Running Aces Card Club

This weekend, the Mid-States Poker Tour returned to Running Aces Casino for what turned out to be the biggest Main Event in four years. The $1,100 buy-in tournament drew 358 entrants (166 on Day 1A and 192 on 1B) and saw 27-year-old Luke Bohnen, a controls engineer from Blaine, Minnesota, walk away with an $86,440 first-place prize.

Not only did Bohnen defeat local hero Rob Wazwaz, who was at his seventh MSPT final table, in heads-up play, he did it after being back in the game for less than two months after a three-year hiatus.

“Poker was all I was doing for a whole year, but dad said I had to get a real job,” Bohnen said of time away from the game. “I sort of faded from poker. Last Christmas, I decided to starting playing again and had a lot of luck right out of the gate. This is my biggest win by far, but it’s still back to work tomorrow. It’s going to be a really fun day though.”

Bohnen was modest after the win chalking it up to “a lot of luck” and “getting good cards,” and while that may have been the case, he certainly showed a lot of discipline and skill. He finished as the Day 1B chip leader, steadily chipped up, and went wire-to-wire at the final table.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” Bohnen added. “I’ve always liked the MSPT, and after today I’ll be playing every single one I can manage to get to.”

Day 2 saw 64 players return to action, but with 36 slated to get paid more than two dozen would leave empty handed including MSPT Pro Matt Alexander, 2015 MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge, and former champs Jason Seitz, Erv Bjerga, and Jason Sell.

Once Matt Andrews fell as the bubble boy, the in-the-money finishes began to mount. Among those to earn some cash but fail to make the final table were MSPT Pro Blake Bohn (35^th - $2,178), reigning Player of the Year Rich Alsup (34^th - $2,178), MSPT Canterbury Park champ Jon Kim (33^rd - $2,178), and two-time champs Matt Kirby (26^th - $2,766) and Jeremy Dresch (24^th - $2,766).

By cashing, Kirby and Dresch notched their first cashes of Season 8, which means their streak of cashing every season of the MSPT continues. Three other payers – Kou Vang, Dan “DQ” Hendrickson, and Joe Matheson – still have the entire year to equal the feat.

The final table began with Bohnen holding the chip lead, and he put it to good use steadily building chips while his opponents hit the rail. In fact, he would never relinquish the lead.

Ron Olson was the first to go after running into Joe Barnard’s pocket kings. Not long after, Iowa’s Mark Reid joined him on the rail after his ace-six failed to get there against Nikki Nelson’s ace-queen.

Aaron Hintz was the next to go after he shoved a gutshot only to run into Jason Bender’s pocket queens, and then Scott Delong hit the rail in seventh place when his pocket deuces failed to hold against Bohnen’s ace-six.

After Thai Dinh bowed out in sixth place, the result of his ace-five getting outdrawn by Wazwaz’s queen-jack, Bender took his leave in fifth after he flopped top pair against Bohnen’s top and bottom.

During four-handed play, Barnard lost queens against ace-king, and despite a brief comeback, he fell in fourth place. Nelson, who was looking to become just the second woman to win a MSPT title, exited in third after she jammed king-queen into Bohnen’s ace-queen.

Bohnen took a near 5:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Wazwaz. In the final hand of the tournament, Wazwaz flopped an open-ended straight draw with nine-seven and got it in against Bohnen’s pocket nines. The straight never got there, and Wazwaz had to settle for runner-up and a $51,864 consolation prize.

As for the $86,440 Bohnen own, he had this to say: “I’ll do my best to not be super responsible, I’ll get something fun at least.”

