The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Golden Gates Casino attracted 453 players to Blackhawk, Colorado, and after three days of intense play, it was Dan Colpoys who emerged victorious to capture the $114,156 first-place prize. Colpoys pulled out to a big chip lead on Day 2, and went wire to wire on Day 3 to claim the title.
Kou Vang, who began the day eighth in chips, was at his third consecutive MSPT final table. Vang finished runner-up at the Belle of Baton Rouge last month and followed that up with an eighth-place finish last week at the Majestic Star Casino.
Early on, Vang was priced into putting a beat on Phanora Prom when he opened for a raise to 52,000, and Prom shoved on the button for 142,000. Vang thought for a bit before making the call.
Vang: K♠6♠
Prom: 7♠7♣
Prom was ahead of his opponent, and the flop came 4♥5♥6♣, giving Vang a pair and Prom an open-ender. The J♥ turn was a brick, but Vang spiked the K♣ on the river to make two pair and bust his opponent in ninth place for $9,740.
Brad Zotti busted just 13 minutes later when he ran a rivered flush into the quads of Jonathan McCray.
Jonathan Haidsiak, who had been grinding a short stack for all of the later stages of the tournament, finally met his end when he got caught by Colpoy shoving his last 10 big blinds with 5x4x preflop.
Six-handed play continued for a while, and it looked like Vang would threaten for the championship when he doubled in a race against Kris Wagner.
Colorado native William Givens then busted in sixth. He never really got much going at the final table despite being one of the more experienced players ($300,000 in live cashes). Givens lost the majority of his stack on a misread right before he busted.
Vang's quest to break through for an MSPT title in Season 5 ended when he cold four-bet all in preflop and was called in two spots. The two active players checked down the 4♦8♥2♠7♥7♠ board.
"Two jacks," Colpoys said, showing J♣J♦. Wagner mucked his cards, and Vang raised up the A♥K♠ and tossed them into the middle face up. Vang took home $22,650 for his fifth-place finish.
Not long after, Wagner called off his stack to an all-in three-bet from McCray only to see he his A♦8♣ was dominated by A♥K♠. McCray ended up rivering the nut flush to finish off the New Mexican.
Danny Gonzales, who had stayed patient with his short stack throughout the final table, doubled up once before calling off his stack in a blind-versus-blind shove from Colpoys.
Gonzales: K♠9♦
Colpoys: A♥2♥
Gonzales was trying for his second double with live cards, but a 7♦4♥7♥ flop gave him nothing. The 5♣ didn't help either, but his sizable rail still seemed to believe the double was coming. Needless to say, they were disappointed when the 2♠ hit the board, leaving Gonzales out in third.McCray managed to make some headway a few times against Colpoys heads up, including an early double when he outdrew Colpoys' KxKx. However, each time he gained some ground, Colpoys would simply hammer him back down by taking small pot after small pot. Finally Colpoys decided the time was right to play a big one.
He raised to 180,000 on the button, and McCray three-bet to 580,000. Colpoys made it 980,000, and McCray called.
After the J♦8♣3♠ flop, McCray bet 1.1 million. Colpoys called, and a 6♥ turned.
"All in," McCray said.
"Snap," Colpoys replied, flipping 8♥8♠ for a set.
McCray tabled K♥Q♥, and he was drawing dead. The meaningless river was the 2♥. McCray took home $63,420 for his runner-up finish while Colpoys walked away with the $114,156 top prize.
Season 5 of the MSPT continues this weekend from Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells. For more information on that stop, check out Chad Holloway’s guide on what to do in his hometown.