His professionalism, however, is in contrast with his Poker playing. At the table, he is soft spoken and well mannered, belying the nicknames bestowed upon him by fellow players: "Mr. All-In", "Nightmare" and "Cowboy".
Corkins' "take no prisoners" playing style backed by skill and cunning brought Hoyt his first Poker Championship in 1992 at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament along with $96,000 and his first bracelet.
His second major Poker coup did not occur until 2003 when Corkins took home a healthy $1,089,200 winning the World Poker Tour (WPT) at Foxwoods. In 2004, Hoyt Corkins finished just behind winner Gus Hansen in the WPT at Pokerstars.com Caribbean Adventure. His consolation prize was a mere $290,065.
One of the major Poker champions, Corkins was a small town boy raised in rural Glenwood, Alabama. Although his roots are in Alabama and he still maintains a home there, Corkins also has a home in Las Vegas (where else?) so that he can be close to the action and the game that has brought him fame and monetary success.
You might say Hoyt was born go the game since his father hosted cash card games every week and seeing his son's obvious interest in the game, taught him the fundamentals of Poker. Those lessons and Hoyt's natural talents have led the Alabama Boy to winnings (as of 2006) of over two million dollars in live Poker Tournaments.
It was in 2005 as well that Corkins won a second place prize of $325,000 in the WSOP Tournament of Champions Free Roll ? the winner being Mike "The Mouth" Matusow.
Corkins has been in the money in Tournament competition seven times but it looked like he had given up Poker altogether when after a successful year in 1992, he disappeared from the Poker scene for no less than eleven years due to the emotional upheaval of a divorce.
Hoyt Corkins came back with a vengeance in 2003, a new man with a new fianc? (Natalie) and won what was at that time a record breaking prize of $1,089,200 at Foxwoods.
When away from the Poker tables and Tournaments, Hoyt resides in Alabama where he has a ranch with sixty head of cattle.
