Potawatomi Casino

Greg Himmelbrand Wins Potawatomi Casino Main Event to Become Two-Time MSPT Champ ($125,598)

The first MSPT Potawatomi of Season 9 – the eighth Main Event held in downtown Milwaukee since 2014 – attracted 635 entries (312 on Day 1A, 323 on 1B) and saw poker pro Greg Himmelbrand walk away the victor for $125,958. Not only that, he captured his second MSPT title in just his third-ever event to become the tenth player to win multiple titles in the tour’s nine-season history.

“Feeling good,” Himmelbrand said after the win. “This is the third one of these I’ve played and I’ve won two. It’s pretty sick. I heard Milwaukee was a cool city so I wanted to check it out. The tour is run really well. I like how interactive everyone is, so I love to come out and play when I can. With the big prize pools, I’m always down.”

The 35-year-old Himmelbrand, who is based out of New York but previously attended the Ohio State University, previously won the MSPT Maryland Live! back in 2015, good for $72,910. The win, which was the third largest score of his career, helped move the grinder past $1.6 million in lifetime poker earnings.

Final Table Results
1 Greg Himmelbrand (Bayside, NY) $125,958
2 Matthew Buhler (Madison, WI) $76,806
3 Craig Trost (Madison, WI) $57,144
4 James Karaminis (Barrington, IL) $42,397
5 Kevin Saul (Aurora, IL) $31,951
6 Josh Hergott (Highland Park, IL) $23,964
7 Umut Ozturk (St. Paul, MN) $18,434
8 Ken Baime (Glenview, IL) $14,747
9 Steve Alonzo (Beloit, WI) $11,060
10 Cole Tautges (Madison, WI) $9,217

Day 2 saw 113 players return to action, but with only 72 slated to get paid, 41 would leave empty-handed. They included 2016 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champion Andy Rubinberg, MSPT Season 7 Meskwaki champ Keith Heine, and bubble boy Mark Morris, who fell in 73^rd place when his ace-king failed to win a race against Devin Looney’s pocket nines.

Once the bubble burst, the in-the-money finishes came quick and included World Poker Tour champ Ravi Raghavan (12^th - $9,217), Minnesota’s Kou Vang (28^th - $2,704), Chip Leader Coaching member Mike Younan (41^st - $2,396), World Series of Poker Circuit Potawatomi Main Event champ Keven Stammen (44^th - $2,396), MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup (53^rd - $2,273), and Martin Yates (72^nd - $2,028).

Final Table Action

Himmelbrand actually began the final table as the short stack with just 560,000 going into Level 27 (25,000/50,000/5,000), while both Kevin “Bel0wA0ve” Saul and MSPT Season 8 Potawatomi Regional Event champ Craig Trost both had 2.1 and 2.8 million respectively.

Madison’s Cole Tautges was the first to go after getting his last 10 big blinds in with the A♦J♥ only to run it into the A♣Q♠ of Himmelbrand, who by that time had worked his stack up a bit. After that, Trost dispatched Steve Alonzo in ninth place after both players flopped two pair. Unfortunately for Alonzo, his kings and fours were no good against Trost’s kings and queens.

Former MSPT champ Ken Baime, who took down the Season 5 stop at Majestic Star Casino, took his leave in eighth place after jamming his short stack with the K♠10♥ and failing to get lucky against Trost’s A♥K♥ on an A♣4♦9♣2♠3♥ run out.

Umut Ozturk, who was at his second final table of the season, bowed out in seventh place after his ace-queen didn’t win a race against Matthew Buhler’s pocket sixes. The finish gave Ozturk 1,000 Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 9 Player of the Year points, which along with the 600 he earned at Canterbury Park tied him in fifth place on the leaderboard.

It was at this point that Himmelbrand really caught fire and went from a shorter stack to the big one. During this time, Buhler once again picked up pocket sixes and held against Josh Hergott’s ace-nine of diamonds to bust the latter in sixth place.

Saul was the next to go after three-bet shoving with the 4♣4♥ and failing to win a flip against the K♥Q♣ of Trost, who made trips after the board ran out Q♠A♠2♣2♥Q♥. Saul earned $31,951 for his fifth-place finish.

In the very next hand, James Karamanis, a lawyer who graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison, shoved his last 10 bbs from the small blind holding the K♥J♦ and Himmelbrand called with the K♦10♣ out of the big. Karamanis was primed to double and looked good on both the Q♠K♠2♠ flop and K♣ turn. The only way he’d lose was to a ten on the river, and unfortunately for him, that’s what came when the 10♣ spiked.

Trost then lost a huge flip with ace-queen against Himmelbrand’s pocket fives and was left with crumbs. Buhler busted him in third place shortly thereafter, good for $57,144. That allowed Himmelbrand to take a more than 2-1 chip lead into heads-up play against Buhler, a member of the popular Madison Poker Community Facebook group.

In what would be the final hand of the tournament, which took place in Level 32 (80,000/160,000/20,000), Himmelbrand raised to 360,000 on the button with the Q♦2♦ and Buhler defended with the J♣10♦.

When the flop came down Q♣7♣5♣, Buhler check-called a bet of 375,000 and the dealer burned and turned the Q♥. Buhler checked, Himmelbrand bet 700,000, and Buhler check-raised all in for 3.305 million.

