods World Poker Finals.

"There were a lot of people there cheering Hoyt on," his mom said. "It was on television, so a lot of other people saw him win."

Corkins recently got to the finals table at the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure cruise and had a 3-to-1 chip lead before the cards stopped falling his way and he lost the title to a "full house."

Cokins aggressive style of play is making him a force to be reckoned with whether he is playing for relaxation or for the chips.

"When he's a home, he's just Hoyt and he's right at home here in Glenwood enjoying country life," his mom said.

By Jaine Treadwell, The Messenger

News Added: 26 March, 2005

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