A 19-year-old Florida Atlantic University freshman was the big winner during The Isle Casino and Racing's Battle at the Beach over the weekend. Most people are thrilled to win one tournament; Hayden Fortini won two.

First Fortini, originally of Vero Beach, won a $900 tournament that had 258 players. He took home $59,044.

Next in line were: Brett Borgersen, West Palm Beach ($34,612), Tim Seidensticker, Miami ($22,396) and Dennis Grant, Miramar, ($14,252). Chad Brown, the fiance of Vanessa Rousso, was fifth ($10,180). Rousso made it through Day One but didn't finish in the top 27 (cashes).

Fortini said a key hand came when he and Brown both went all-in on a five-way pot: Fortini turned over ace-king; Brown flipped over jacks. Fortini hit an ace to take the pot.

"My strategy was to stay out of his way," Fortini said.

Also cashing: Kevin Deng, Barrington White, Kevin Collins, Mikko Koskinen, Scott Williams
Steven Senter, Maurice Hawkins, Phillip Girian, Marcus E Gurley, Dustin Pisani, Keith Ingham
William Swiciciki, Tomas Cuce, Pat Madden, Vincent Spadavecchia, Larry Jean,
Brian Lindsey, Jeff Gross, Ory Hen, Avi Indik, Don Todd and James Deleo.

"With a big smile on my face," Fortini also won the Heads-Up Championship, which drew 111 players. He took home $50,000, defeating Jose Torres of Cooper City ($23,000) in the final. Stuart Newman of Weston ($7,300) was third, and James Reilly of Boca Raton ($5,000) was fourth. By my records, it's the only heads-up tournament we've had here in South Florida.

His toughest heads-up match, he said, was against Stu Patterson of Boca Raton.

Fortini says he has been playing since he was 16 and playing for money since age 18. He's had some success online but also plays a lot at the Isle, Seminole Coconut Creek and the Hard Rock.

He's studying psychology, but says it's difficult to balance poker with school.

"It gets you in a mindset where school becomes very boring. But I’m very interested in psychology," he said.

"I want to get an education; I think that’s important, then figure it out from there, in case the whole thing doesn’t work out for me."

The reason for his success?

"I just put a lot of time and I’ve played a lot of poker. If you play a lot, you’re going to learn a lot from your mistakes, and I’ve made a million mistakes, so I’ve learned a lot.

"You just learn the game and learn how to play against different people."

Fred Goldberg of Hollywood won the $550 tournament, which drew 184 players. He received $20,000. Next were: Antuan Bunckly, Samuel Mayer-Backer, Irving Rice, Sean Irvin
Daniel Genachte, Gilbert George, Adam Berman, Daren Stabinski, Logan Richetti, Clark Brzozowski, Sonia Sanchez, Marcus Gurley, Dolphy Garricks, Timothy Morgan, David Sultan
Robert Cheney, Richard Gollin and Jason McCarty.