For the second time this season, the MSPT returned to Grand Falls and hosted its $1,110 Main Event which was loaded with previous MSPT champs.
A total of 463 entries (212 from Day 1a; 251 from 1b) were tallied and generated a $447,610 prize pool.
On Sunday, 54 players returned for Day 2 action with 11 of them being previous champs looking to add another piece of hardware to their collection but after 12 hours of play, it was North Dakota native Curtis Vierstraete outlasting the star-studded field to walk away with the $96,243 top prize and his first MSPT title.
“It feels awesome,” said Vierstraete after his win, “It was a heck of a battle and I just tried to never give up.” Almost a ten-year vet in the game, Vierstraete took a break from poker but decided to come play for his Birthday on Friday.
“I always said I was going to win one of these MSPT’s,” stated Vierstraete, “I told my wife, my friends, I told everyone, and I finally did it, what a great birthday present.”
The final day came back with 54 players already in the money so action kicked right into gear with MSPT champ John Dennehey scoring a double elimination in the first hand of the day.
Action across the final six tables continued with players dropping like wildfire as the march to the final table was on.
Among those to fall along the way, albeit with a payday, were MSPT Hall of Famer Rob WazWaz (10th Place - $6,714), MSPT champs Max Havlish (14th Place - $5,371) & John Dennehey (16th Place - $5,371), and MSPT Hall of Famer Rich Alsup (21st Place - $4,073).
Final Table Action
Once the player returned from their dinner break, MSPT champ Rodger Johnson called off his remaining stack holding a made hand of tens only to have Corey Skogrand roll over a crushing pair of queens, making him the first elimination at the final table.
After Johnson's departure, Miles Barnum seized his pay jump opportunity and got his short stack in the middle with a suited king queen and was called by Keith Doering holding an ace-nine offsuit.
Doering paired his ace on the flop and Barunm was unable to complete Broadway, ending his run in eighth place.
Following Barnum to the payout desk was Dennis Stevermer who got aggressive from the small blind and ended up being tripped up by soon to be champ Vierstraete on the flop taking a seventh place exit.
In the same level, Skogrand was out-kicked by Doering in sixth place and a few hands later Doering was able to flush David Beadle out the door in fifth place for $24,171.
With four players remaining, Umut Ozturk was able to slide into the top spot for Season 14 Player of the Year and ended up as the last MSPT champ standing after he missed his flush draw and was eliminated by Doering in fourth place for $32,228.
Three-handed action saw Vierstraete hold a slight chip advantage over Doering with Nicholas Koto being able to get a pay jump after Doering ended up taking a third place finish for $42,612.
From there, the heads-up match saw chips shuffle around for multiple levels with both players coming close to the brink of elimination only to keep fighting back until Vierstraete secured two doubles to take a commanding chip lead which eventually led to him shipping his first MSPT trophy and payday good for $96,243 while Koto finished runner-up for $59,129.
The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) will be making its way to JACK Cleveland Casino from August 30th - September 4th to host its $1,110 Main Event and the MSPT live reporting team will be on hand providing updates or the tournament so make sure to come back!