The MSPT returned to Ameristar East Chicago for the second and final time this season to host an 11-trophy event series which was headlined by the $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event 269.
The headliner saw a total of 524 entries (94 from Day 1a; 179 from 1b; 251 from 1c) tallied, generating a $508,280 prize pool.
On Sunday, 56 players returned for Day 2 action, and after the dust settled, it was start of day chip leader Tim Thorp who rose to the top securing his first MSPT title, along with his best career score of $108,184!
“It’s really special to be able to play this game with joy, and that’s all I did today,” Throp said after his victory.
The remote tax account has been in town helping out his family but was able to take a step away from his duties for the weekend to become an MSPT champion.
“You know, it’s funny how you don’t think you need any validation”, Thorp stated after looking at his trophy, “But it is nice winning a big tournament because now you don’t have to prove it”.
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with all 56 players already in the money with action kicking right into gear with Aaron Flores able start-off with a double in the very first hand of the day while Buck Bucceri (52nd Place - $2,264), Wild Bill Romer (46th Place - $2,466), Yoon Kim (44th Place - $2,466), and Thai Dinh (43rd Place - $2,466) were part of the first batch of eliminations.
With players continuing to make their way to the payout line, Mike Estes along with MSPT champs Chris Moon, Curtis Vierstraete, and Umut Ozturk all came into Day 2 with above-average chips stacks in hopes of closing the gap between them and MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard in this season’s POY race.
Of that group, Vierstraete would be the first to exit (20th Place - $4,579) adding 300 points to his name while Estes would follow shortly behind him (18th Place - $5,032) adding 400 points.
A quick flurry of eliminations would then occur sending Ryan Scully (16th Place - $5,032), Anh Nguyen (14th Place - $6,038), Brad Sailor (12th Place - $7,548), and Dustin Ethridge (11th Place - $7,548) all to the rail setting the stage for the final table.
Final Table Action
Once players took their seats, a full orbit was needed before the start-of-day short stack Flores moved all in with a suited ace-jack and was called by soon to be champ Thorp holding a pair of queens.
Flores was able to pick up a flush draw on the turn, but he wasn’t able to crack Thorp’s pair of ladies as he became the first final table elimination.
With two players left in the POY race, one had to go, and unfortunately for Ozturk, his name was called at the hands of fellow newly inducted Hall of Famer Moon.
Ozturk got it in with a made hand of fives only to have Moon roll over a pair of aces and was unfortunately sent to the rail in eighth place.
While the exit was earlier than hoped, Ozturk was still able to reclaim the top spot in the tight POY race while tying his record-setting 17th cash this season.
A full level was needed before Andy Hammell was flushed out in seventh place by Andrew Keeney while Ben Krauss followed him to the payout desk in sixth place for $20,603.
After Krauss’ departure, Moon sat at the bottom of the chip counts, but he was able to win a big race against Nic DiTrapani to get back to the chip average while DiTrapani was left with just one big blind.
DiTrapani only had a few hands to see for free before his remaining stack went into the middle with him taking a fifth place departure for $27,172 which marked his 19th cash on the tour and brought his MSPT career total to $469,251.
With four players remaining, the once final table chip leader Keeney found himself at the bottom of the chip counts and got them in the middle with an ace-ten off suit only to be called by Thorp holding a dominating Big Slick.
Keeney was unable to pull ahead on the runout and had his tournament come to an end in fourth place for $36,229.
Three-handed action started with Thorp holding a 2:1 chip advantage over his final two opponents but ended up taking a hit which saw the chip stacks go even between the three players.
Chips then continued to shuffle between the three players for a few levels until Throp started gaining some traction once again which saw him set up Snyder in third place for $47,903 while out-flopping Moon to send him home runner-up for $66,471.
This wraps up our coverage of another eventful tournament, so make sure you join us when we make our way back to Venetian Las Vegas December 1st - 4th for the $1,100 Main Event 270 with full coverage being provided by the MSPT reporting team!