The MSPT returned to Riverside Casino and hosted the Iowa State Poker Championship which was definitely one for the memory books.

A total of 774 entries were tallied and generated a $749,280 prize pool.

On Sunday, 91 players returned for Day 2 action, and after roughly 12 hours of action, it was Ben Pettinger coming out on top to win the $149,856 top prize and his first MSPT title.

Season 14 MSPT Iowa State Poker Championship Final Table Results

With 81 slated to get paid, only 10 players needed to exit before players reached the money.

Among those to leave empty-handed were MSPT champs Joe Matheson, & Ken Pates, Dan Dombrowski, and Joe Bangart just to name a few.

Players continued to drop like wildfire, so fast that the hand-for-hand process never occurred and the march to the final table began.

Among those to fall along the way, albeit with a payday, were Steve Buell (11th Place - $11,164), Brad Sailor (12th Place - $11,164), MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard (13th Place - $8,991), four-time MSPT champ Dan Bekavac (26th Place - $4,346), and defending Riverside champ Michael Berk (39th Place - $2,772).

Final Table Action

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Once the players returned from their dinner break, it only took three hands before Greg Asche jammed his short stack into the middle holding a made hand of fives and was called by Pettinger holding ace-queen.

Asche's fives held strong until the river when Pettinger made Broadway making him the first elimination at the final table.

After Asche's departure, fellow short-stack Bert Sampson got his remaining chips in with a pair of threes only to run into Ken Baime's pocket tens.

In the same level, Bruce Simmons was involved in a three-way pot and got his 1.4 million stack in the middle with bottom pair and was called by Pettinger holding top pair and kicker. Simmons was unable to pull ahead and departed in seventh place.

Two-time MSPT champ Baime decided he rode his short stack long enough, getting it in with a king-four off suit from the small blind and was called by the MSPT Hall of Famer Blake Bohn from the big blind holding a dominating king-nine suited.

Baime was able to pull ahead after pairing his four on the flop, but Bohn also picked up a gutshot straight draw and completed it on the river to eliminate Baime in sixth place.

After being able to climb the pay ladder, John McNee's trip queens were flushed by Bohn on the river and made his departure in fifth place for $38,213.

Four-handed action saw Bohn start accumulating chips and held almost half of what was in play when 2021 MSPT Riverside champ Tim Gundrum jammed the turn with king-high and was called by Pettinger with a pair of sevens and a flush draw.

Gundrum wasn’t able to connect with the river, and was denied his second title as he took a fourth-place finish for $50,127.

Pettinger was able to close the gap between Bohn and himself after Gundrum's elimination while Benjamin Frye laid wait to pounce on Bohn's aggressive style only to jam into his pocket kings and ended up taking an third place finish for $75,435.

From there, the heads-up match saw chips shuffle between the two players with Pettinger winning two key pots to secure his first MSPT trophy and payday good for $149,856 while the MSPT Hall of Famer finished runner-up for $92,156.

The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) is making its way back to Hollywood Casino St. Louis, Missouri August 1st - 6th for its $300K GTD $1,110 Main Event, and the MSPT live reporting team will be on hand providing updates for the so make sure to come back!.