Potawatomi Casino

The Mid-States Poker Tour Potawatomi Hotel & Casino began with 556 entrants (246 Day 1a; 292 Day 1b), and on Sunday 113 returned to battle down to a winner. It took a full day of action, but in the end 38-year-old Travis Lauson who emerged victorious to capture his first MSPT title and a $129,077 first-place prize.

It was an unbelievable story of redemption for Lauson, who finished runner-up to Dan Goepel back in September, which was the last time the MSPT visited the property.

"Amazing," Lauson said when asked how winning felt. "I needed redemption from that second place. It's simply amazing. If I would have lost heads-up back-to-back I would have gone crazy."

Prior to the win, Lauson, who hails from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, only had four cashes on his poker résumé, three of which are on the MSPT. Now he had a fourth, this one being his first-ever six-figure score.

Lauson, who owns four bars, including one called Shoot the Bull, plans to use the money to pad his poker bankroll while setting some aside for his three-year-old daughter's college fund.

At the start of the day, just 54 players were slated to earn a portion of the $556,000 total prize pool – which crushed the advertised $200,000 guarantee – and that meant 59 needed to leave empty handed. Among those to fall early were reigning Wisconsin State Poker Champion Andy Rubinberg, MSPT Pro Blake Bohn, and Luke Arora, who was a week removed from winning the MSPT Running Aces Main Event.

Once the bubble burst – poker pro Darryl Ronconi was the unfortunate bubble boy – the in-the-money finishes began to mount. Among those to go home with some cash were Adam Lamphere (54^th - $2,151), Anselmo Villarreal (38^th - $2,420), reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge (33^rd - $2,904), Nick Jivkov (20^th - $3,711), and defending champ Dan Goepel (14^th - $6,508), who saw his title defense come to an end when his pocket fives failed to hold against the king-ten of start-of-the-day chip leader Abe Montenegro.

With a dozen players remaining, a big hand saw both John Zawaski and Jonathan DiMatteo fall to Lauson, who picked up pocket aces against the former's ace-queen and the latter's pocket kings. The aces held and Lauson advanced to the final table nearly tied for the chip lead with Hao Sun.

Those two proceeded to attack the table, but while Sun faltered, Lauson only continued to rise. Eventually Sun bowed out in third place, and that set up an entertaining heads-up match against fellow Wisconsinite Brandon Byrne.

"I went into heads-up play with the big chip lead, so I wanted to play big," explained Lauson. "He started fighting back so I had to adapt right away."

Lauson lost his 2-1 chip lead, but with both players willing to put chips in the middle, it didn't take long for him to get it back. Still, he admits he had flashbacks to his match against Goepel when he blew an 8-1 lead.

Fortunately for Lauson, victory wouldn't slip through his fingers this time as he looked down at pocket kings after Byrne had shoved with ace-five. No ace appeared, and Lauson took down the MSPT Potawatomi Casino title and the accompanying $129,077 first-place prize.

Final Table Results

The MSPT will now head to Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. That stop is just wrapping up its $350 Regional, and next weekend will culminate with a $200,000 guaranteed, $1,100 buy-in Main Event, which you can read about by clicking here.

Brandon Byrne open-jammed for 2.2 million and ran smack dab into Travis Lauson’s monster.

Byrne:

Lauson:

Byrne needed to find an ace or some other help to stay alive, but it didn’t come as the board ran out .

Brandon Byrne - Busted

Stay tuned for a full recap of Travis Lauson’s MSPT Potawatomi Casino win.

The heads-up match has been an action-packed affair, and it’s evident neither Travis Lauson nor Brandon Byrne are afraid to play.

In their most recent encounter, Lauson raised the button and then called off when Byrne moved all in from the big blind.

Lauson:

Byrne:

Byrne could win it all with an ace, but it didn’t come as the board ran out . The players are now on a 10-minute break.

Travis Lauson - 7,610,000

Brandon Byrne - 3,515,000

Travis Lauson began heads-up play with a 2-1 chip lead, but it was short lived as Brandon Byrne scored a quick double to reverse the standings.

It happened on the turn with a board reading when a back-and-forth raising war saw Byrne get his stack in good holding two pair with the . Meanwhile, Lauson held an inferior two pair with the .

The river was not the queen Lauson needed to clinch victory, and just like that Byrne holds the chip lead.

Travis Lauson - 3,400,000

Brandon Byrne - 7,500,000

Travis Lauson raised to 400,000 from the button holding the and Brandon Byrne called from the small blind with the . John Sun then called off for 360,000 from the big with the , the flop came down , and Byrne check-folded to a bet of 500,000.

That meant Sun could triple with an ace, but he didn’t get it as the bricked on the turn followed by the river.

John Son - Busted

On a flop of , John Sun check-called a bet of 200,000 from Travis Lauson. Action then repeated itself on the turn, and when the paired the board on the river, Sun checked for a third time. Lauson bet 700,000 and Sun paid it off with the . Lauson then rolled over the for a flopped flush and the win.

Travis Lauson - 6,500,000

John Sun - 380,000

Travis Lauson - 6,370,000

Brandon Byrne - 2,390,000

John Sun - 2,500,000

After Travis Lauson raised to 200,000 under the gun, Abe Montenegro moved all in for 650,000 from the button. Brandon Byrne then called from the small blind, John Sun folded the big, and Lauson got out of the way.

Byrne:

Montenegro:

Montenegro held two live cards, but neither appeared as the board ran out .

Brandon Byrne - 2,390,000

Abe Montenegro - Busted

Action folded to Benjamin Reinhart in the small blind and he moved all in for 540,000, which John Sun called after looking down at a big hand.

Reinhart:

Sun:

The flop gave Reinhart a sweat, but it didn’t matter as the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river.

Benjamin Reinhart - Busted

Benjamin Reinhart raised to 175,000 holding the in the cutoff only to have John Sun move all in for 570,000 with the on the button. Travis Lauson opted to call with the from the small blind, Reinhart came along, and then both active players checked it down as the board ran out . Ship the triple to Sun.

Travis Lauson - 6,700,000

John Sun - 1,800,000

Benjamin Reinhart - 650,000