Silverado Casino

The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) returned to historic Deadwood for the 2023 MSPT South Dakota State Poker Championship at Silverado-Franklin Casino.

The $1,110 buy-in, $200K GTD Main Event was one to remember as a total of 434 entries (218 from Day 1a; 216 from 1b) were tallied, generating a $419,480 prize pool.

On Sunday, 53 players returned for Day 2 action, and after the dust settled, it was Wyoming native John Schroer coming away with the lion's share of the prize pool and his first MSPT title!

Schroer’s no stranger to making deep runs at Deadwood, as this was his third final table appearance dating back to 2021.

"You know, I never thought would win one of these,” Schroer stated after his win, “I wanted the trophy badly so I’m just very happy to walk away Champion.”

Schroer's first MSPT cash came back in 2021 when he finished second here at Deadwood for $73,201 and since then has accumulated just over $170,000 in MSPT earnings.

2023 MSPT Deadwood South Dakota State Poker Championship Final Table Results

Day 2 Action

With 45 slated to get paid, only a handful of players needed to exit before players reached. Among those to leave empty-handed were Cash Hepper, Mark Fink, and Monty Pederson, just to name a few.

With players continuing to drop like flys, a double elimination occurred leaving the remaining players in the money without a hand-for-hand process.

Among those to fall along the way, albeit with a payday, were Austin Gates (10th - $6,712), Harold Brenden (16th - $4,614), MSPT champ Rodger Johnson (30th - $2,517), and DJ Buckley (43rd - $2,307).

Final Table action

Once players returned from their quick 10-minute break, inaugural MSPT St. Louis champ Umut Ozturk found himself in a cooler situation as he jammed his pocket kings into Lawrence Vigil's pocket aces to become the first final table elimination.

A few minutes later, Tom Estes hit the rail after losing a race with ace-queen against Jared Bonn's pocket jacks.

After players tightened up, a full three levels passed when Bonn jammed his short stack in the middle only to run into Kevin Ellis' pocket aces and Weston Wells would follow shortly after he failed to win a battle of the blinds against soon to be champ Schroer.

With five players remaining, Campbell held a slight edge over the rest, but Schroer tightened that difference after he stompped Vigil's Big Slick in fifth place for $23,071.

Four-handed action saw Campbell, Schroer, and Ellis holding majority of the chip in play, leaving short stack John Cap in dire need to make a move and he did with middle connectors.

Unfortunately for Cap, Campbell would wake up holding a dominating hand and send Cap on his way in fourth place for $30,622.

Three-handed action started with Campbell holding almost half of the chips in play but he lost the lead to Schroer after he was flushed out on the river.

From there, Schroer continued to pile the chips until he had them all, as he eliminated Ellis in the place for $41,529 with a made hand of tens, and Campbell was sent home in second place for $70,000 leaving Schroer the victor as he collected $79,337 to go along with the coveted Deadwood custom trophy.

The MSPT will be heading back to the Venetian in Las Vegas for back-to-back events being held May 26th - June 1st so make sure to tune in for our live coverage for both events!

Michael Campbell was eliminated in 2nd place and took home $70,000* for his efforts.

John Schroer raised all in from the button and Kevin Ellis called off his short stack from the small blind.

Kevin Ellis:
John Schroer:

Ellis was at risk needing help but the runout wasn’t enough to keep his Main Event rolling and he was eliminated in third place for $41,529.

John Schroer - 8,000,000
Michael Campbell - 2,855,000
Kevin Ellis - Eliminated

Michael Campbell raised from the small blind and John Schroer defended his big blind to see a flop.

Campbell continued for 275,000 and Schroer called bringing the turn.

Both players checked, and the completed the board on the river.

Campbell check-called a 550,000 bet from Schroer only to muck his hand after seeing Schroer roll over for the flush.

John Schroer - 5,100,000
Michael Campbell - 3,300,000
Kevin Ellis - 2,655,000

John Cap got his short stack in the middle from the small blind and Michael Campbell looked him up from the big blind.

John Cap:
Michael Campbell:

Cap didn’t like seeing he was dominated and for good reason as the runout ended his Main Event in fourth place for $30,622.

Michael Campbell - 5,000,000
John Cap - Eliminated

Lawrence Vigil raised to 360,000 from the button, and then called off his 1,000,000 stack after John Schroer three-bet jammed for more from the small blind.

Lawrence Vigil:
John Schroer:

Vigil had Schroer dominated but had a sweat after the flop gave Schroer a wheel draw.

The turn kept Vigil’s sweat dripping as Schroer added more outs, and the river was one of them as it sent Vigil to the rail in fifth place for $23,071.

John Schroer - 3,200,000
Lawrence Vigil - Eliminated

Action folded to Weston Wells who raised all in for 1,035,000 from the small blind and John Schroer looked him up from the big blind.

Weston Wells:
John Schroer:

Wells was behind holding two live cards but the runout paired Schroer’s six and sent Wells home in sixth place for $17,618.

John Schroer - 2,300,000
Weston Wells - Eliminated

Jared Bonn open-jammed from the cutoff and Kevin Ellis called from the small blind.

Jared Bonn:
Kevin Ellis:

Bonn was behind needing some help and found some after the flop gave him an open-ended straight draw.

The turn paired Bonn giving him more outs heading to the river, but the paired the board and sent him on his way.

Kevin Ellis - 2,000,000
Jared Bonn - Eliminated

Kevin Ellis raised from under the gun and action folded to John Schroer who defended his big blind to see a flop.

Schroer check-called a continuation bet from Ellis and the turn was checked by both players bringing the river.

Schroer led out for 200,000 and showed after Ellis called to win the pot with trip kings.

Kevin Ellis - 2,000,000
John Schroer - 1,600,000