For the first time this season, the MSPT traveled to Battle Creek Michigan to host the largest poker tournament in the Midwest at FireKeepers Casino, and the turnout didn't disappoint.
The $1,110 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD Main Event was another one for the record books as of 2,717 entries (646 from Day 1a; 983 from 1b; 1,088 from 1c) were tallied, which put it just behind the venue’s previous best field of 2,883 last October.
After two long days of action, Michigan native Kevin Oswald was able to claim the top spot for his first MSPT title and a cool $234,422!
“This feels awesome”, Oswald said after his victory, “I’ve been coming here for the last three years every May, so this is just an amazing felling to be able to win it.”
While the win marks the first cash on the tour for the heavy equipment operator, the game of poker has been a part of his life for the past few decades.
“I work a full-time job but have gotten together with a group of people every Friday for the last 20 years, some of us for the last 25 years”, Oswald stated after his win.
Oswald’s vast knowledge of the game came in handy throughout the final day as he was able to steamroll the competition enroute to quarter-milly victory.
“I just want to say thank you to the MSPT for always putting on such a great event and I look forward to the next one.”
Day 2 Action
The final day saw 325 players return to action but only 279 of them were slated to get paid, meaning, a couple handfuls of players needed to exit before players reached the money.
Among those to leave empty-handed were WSOP bracelet winner Will Givens, Linda Hackney, Sarah Stefan, and MSPT champ Dan Sepiol to name a few.
The fast-paced action kept rolling, as only one level needed to pass before Blake Whittington dropped MSPT champ Richard Bai on the money bubble, leaving the remaining players in the money.
After the bubble burst, the march to the final table began. Among those to fall along the way, albeit with a payday were MSPT champ Sean Hinton (25th Place - $12,643), MSPT Hall of Famer Pat Steele (21st Place - $18,438), MSPT champ’s Chris Meyers (20th Place - $18,438), & Michael Berk (16th Place – $21,862), and Matt “Short Stack Wizard” Porter (10th Place - $31,608).
Final Table action
Once players took their seats at the final table, it didn't take long for action to kick into gear after Nick Davidson called off his stack holding a made hand of tens after MSPT champ Curtis Vierstraete jammed for more holding a better made of kings.
Davidson failed to improve and became the first final table elimination, while Buck Bucceri fell to the same after jamming his nines into soon to be champ Oswald’s pocket queens.
Shortly after Bucceri’s departure, Daniel Schill found himself in a race situation against Oswald only to fall behind on the turn and made a seventh place exit for $66,113.
After Schill fell by the wayside, Vierstraete found himself calling off his remaining stack on the turn holding a made hand of seven only to have Steve Wangler roll over a flopped pair of eights.
Vierstraete was unable to pull ahead and departed in sixth place for $84,288 which put him as the front runner in the POY race midway through the season.
With five players remaining, WSOP bracelet winner Rob Mitchell decided it was time to get off his rollercoaster ride as he failed to connect with live cards against Wangler and made a fifth place exit for $106,677.
Four-handed play went didn't last very long after Brad Sailor brought up an even chop discussion which saw Oswald claim his first MSPT title while Sailor climbed into the top 10 on the MSPT career earnings board with $523,458.
This wraps up our coverage of yet another amazing turnout at FireKeepers so make sure you join us when we make our way back to the Venetian, Las Vegas for back-to-back events May 25th - June 5th!