Canterbury Park

The MSPT Season 8 finale $1,100 Main Event at Canterbury Park attracted a record 493 entries, which surpassed the spring event (475 entries) as the largest major poker tournament ($1K+ buy-in) in Minnesota history.

By the time the stop wrapped, 32-year-old poker pro Ben Marsh finished as the last player standing for $102,493 and his second MSPT title. Marsh, who way back in Season 2 won the MSPT Treasure Island for $40,071, became the ninth player in tour history to win multiple titles.

“I am feeling pretty great,” said Marsh, who spends most of his time playing online. “I haven’t played a ton of live poker this year and didn’t have any luck when I did. This is only my second tournament since the WSOP in Las Vegas.”

All told, Marsh now has four MSPT final tables, two wins, and seven cashes totaling $189,438.

“The tour has grown so much,” Marsh said when asked about the six-year gap between wins. “When I won the first time, first place was only $40K. Everyone involved with the tour has done a great job growing the events. Now they’re tournaments that you can’t miss. I think in general poker is a lot tougher these days.”

A Streak Falls, Final Table Action & More

Among those to make the trip to the Minnesota venue were 2016 MSPT Michigan State Poker Champion Brett Blackwood, MSPT first-timer and poker Twitter legend Kevin “Kevmath” Mathers, and Joe Matheson, who saw his streak of cashing every MSPT season come to an end when he fell on Day 1B.

Matheson’s failure to cash in Season 8 means Kou Vang, Matt Kirby, Dan “DQ” Hendrickson and Jeremy Dresch are the only four players in the world to have cashes each and every season of the MSPT.

On just the third hand of the final table, James Huynh fell after getting his short stack all in preflop holding the K♦J♦ and failing to get there against the A♣K♣ of Thomas Wu. Former champ David Gonia was next to go after his A♥9♦ didn’t hold against the A♦8♦ of 2017 Minnesota State Poker Champ Jon Hanner, who rivered a flush.

Marsh then got his first elimination of the final table when he defended his big blind against Vlad Revniaga’s short-stack shove in the small blind. Revniaga got it in good with the K♦9♦ but was bested by Marsh’s Q♣10♦ after a 10♥Q♦8♣4♠10♣ runout.

Norberto Santamaria followed him out the door in seventh place – the results of his A♦3♣ failing to get there against the 7♥7♣ of Rob Wazwaz – and then Osama “Sammy” Aweida, the only player at the final table not from Minnesota, hit the rail when he ran A♥J♣ into the A♦K♥ of Marsh.

Brian Berthiaume exited when he ran pocket jacks into Wu’s queens, and then Wazwaz fell shortly after losing most of his chips holding A♠Q♠ to Wu’s K♣K♦. Not long after, Marsh won a crucial flip against Wu, the former’s 2♣2♦ making quads against the latter’s K♣10♣.

Wu, the Day 1B chip leader, took his leave in third place after getting it in with the A♥4♥ against Hanner’s A♣Q♣ after an 8♣7♣10♣3♣8♦ runout.

Hanner and Marsh entered heads-up play near even in chips, but before long Marsh pulled out to a healthy lead. In the final hand of the tournament, which took place in Level 32 (80,000/160,000/20,000), Hanner raised to 330,000 with the A♠K♣ and Marsh defended holding the 10♥9♣.

The 9♠4♣K♠ flop saw Hanner continue for 300,000, Marsh called, and the dealer burned and turned the 9♥. Marsh led out for 330,000 with trips, Hanner called, and the 5♠ fell on the river. Marsh moved all in and Hanner hesitantly called off his remaining 1.395 million.

“There are a lot of really good players in Minnesota, a lot of them at this final table,” Marsh said after the win. “Jon Hanner is a great player, I just got some cards and things went my way.”

Final Table Results
1 Ben Marsh (Duluth, MN) $102,493
2 Jon Hanner (St. Paul, MN) $62,973
3 Thomas Wu (Minneapolis, MN) $45,383
4 Rob Wazwaz (Minneapolis, MN) $34,323
5 Brian Berthiaume (Cottage Grove, MN) $25,742
6 Sammy Aweida (Broomfield, CO) $19,545
7 Norberto Santamaria (Columbia Heights, MN) $15,255
8 Vlad Revniaga (Burnsville, MN) $11,918
9 David Gonia (White Bear Lake, MN) $9,057
10 James Huynh (Brooklyn Park, MN) $7,151

Chris Meyers Wins MSPT Season 8 POY

With 27 players remaining in the tournament, everyone was guaranteed 200 POY points on the Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year leaderboard. That meant Buffalo, New York’s Chris Meyers, who sat atop the leaderboard with 3,350, was guaranteed to bring his total up to at least 3,550 points. No other player in the field could catch him, so he locked up a $10K prize package.