Final Table Results

1 – Luke Bohnen (Blaine, MN) … $86,440
2 – Rob Wazwaz (Minneapolis, MN) ... $51,864
3 – Nikki Nelson (Dayton, MN) … $33,642
4 – Joe Barnard (St. Paul, MN) … $23,512
5 – Jason Bender (Keota, IA) … $17,634
6 – Thai Dinh (Duluth, MN) … $13,830
7 – Scott Delong (Invergrove Heights, MN) … $11,756
8 – Aaron Hintz (Ames, IA) … $9,681
9 – Mark Reid (Canton, IA) … $8,301
10 – Ron Olson (St. Cloud, MN) ... $6,569

Season 8 of the MSPT continues this coming weekend with a $350 Regional Event at Tropicana Evansville in Southern Indiana. The next MSPT Main Event will take place March 24-26 at Meskwaki Casino in Tama, Iowa.

The final 10 players are now combining down to the feature table. They will then be sent on a 45-minute dinner break with action resuming at 6:30 p.m. local time. The live stream is on a 15-minute delay, so be sure to tune in at 6:45 p.m.

We won’t be reporting anymore of the action here in live blog (other than an end-of-day recap), so if you want more in-depth coverage we encourage you to tune into the live stream to watch the action with hole cards on a 15-minute delay.

MSPT Live Stream on msptpoker.com -> CLICK HERE

MSPT Live Stream on Twitch -> CLICK HERE

The final table is comprised of seven players from Minnesota while three hail from Iowa. Luke Bohnen begins the final table as chip leader and is notching his first MSPT cash.

Not too far behind is Nikki Nelson, who is looking to become just the second woman to win a MSPT title.

There are also a few familiar faces at the final table. Jason Bender finished third in the MSPT Canterbury Park back in December and he’s back at another Main Event final table, the third of his career.

Rob Wazwaz is a familiar face at MSPT final tables – this is his seventh – but it’s been awhile since he’s been under the spotlight. In fact, the last time he made a final table as in September 2015 at the MSPT Potawatomi in Milwaukee. Wazwaz, who has been playing the tour since the very beginning, is seeking his first MSPT title.

Joe Barnard is another regular on the MSPT. He final tabled the MSPT Grand Falls last season, ultimately finishing third for $19,074. He needs to finish fourth or better at this final table to better that.

Final Table

1 – Thai Dinh (Duluth, MN) … 338,000
2 – Nikki Nelson (Dayton, MN) … 1.1 million
3 – Joe Barnard (St. Paul, MN) … 423,000
4 – Rob Wazwaz (Minneapolis, MN) … 444,000
5 – Aaron Hintz (Ames, IA) … 534,000
6 – Jason Bender (Keota, IA) … 394,000
7 – Scott Delong (Invergrove Heights, MN) … 657,000
8 – Ron Olson (St. Cloud, MN) … 272,000
9 – Luke Bohnen (Blaine, MN) … 2.074 million
10 – Mark Reid (Canton, IA) … 730,000

Dennis Stevermer got his last 290,000 or so all in preflop and found himself at risk against Luke Bohnen.

Stevermer:
Bohnen:

Stevermer didn’t seem pleased about his shove, and he paid for it with his tournament life after the board ran out .

Dennis Stevermer – Eliminated in 11th place for $6,569

With around 200,000 in the pot and a flop of , action exploded between three players that resulted in both Chad Tagtmeir and Katie Gebhart, who had 360,000 and 230,000 respectively, getting all in against Luke Bohnen.

Tagtmeir:
Gebhart:
Bohnen:

Bohnen was ahead with bottom set, but Tagtmeir could take the lead with an ace while Gebhart had a flush draw. The turn gave Gebhart an added straight draw, but both she and ​​​​Tagtmeir missed when the blanked on the river.

Katie Gebhart – Eliminated in 13th place for $4,841
Chad Tagtmeir – Eliminated in 12th place for $6,569

From February 18-26, Season 8 of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) will continue with a $350 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed Regional Event at Tropicana Evansville in Evansville, Indiana. A series of satellites will feed into the Regional Event, which will take place February 23-26.

The Regional Event will feature three starting flights beginning with Day 1A at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23. Day 1B will take place at the same time on Friday, Feb. 24, while Day 1C will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25. The surviving players from each flight will then return for Day 2 at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday to play down to a winner.

