The World Poker Tour last night crowned its first champion on American soil this year, as Florida native Matt Juttelstad won the Lucky Hearts event at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Miami.

Juttelstad found his way to victory in Florida almost by coincidence, as he revealed to have come to Miami only for a grad school interview at the Florida Atlantic University.

Once in Miami, however, he decided to play the WPT Lucky Hearts, and even re-entered on Day 1b after having busted out early on Day 1a.

The decision would turn out to be wise, as Juttelstad a few days after found himself on the final table of the event, ready to fight for the biggest single live cash of his career.

On his way to triumph, the young Floridan first had to face a tough final table, including a well-playing Gigi Gagne, who was in the run to become the first female winner of an open WPT event in history.

The two ended up facing each other heads-up for the title, but after roughly 30 hands of play between the two finalists, Juttelstad eventually sealed the deal with a spectacular hand.

The money went to the middle on a board, and Gagne was quick to flip over her for a straight.

Juttelstad, however, had flopped the bigger straight with his , and could take home the win after the dealer laid out the as the last card of the tournament.

Juttelstad showed to be ecstatic but exhausted after his win, telling Mike Sexton that he now needed to "decompress" in a post-victory interview.

He will now have plenty of calm to do so with his $268,444 first prize, which comes with an additional $25,000 seat to the WPT World Championship in May.

Meanwhile, Gigi Gagne collected $158,444 for her runner-up finish, while Uri Kadosh took third place and a little more than $100,000.