The MSPT returned to Riverside Casino for a third and hosted its final $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event of Season 14.attracting 654 Main Event entrants!
On Sunday, only 77 players returned for Day 2 action, and after roughly 12 hours of play, it was Nick Barksdale coming out on top to win the $129,749 top prize and his second MSPT title this year!
“It feels really good”, Barksdale said after his victory, “It was a really tough final table that could have gone in any direction, but I was fortunate enough to walk away with a second title this year.”
Barksdale came into the day holding a top ten stack and had a rollercoaster ride throughout it which eventually led to him taking a top four stack to the final table which cheered on by a great supporting cast.
“It was great having wife here the whole time,” Barksdale continued, “She was able to go to Blackhawk with me earlier in the year when I took that one down, and she doesn’t get to come to many tournaments with me, so this is very unique that she's here again when I win so she’s definitely my good luck charm and I’m glad she was here along with my step-daughter Audrey who was here with her boyfriend Ben (McCoy) who played extremely well at this final table with me.”
With his family here to rail him on, Barksdale was able to finish off half of his remaining eight opponents at the final table enroute to his second MSPT title this year and ended by saying, “I Love this tour, I think all the tournaments are ran fanatically with extremally nice staff, and I just love seeing it continue to grow.”
With 72 slated to get paid, only five players needed to exit before players reached the money. Among those to leave empty-handed were MSPT champ Max Havlish, Mike Estes, Ryan Demeter, and Matt Seiter.
Once the tournament hand-for-hand process, only a few hands were played before Cody Jaeschke jammed into by Scott Moses’ pair of ladies, and the march to the final table began.
Among those to fall along the way, albeit with a payday, were four-time MSPT champ Ken Komberec (10th Place - $9,493), defending champ Ben Pettinger (11th Place - $9,493), Brett “Pops” Reichard (13th Place - $7,595), MSPT champ Derek McMaster (16th Place - $6,329), and DJ Buckley (27th Place - $3,671).
Once the player returned from their dinner break, short stack Darin Utley was able to find a double trough MSPT Hall of Famer Rob WazWaz and got a pay jump after Casey Blakeley was set up by Asa Snyder.
Utley’s good fortune continued as he coolered WazWaz for another double just before Mike Bowersock jammed his pocket threes into soon to bet two-time MSPT champ Barksdale’s pocket queens.
After Bowersock’s elimination, Utley was able to find a pair of lucky ladies himself to climb to the top of the chip counts and watched Joby Steffeusmeier depart in seventh place, while Bou Leuaxay made his exit in sixth place.
Utley’s good fortune would continue after he flushed Ben McCoy’s pocket kings on the turn as he took home a fifth place finish for $32,910.
Unfortunately for Utley, his luck at the final table would run out after he jammed his king-queen off suite into Snyder’s dominating Big Slick and took a fourth-place finish for $43,669.
With three players remaining, Snyder held half the chips in play, but chips shuffled around until MSPT Hall of Famer WazWaz jammed into Barksdale’s pocket queens to take third place for $58,585.
From there, Barksdale held a significant chip advantage over Snyder and was able to win one final race to secure his second MSPT trophy and payday good for $129,740 while Snyder finished runner-up for $79,099.