The latest MSPT Tropicana Evansville Regional, the second held at the venue, will be the 15th Regional Event since their inception at the beginning of 2015. The Regional Events are designed to offer players the opportunity to play MSPT’s lauded “Chainsaw-Approved” $1,100 Main Event structure at a more affordable price.

In the first MSPT Regional at Tropicana Evansville, which took place in January 2016, Adam Thomas topped a field of 416 entrants to win a $30,674 first-place prize.

“Tropicana Evansville is one of the most scenic stops on the tour that sits right across the river from Kentucky,” said MSPT President Bryan Mileksi. “Our tournaments get bigger each time we visit Indiana, and we expect the upcoming Regional Event to put last year’s number to shame. No poker tournament out there will give you more bang for your buck, so it’s not to be missed.”

Tropicana Evansville is a combination Evansville hotel & riverboat casino owned and operated by Tropicana Entertainment. The property is a $212 million entertainment complex, located on the scenic banks of the Ohio River, in southwestern Indiana. It includes a 2,700-passenger riverboat casino featuring over 1,000 slot games and 40 table games, including a dedicated poker room.

Accommodations include the Tropicana Evansville Hotel with 243 standard rooms and 10 suites and the Le Merigot boutique hotel with 91 Standard Rooms and five suites. Additional features include a conference center, riverfront pavilion, entertainment district, and a 1,660-vehicle attached parking garage.

The property showcases nine dining options, eleven bars and nightclubs and a gift shop. One of the most popular dining options is Cavanaugh’s, which serves the finest cuisine paired with sweeping river views – the perfect place for the perfect dining experience. The casual upscale atmosphere of Cavanaugh’s is the ideal place to meet friends or clients. Enjoy signature martinis, delicious appetizers or indulge in Cavanaugh’s full dinner menu. You can also enjoy live entertainment nightly at Cavanaugh’s piano bar.

There’s also Max & Erma’s, which serves all-American favorites including soups, salads, gourmet burgers, delicious sandwiches and treats, as well as Mama Mia’s Italian Restaurant, which features homemade dough pizza by the slice.

For a full list of dining and entertainment options, visit tropevansville.com.

Joe Barnard just limped from the hijack and Mark Jaroslawski did the same from the button. Katie Gebhart came along from the small blind, Dennis Stevermer checked his option from the big, and four players saw a flop of .

Two checks saw Barnard bet 50,000 and Jaroslawski raised all in for 204,000. The blinds both folded and Barnard called off for the exact same amount.

Jaroslawski:
Barnard:

The turn gave Jaroslawski a flush draw, but he missed when the bricked on the river.

Joe Barnard - 515,000
Mark Jaroslawski - Eliminated in 14th place for $4,841

Scott Delong raised to 42,000 from early position and action folded to Rick Syverud, who moved all in for roughly 250,000 from the big blind. Delong called and the cooler was unveiled.

Syverud:
Delong:

Delong got lucky to take the lead on the flop, but Syverud picked up club and straight outs on the turn. Unfortunately for him, and his fans back in Wisconsin, the bricked on the river. It was a rough ending for Syverud, but his 15th-place finish tied his best run on the MSPT (he finished in the same place in the Season 6 MSPT Potawatomi stop).

Scott Delong - 550,000
Rick Syverud – Eliminated in 15th place for $4,841

Scott Delong moved all in for 124,000 from early position and Rick Syverud called from the big blind.

Syverud:
Delong:

It was a flip with Delong looking to hold to stay alive. That’s what he did too after the board ran out .

Scott Delong – 260,000
Rick Syverud – 225,000

Rob Wazwaz - 825,000
Aaron Hintz - 600,000
Mark Reid - 520,000
Thai Dinh - 400,000
Ron Olson – 320,000
Rick Syverud - 320,000
Scott Delong - 150,000

Nikki Nelson - 1.1 million
Luke Bohnen - 750,000
Mark Jaroslawski - 600,000
Joe Barnard - 475,000
Chad Tagtmeir - 411,000
Jason Bender - 355,000
Dennis Stevermer - 260,000
Katie Gebhart - 150,000