Golden Gates Casino

Over the weekend, 439 entrants (119 Day 1a; 180 Day 1b; and 140 Day 1c) visited Black Hawk, Colorado to take part in the Mid-States Poker Tour Golden Gates Main Event, a tournament that created a $439,000 total prize pool – more than double the advertised $200,000 guarantee despite blizzard conditions.

In the end, 38-year-old poker player Josh Crain of Lakewood, Colorado emerged as the last man standing to walk away with the coveted MSPT trophy and a $102,199 first-place prize. Prior to the win, Crain had just one documented cash of $2,885 for a 228^th-place finish in a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event at the 2009 World Series of Poker.

"Right when I bought into the tournament, I sat down and the first hand I had aces but a guy flopped a straight," Crain said of his journey. "I was down to 4,000, and now here we go off one bullet."

As for what he'll do with the money, Crain didn't hesitate.

"It feels like the biggest cash I've ever had," he said. "I take care of my family, that's all I do. My parents, my sister, my family, my girlfriend Katelyn, they're all stoked."

Of course he also plans to use a little to travel out to Las Vegas for this summer's WSOP.

Day 2 saw 82 players return to action, each looking to make the money at the top 45. That meant 37 needed to leave empty handed, and among them to do so were MSPT Pro Matt Alexander, former champ Kane Lai, defending champ Phanora Prom, and bubble boy Joseph Pergola.

Among those to earn a cash but fall short of making the final table were Ben Keeline (45^th - $2,129), MSPT Golden Gates Regional champ Stephen Zipprich (41^st - $2,129), PokerNews reporter Mo Nuwwarah (37^th - $2,129), Nebraska farmer Phil Mader (28^th - $2,555), and WSOP Millionaire Maker champ Adrian Buckley (11^th - $7,239), who fell after shoving with ace-ten and running smack dab into the pocket rockets of Mike Ross.

The final table proved to be an extended affair as more often than not the short stacks double. As the hours ticked by the eliminations began to mount starting with Tyler Corbett, who ran pocket sevens into queens. Khao Nguyen and TJ Thondup followed him out the door in ninth and eighth place respectively, and a short time later Griffin Malatino joined them on the rail, the result of running ace-king smack into Jackson White's aces.

After the elimination of William "Mexican" Prieto in sixth and White in fifth, Ross met his maker after his queen-ten failed to overcome the queen-jack of Nathan Hoh in an all-in preflop situation.

Hoh and Crain then got involved in the biggest pot of the tournament. It happened when Crain raised to 600,000 and then called Hoh's all-in three-bet of 3.095 million. Hoh held ace-king and was flipping against Crain's pocket sevens.

The walking sticks held, and that set up a heads-up match between Crain, who held a massive chip lead, and poker pro Jason Vanstom, who ultimately had to settle for runner-up and a $61,745 consolation prize.

Final Table Results

Congratulations to Josh Crain on becoming the latest MSPT Golden Gates champ and joining the ranks of Prom (Nov. 2015; 510 entries; $123,180 prize), Lai (March 2015; 409 entries; $101,365 prize), Reza Yazdi (Nov. 2014; 500 entries; $120,765 prize), and Dan Colpoys (March 2014; 453 entries; $114,156 prize).

The MSPT continues next weekend with a $200,000 guaranteed event at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. Learn more about that tournament by clicking here.

In the last hand of the tournament, Jason Vanstrom moved all in from the button for right around 1.3 million and Josh Crain opted to call.

Crain:

Vanstrom:

Vantrom was ahead, and while he paired up on the flop, Crain picked up an open-ended straight draw. The turn didn’t complete it, but the river did.

Jason Vanstrom - Busted

Josh Crain - 6,855,000

Jason Vanstrom - 1,955,000

Josh Crain raised to 600,000 from the button and after Jason Vanstrom folded from the small blind, Nathan Hoh three-bet all in for 3.095 million from the big. Crain made the call and it was a race situation.

Hoh:

Crain:

Hoh needed to improve to stay alive, but that didn’t happen as the board ran out an unhelpful .

Nathan Hoh - Busted

Players are now on another 10-minute break.

Nathan Hoh opened for 400,000 from the cutoff and was met by an all-in three-bet to around 1.3 million from Mike Ross in the big blind. Hoh called and Ross was in trouble.

Ross:

Hoh:

Ross had a bad kicker, but he got some help when the flop gave him a flush draw. Unfortunately for him, the turn was no help and neither was the river.

Nathan Hoh - 4,200,000

Mike Ross - Busted

Jackson White moved all in for 1.12 million from the button and got Nathan Hoh to fold the small blind. However, Josh Crain looked down at his hand in the big, liked what he saw, and made the call.

White:

Crain:

“I’m live,” White said upon seeing the cards. The flop didn’t do anything for him, but the turn made things interesting by giving him a straight and flush draw. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t come in as the bricked on the river.

Josh Crain - 3,150,000

Jackson White - Busted

Mike Ross raised to 350,000 under the gun and William "Mexican" Prieto called off his last 205,000 from the hijack. Josh Crain then called from the small blind and both active players checked it down as the board ran out .

Crain:

Ross:

Prieto:

Crain’s jacks were good and he scooped the pot while sending Prieto out the door in sixth place.

Josh Crain - 2,200,000

Mike Ross -800,000

William "Mexican" Prieto - Busted

Jackson White moved all in under the gun for his last 660,000 and Nathan Hoh, who was next to act, made the call. The rest of the players called and it was a flip.

White:

Hoh:

Hoh held on the flop, but the spiked on the turn to give White the lead. The river failed to change a thing, and once again the short stack at the table has doubled.

Noathan Hoh - 2,600,000

Jackson White - 1,400,000

Nathan Hoh raised to 325,000 from the cutoff and called when Josh Crain three-bet all in for 675,000.

Hoh:

Crain:

The flop hit Hoh hard, though the turn did give Crain an open ender. However, it was the that spiked on the river that would give Crain a bigger pair and the win.

Nathan Hoh - 3,300,000

Josh Crain - 1,400,000