The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) returned to historic Deadwood for the 2023 MSPT Deadwood Shootout @SilveradoCasino!
The $1,110 buy-in, $200K GTD Main Event saw a total of 374 entries (160 from Day 1a; 214 from 1b) were tallied, generating a $361,280 prize pool.
On Sunday, 48 players returned for Day 2 action, and after the dust settled, it was Montana native Leo Valenzuela coming away with the lion's share of the prize pool and his first MSPT title!
The win marks Valenzuela’s fourth cash on the tour with his first dating back in 2019 when he finished in eighth place at the Golden Gates Main Event and has since started putting more time into his game.
After spending 12-years on the railroad, Valenzuela decided to take a step away after an accident on the job and decided to pursue his passion for poker.
“I quit my job about a year and a half ago after suffering an unfortunate accident on the job”, Valenzuela continued to say after his victory, “This is my first good solid score since then and this just lets me know I can do this and I’m on the right track with the decision I made.”
2023 MSPT Deadwood Shootout Table Results
| Place |
Player |
Prize |
POY |
| 1 |
Leo Valenzuela |
$79,482 |
1,500 |
| 2 |
Mark Steffen |
$49,134 |
1,300 |
| 3 |
Tom Hammers |
$35,767 |
1,200 |
| 4 |
Umut Ozturk |
$26,373 |
1,100 |
| 5 |
William Leavitt |
$19,870 |
1,000 |
| 6 |
Ralph Kingan |
$15,174 |
900 |
| 7 |
Mike Estes |
$11,922 |
800 |
| 8 |
Taylor Hughes |
$9,393 |
700 |
| 9 |
Lawrence Vigil |
$6,864 |
600 |
Day 2 Action
With 48 slated to get paid, only three players needed to exit before players reached. Josh Matti and Roy Kohler were the first two players to fall with Wes Cannon tripping-up Igor Gavrilov on bubble shortly after, leaving the remaining players in the money.
Among those to fall along the way, albeit with a payday, were Alex Wheeler (12th place - $5,780), Mikiyo Aoki (15th - $4,691), MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard (17th place - $3,974), defending shootout champ Chris Burke (19th place - $3,396), and 2023 South Dakota State Poker Champion John Schroer (21st place - $3,396).
Final Table Action
With food being served in the poker room, there was no need for a dinner break and players jumped right into action.
Lawrence Vigil found himself at a second final table at Deadwood this season but unlike his first, he become the first elimination after he failed to complete his flush draw against 2021 shootout champ Mark Steffen.
A few minutes later, Taylor Hughes hit the rail in eighth place after being outkicked by Valenzuela while business owner Mike Estes got short stack in the middle the very next level only to come up short against Valenzuela as well.
Another full level would pass before Ralph Kingan called off his remaining stack after flopping a top pair or jacks only to have Steffen roll over a made hand of aces. Kingan was unable to improve and departed in sixth place for $15,174.
With five players remaining, William Leavitt felt it was time to get his short stack in the middle from the small blind only to have Tom Hammers wake-up with aces in the big blind. Leavitt was unable to crack Hammers’ aces and took a fifth place exit for $19,870.
Four-handed action saw Steffen and Valenzuela holding identical stacks with MSPT champ Umut Ozturk sitting at the bottom of the counts.
Ozturk didn’t have to wait long to find a hand to roll with only to find out Valenzuela was holding a lucky hand of sevens and rivered quads to send Ozturk home in fourth place for $26,373.
With his final table finish Ozturk, padded his POY standings while Valenzuela was able to take the chip lead and from there, he continued to pile the chips until he had them all, as he eliminated Hammers in third place for $35,767, and followed that with denying Steffen his second shootout title ($49,134) leaving him the victor as he collected $79,482 to go along with the coveted Deadwood Shootout custom trophy!