The MSPT returned to the beautiful mountainside at Bally's Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado, and hosted a 17-trophy Showdown Series which was headlined by its $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event.
A total of 602 entries were tallied through three starting flights and generated a $586,320 prize pool.
On Sunday, 65 players returned for Day 2 action, and after roughly eight hours of action, it was Sherman Wu who came out on top to win the $123,059 top prize and his first MSPT title!
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with 65 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with Paul Gibbons getting off to a hot start after he out-kicked Adam Tschinkel for the first elimination of the day, sending the field into a frenzy.
Eliminations then started like wildfire after MSPT champ Beau "Don K. Nado" Wilshire flopped the case queen to set up Joey Montoya, and Beau Battista would top that after his king-eight suited filled up to drop Matt Langford’s Big Slick.
Coolers across the room would continue starting with Dave Litt hitting a four-card flush with pocket queens to crack MSPT Hall of Famer Umut Ozturk’s pocket kings.
Ozturk would hit a few more road bumps throughout the day only to wind up finding another pair of kings to get his remaining chips in the middle with only to have them come up short once again against Vladas Tamasauskas’ ace-jack suited.
After having his pocket kings fail him once again, Ozturk took a much earlier departure than hoped (22nd Place - $4,212), but the exit also came with a season-high 11th cash which catapulted him to the top of the POY standings and put him just 50 points behind fellow Hall of Famer Josh Reichard (28th Place - $2,746) in the Icon standings.
With some stiff competition continuing to fall, January’s runner-up Jeremey “Woody” Wood was still left in contention, and had his eyes set on hoisting the trophy above his head this time around.
Unfortunately for the hometown legend, his eventful run came to an end after his big blind special was turned the wrong way as he made a 10th place exit for $8,727, setting up final table action.
Final Table action
Once the final table was set, Ken Rabideau sat at the bottom of the counts and found an ace to roll the dice with only to run into Thomas Fuller’s dominating hand to become the first final table elimination.
After that action hand, chips shuffled around the table until top stack Troy VanOrden missed a big flush draw against Gibbon’s pair of aces, leaving him the short stack at the table. VanOrden was able to find a quick double but ultimately was flushed out by Fuller for an eighth place departure.
VanOrden’s exit sparked a fire at the table as the next four eliminations came in quick succession with the first being Corey Dodd.
Dodd started the final table with the chip lead but made a disappointing exit in seventh place after he failed to hit an open-ended straight draw against Wu's made hand of kings.
While Dodd’s chip lead turned into an early exit, Sergio Martinez was able to grind his short stack into a sixth place finish after his ace-nine failed to crack Tamasauskas’ pair of cowboys.
Following Martinez to the payout desk was start of day chip leader, Matthew Rice, who’s roller coaster of a final table came to an end after he failed to hit live cards against Wu.
Tamasauskas would then top Wu’s knockout with a double elimination of his own after he picked up another pair of cowboys to set-up Fuller’s pair ladies in fourth place for $40,974, only to pick-up of pair of ladies of his own to drop Gibbons in third place for $55,046.
After the double elimination, Tamasauskas took a slight chip lead over Wu to start the heads-up battle, but Wu was able to regain the lead and made a flippy call to send Tamasauskas home with a runner-up finish for $75,538 while Wu secured his first MSPT trophy and career payday good for $123,059!
The MSPT is making its way to Hollywood Casino in St. Louis, Missouri, July 30th – August 4th, and is hosting a 9-trophy event which is headlined by the $1,110 Main Event260 being reported by the MSPT live reporting team so make sure to tune in!