“Ughhhhh, this is so dumb,” a frustrated Himmelbrand said. He then thought through the hand for a bit before calling. That meant Buhler needed to catch a non-deuce club on the river to survive, but it wasn’t meant to be as the 9♥ bricked. Buhler took home $76,806 for his efforts, a far cry better than his previous best score of $4,546.

“The only hands I’m beating are naked club bluffs,” Himmelbrand reflected on the final hand. “I would have called earlier, I even said I might be nit rolling, but the problem was he double checked his cards deliberately, so it made me hesitate a bit thinking he might’ve flopped a flush. I just thought he has one club enough of the times for me to call.”

Season 9 of the MSPT heats up in April beginning with a $1,100 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event at Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado this weekend. One week later, the tour heads to Silverado Franklin in Deadwood for the $1,100 buy-in 2018 South Dakota State Poker Championship. Then, the weekend of April 27-29, the MSPT returns to Minnesota’s Canterbury Park for another $1,100 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event.

Matt Buhler Eliminated In 2nd Place ($76,806)

Greg Himmelbrand raised to 360,000 on the button, and Matt Buhler called in the big blind.

The flop saw Buhler check, Himmelbrand bet 375,000, and Buhler call.

The hit the turn, and Buhler checked again. Himmelbrand bet 700,000, and Buhler check-jammed for 3.305 million.

“Ughhhhhh...this is so dumb.” Himmelbrand said. “I may be nit-rolling you here,” Himmelbrand warned Buhler. Finally, he called.

Himmelbrand:
Buhler:

“I never thought you’d have a queen there!” Buhler said. His hopes of doubling into the chip lead were pinned to hitting a club.

The river was the , and with that, Buhler is our runner-up here at MSPT Potawatomi.

Matt Buhler - Eliminated in 2nd place for $76,806

Heads Up Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Greg Himmelbrand	8700000	3600000
Matthew Buhler	4000000	5600000

Craig Trost Eliminated In 3rd Place ($57,144)

One hand after losing a flip for 7.5 million with failing to improve against the of Greg Himmelbrand, Craig Trost was all-in for this last 460,000 from the big blind after a raise to 425,000 on the button from Matt Buhler and a call from Himmelbrand. Both Buhler and Himmelbrand called, then checked down a board.

Buhler tabled , besting the of Himmelbrand and the of Trost, and Trost’s quest for both an MSPT Regional and Main Event Championship in the same venue comes up two spots short.

Craig Trost - Eliminated in 3rd place for $57,144

Greg Himmelbrand Doubles Through Matt Buhler

Matt Buhler raised to 300,000, then said, “I’ll gamble with you,” and called when Greg Himmelbrand three-bet jammed for 1.83 million from the big blind.

Buhler:
Himmelbrand:

Buhler made a good call with his king-jack, but the flop gave Himmelbrand top pair and the lead. Buhler had flopped an open-ended straight draw and still had an over, though.

“Always a sweatballs!” Himmelbrand said.

The on the turn meant Buhler now could only win with the straight draw. “Board pair!” Himmelbrand said.

That’s exactly what happened when the hit the river, prompting Craig Trost to say, “How do you do that?”

Greg Himmelbrand - 3.7 million
Matt Buhler - 2.8 million

Updated Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Craig Trost	6360000	3000000
Matthew Buhler	4415000	4600000
Greg Himmelbrand	1855000	5000000

James Karamanis Eliminated In 4th Place ($42,397)

James Karamanis jammed his last 1.1 million from the small blind, and Greg Himmelbrand called from the big blind.

Karamanis:
Himmelbrand:

Karamanis kept his lead on a flop, and the turn meant Himmelbrand needed a ten for the victory and an ace, queen or deuce for a chop. Himmelbrand binked the on the river, and Karamanis leaves us in fourth.

Greg Himmelbrand - 5 million
James Karamanis - Eliminated in 4th place for $42,397

Kevin "Bel0wAb0ve" Saul Eliminated In 5th Place ($31,951)

Craig Trost raised to 275,000, then called the three-bet shove of Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul for 1.4 million in the big blind.

Trost:
Saul:

Trost found a pair on the flop, and the turn meant the former WPT Champ Saul needed a four to cripple Trost. The river instead improved Trost to a full house, and Saul bows out in fourth.

Craig Trost - 3 million
Kevin Saul - Eliminated in 5th place for $31,951

Joshua Hergott Eliminated In 6th Place ($23,964)

Joshua Hergott jammed for 1.01 million from the lojack, and Matt Buhler called in the cutoff.

Hergott:
Buhler:

“Sixes worked before!” Buhler said.

The flop kept Buhler in front, and the turn meant Buhler needed to dodge an ace, nine or king to get his second KO of the final table with sixes. He did just that on a river.

Matt Buhler - 4.6 million
Joshua Hergott - Eliminated in 6th place for $23,964

Greg Himmelbrand Continues His Hot Streak

Greg Himmelbrand raised to 210,000 from the cutoff, and Matt Buhler called in the big blind.

The flop saw Buhler check, and Himmelbrand bet 225,000. Buhler made the call.

The hit the turn, and Buhler checked again. Himmelbrand fired a second barrel this one for 425,000.

“Finally made a pair, eh?” Buhler said, then folded.

Matt Buhler - 3.6 million
Greg Himmelbrand - 3.5 million