Golden Gates Casino - Black Hawk, CO
November 1-4, 2018
Main Event: 757 Entrants
Adam Wilbur Ships MSPT $360 Regional, Takes Home $45,426
The second trip for the MSPT to Golden Gates Casino in Season 9 started off with a $360 Regional Event – the eighth ever held at the venue – and saw 757 runners hit the felt.
Adam Wilbur, a forty-three year old Software Engineer from Lakewood, Colorado, navigated a tough final table that included the red hot Rich Dixon and a former champ Stephen Zipprich to secure his first title and the largest score of his career.
“I feel fantastic, man!” Wilbur said after the win. ”Words can’t even describe this. I’ve come close a few times, I finished fifth at the final table of the main event here for MSPT, and it was after going to the final table with a gigantic chip stack. So, it’s a little redemption for me, and I’m feeling great.”
Wilbur entered Day 2 25/116 with a 195,500 stack, and he once again had a big stack going into the final table, sitting in second-place with 2.2 million chips. Unlike his last MSPT final table, where he found himself coolered for a monster pot by three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto, he enjoyed a fairly smooth ride down to heads-up play against David Ramig. One hand in particular stood out to Wilbur on the path to the final two.
“Early in the final table with seven or eight players left, there was a small raise for about two, two-and-a-half big blinds, a raise and a re-raise and I look down at pocket jacks. I thought about it for a little while and just mucked it. Ultimately everyone folded, but I honestly think it was a good fold, and a chip saved is sometimes the key hand for you, so in this case it was a good fold I made.”
Although Wilbur started with an almost 4:1 chip lead, Ramig doubled up twice to even things out. Then, it was Wilbur’s turn to be on the right end of a cooler, as Wilbur, holding ace-three, flopped a pair of aces, but Ramig, holding queen-five, turned trip queens. The ace on the river was gin for Wilbur, and he check-raised Ramig all-in, who made the call with his inferior full house, shipping the pot and the title to Wilbur.
“I’m going to be back here next week to play the Main Event. You guys have been great, Golden Gates Casino staff has been fantastic, and I just couldn’t be happier.”
When asked about any additional plans for the money? “I’ll probably buy a new mountain bike.”
Of the 757 entrants that fired in this $360 Regional Event (including a whopping 360 on Day 1C) 116 made it to Day 2, and 81 walked away with a portion of the prize pool. Some notables include Day 1A chip leader Michael Fallis (12th - $3,384), Danny Gonzales (15th - $2,725), Michigan’s Cooper Wanty (22nd - $1,612), Day 1C chip leader Samantha Simmons (27th - $1,317), former MSPT Golden Gates $360 Regional Champ Mike Maruna (31st - $999), WSOP Colossus II champ Ben Keeline (45th - $840), Ryan Dodson (62nd - $727), MSPT Golden Gates $360 Regional Event runners-up Tom Bouziden (67th - $681) and Drew Schulz (73rd - $636), Kevin “1$ickDisea$E” Eyster (76th - $636) and former MSPT Golden Gates $360 Regional Champ Bobby Sanoubane (78th - $636).