After just under 12 hours of play, the returning field of 91 has been reduced to just one player. Ohio’s Matthew Schulte ended up defeating Nicholas Pupillo heads up for his first MSPT trophy and $118,874.

“I ran super hot at this final table,” said the newly crowned champion “and that is usually what it takes.” The poker tournament regular, has cashes dating back to 2009 on Hendon mob that sees total earnings sit at $547,787 prior to this win. With this win, he sees his biggest first place score.

“I can’t lose on the summer,” Schulte joked referring to his schedule of tournaments “so that’s a positive.” When talking about the three handed match he said “I’ve played with Nick before, he’s really good, and I’ve never played with Adam before, but he also played really solid.” When asked about the following MSPT tournament he said “you won’t see me tomorrow, but I’ll play Day 1C.”

Final Table Results

Final Day Recap

The day saw the elimination of many MSPT greats. Players like Josh Reichard, Aaron Massey, Kirk Acevedo,James Romero, Josh Remitio, Farah Galfond, and Umut Ozturk all saw their chances for an MSPT title vanish before them.

The final table bubble boy became Kenny Hallaert, who moved in his final couple of big blinds from the cutoff with jack-ten offsuit, only for Adam Walton to call on the button with king-queen suited. Walton made two pair and Hallaert found his best MSPT cash for his tenth place finish for $12,028.

Final Table Action

First to go at the final table was Cero Zuccarello who after doubling up Nicholas Pupillo early into the final table, found himself as one of the shortest stacks. He moved in his final seven big blinds in from the button with pocket sixes and Pupillo called in the big blind with ace-ten. An ace-high board saw Pupillo take down the pot and Zuccarello finished his run at this MSPT in ninth place for $14,871.

Cody Wiegmann spent much of the final two tables on a short stack, but was able to navigate himself up the pay ladder a few times until there were eight players left. Wiegmann moved in his final chips from early position with king jack offsuit which saw action fold over to Al-Farouk Moyosore Obi in the big blind who called with pocket nines. No help was seen on the runout and Wiegmann’s eighth place finish earned him $18,586.

Michael Wang finished his run in seventh place in a massive chip lead determining pot. He moved in 29 big blinds from the button with ace-nine offsuit, only for Adam Walton to wake up with ace-jack offsuit and call. The jack-high flop and brick turn saw no help come to Wang and he collected $23,480 for his deep run.

The next one out the door was William Latta who moved his final 17 big blinds in with pocket sevens over Matthew Schulte’s open. Schulte called with ace-queen suited and connected with the ace on the turn to take down a massive pot and Latta exited the tournament in sixth place for $29,980.

Al-Farouk Moyosore Obi moved in his final nine big blinds in from the small blind with king-nine offsuit, only for Walton to wake up with king-ten suited to call and flop a ten. The turn and river brought no additional help to Obi as he exited the tournament in fifth place for $38,684.

David Jackson ended his run in fourth place. After being down as the shortest stack, he moved in his final nine big blinds in from first position with ace-ten suited. Schulte called in the big blind with ace-four suited and flopped a pair of fours to pull ahead and hold up through the runout. Schulte hopped to second in chips and Jackson collected $50,437 for his impressive run in the tournament.

Walton began three handed play with just under half of the chips in play, but his fortunes would change as he lost with ace-queen against Schulte’s pocket nines for half of the chips in play. A few more pots going his opponent’s directions would see him drop down to the shortest stack in the counts. After defending his big blind with nine eight offsuit and flopping a straight draw, he would move all in for his last seven big blinds which Schulte called with ten seven suited for a pair of sevens. The straight draw did not complete and Walton exited the tournament in third place for $66,443.

Heads up play went very quick as within a few hands, both players got their chips in on the turn. Schulte had turned three nines on a nine high board, while Pupillo had flopped a straight with a flush draw to boot. The board pairing on the river gave Schulte a full house and Pupillo ended his impressive run in this MSPT in second place for $88,426.

Congratulations to Matthew Schulte for his first MSPT win for $118,874. Thank you to everyone who played and thank you for reading along with us here at MSPT.com. Stay tuned tomorrow for coverage of Day 1B of the $1,600 MSPT Venetian Main Event.