In Season 8, Meyers had three cashes coming into the final stop. In May, he placed fifth out of 1,066 entries – then a Michigan state record – in the MSPT FireKeepers for $42,333. Five months later, he returned to the venue and topped a record field of 1,067 entries to win the 2017 MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship for $191,196.

His third cash, which was $2,375 for finishing in 62^nd place, came in last month’s 2017 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. He ultimately finished MSPT Canterbury Park in 15th place for $5,721 and 400 POY points to bring his winning total up to 3,750 points.

For winning the Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year, Meyers will be awarded four MSPT Main Event Season 9 seats ($4,400 value) to be used at events of his choosing, a seat into the MSPT Venetian summer event with $400 toward travel costs ($1,500 value), and $250 at each Main Event stop he attends up to $4,250.​

In addition, poker tax specialists Kondler & Associates, CPAs will provide the MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year with free tax services for the 2017 tax year ($800 value). This includes preparation of all tax forms (1040, 1099, etc.) as well as year-long tax planning and guidance.

“Chris’ back-to-back final tables in the two largest tournaments ever held in Michigan was a remarkable feat,” said MSPT President Bryan Mileski. “After those two strong performances, he set his eyes on the prize and chased POY among stiff competition. Players like Keith Heine, Sammy Aweida, and ‘Big’ Al Hedin certainly gave him a run for his money.”

Congratulations to Chris Meyers on winning the Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year!

Season 9 of the MSPT will kick off January 18-21 with a $350 buy-in, $100K GTD Regional Event at Tropicana Evansville, which recently moved from a riverboat to their new land-based casino. The first $1,100 Main Event will be the following weekend at JACK Cleveland, the MSPT’s first-ever stop in Ohio.

Jon Hanner raised to 330,000 from the button, and Ben Marsh called from the big blind.

Marsh checked the flop over to Hanner, who continued for 300,000. Marsh called.

Marsh led out for 330,000 when the fell on the turn. Hanner thought briefly, then made the call.

When the fell on the river, Marsh softly said, “All in,” putting Hanner to the test for his remaining 1.395 million in chips.

Hanner looked uncomfortable, but eventually stuck in a stack of 25k chips in the pot to call.

Marsh turned over for turned trips, and Hanner showed his inferior .

Jon Hanner - Eliminated in Second Place ($62,973)

Jon Hanner raised to 260,000 from the button, and Ben Marsh called from the small blind.

Marsh checked the flop over to Hanner, who continued for 225,000. Marsh check-raised to 580,000, and that did the trick as Hanner folded.

Ben Marsh - 6.525 million (54 bb)
Jon Hanner - 3.435 million (29 bb)

Ben Marsh and Jon Hanner are playing a consistent heads-up game so far, at least pre-flop.

The button has raised to 250,000 and the big blind has called in six consecutive hands, with middling post-flop action.

The feeling out stage continues here as heads-up continues, and stacks are identical to what they were before the break,

Ben Marsh - 6.06 million
Jon Hanner - 3.9 million

Ben Marsh - 6.06 million
Jon Hanner - 3.8 million

Ben Marsh and Jon Hanner are on a ten-minute break. We’ll have exact chip counts shortly.

Ben Marsh - 5.04 million
Jon Hanner - 4.97 million

Jon Hanner raised to 220,000 from the button, then snapped off Thomas Wu when he three-bet shoved for 2.385 million.

Hanner:
Wu:

Wu had been running lucky in these spots, but not when the flop had him completely dead to Hanner’s nut flush. The meaningless and were ran off, and Wu was left with 350,000.

He was able to score one double, then found himself in again against Ben Marsh.

Marsh:
Wu:

Wu needed help, and the flop was a good start, giving him extra outs to a straight.

The turn cost him a few outs to Marsh’s flush draw, and the river sealed Wu’s fate in third.

Thomas Wu - Eliminated in Third Place ($45,383)

Thomas Wu jammed his last 1.15 million from the button, and was called by Jon Hanner in the small blind.

Wu:
Hanner:

“Deja vu?” Hanner said, referencing an earlier, similar spot.

“Deja Wu?” Wu said, grinning.

The flop brought a pair and the lead for Wu, and the turn meant he was looking to dodge ten outs for a double.

He did so when the fell on the river, scoring him another double through Hanner.

Thomas Wu - 2.5 million (25 bb)
Jon Hanner - 2.2 million (22 bb)

Ben Marsh raised to 210,000 from the button, and Thomas Wu three-bet to 650,000 from the small blind. Jon Hanner folded, then Marsh four-bet jammed for 2.57 million. Wu thought for a bit, then called.

Marsh:
Wu:

Marsh’s pair became a trio on the flop, and a quartet on the turn, making the river meaningless. Marsh’s army of ducks gives him over five million in chips.

Ben Marsh - 5.2 million (52 bb)
Thomas Wu - 1.2 million (12 bb)