Cornhole national champion calls Lakeland home

With a bag full of bags, Tanner Halbert ​​​​​​ steps to the spotlight and lets it fly.

"I get a lot of rotation on the bag and that's because I have a lot of wrist action on my throw," the Lakeland 22-year-old said.

Halbert recently won national championships in singles and doubles competitions in cornhole, a game that started at tailgate parties and cookouts. It's now played on national television.

Halbert is one of the best players in the world.

"I think my longest streak is 38 in the hole in a row," he said. "A lot of people don't realize how big it is and how much money you can win."

He took home more than $6,000 for winning the championships in Pennsylvania and Las Vegas. 

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When people tell Halbert it looks easy, "I tell them to go home and try it."

He said when he was in high school, he and his father and his friends would play hours at a time, three or four nights a week.

"I put my practice in to get where I'm at and once you figure it out, it's muscle memory from there," Halbert said.

He works as a groundskeeper for the city of Lakeland, so if he walks upon a friendly game being played by people he doesn't know, he never tries to hustle them.

"I just watch," he said with a smile. 

Halbert said he plans to play competitively for years to come.

"People play from 10 years old into their 70s," he said.

Lots of people play, but few win national championships in cornhole.