For the second time this season, the MSPT traveled to Iowa's Grand Falls Casino for their first Gold Card Series, headlined by the $1,110 Main Event.
A solid turnout of 368 entries was recorded over two days, with 41 players finding their way into Sunday's Day 2 with their eyes set on the title.
The final day saw eight former champs return to the felt, with four of them being Hall of Famers, and after roughly nine hours of play, it was local Siphonh Tran who outlasted the tough field to secure a career payday of $79,960, and his first MSPT title!
“Unbelievable, words can’t describe what I’m feeling right now”, Tran said after his win, “I definitely did not expect this to happen, but it feels good to take the trophy home and keep it local”.
Tran, a Sioux Falls native, has been coming here and playing poker for the past 20 years, and has now earned the title as the MSPT Grand Falls MAin Event Champion!
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with 41 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with defending champ Angela Jordison being the second player to be sent home, while last year’s ninth-place finisher Kevin McMahon followed her to the payout desk as part of the first batch of eliminations.
Following Bjerga to the payout desk was Jacob Long, who was able to add some more points to his name in this year’s tight POY race, while MSPT Hall of Famer Rob WazWaz and the MSPT’s top casher, DJ Buckley, fell in quick succession shortly after.
Fellow Hall of Famer’s Blake Bohn (25th Place - $2,544), & Mark Hodge (22nd Place - $2,944) both deep Day 2 runs, but fell short of a final table appearance while MSPT champ Anthony Scarborough was in the same boat after he was eliminated in brutal fashion to take 19th place exit for $3,416.
The fast-paced action kept rolling, and players like Minnesota’s Jay Chaudhary (18th Place - $3,998), Souix Falls native Terence Reid (17th Place - $3,998), last year’s fifth-place finisher Kevin Berthelsen and 2023 Grand Falls champ Kevin Nguyen (11th Place - $5,815) all fell by the wayside setting up the stacked final table.
Final Table Action
The final table saw two of the eight former champs still left in contention, but last year’s Grand Falls champ Dave Gonia got his chips in the middle with the best hand, only to be straightened out on the turn by Kyle Knudson, to become the first final table elimination.
A few short hands later, “Wild” Bill Romer was able to collect two double-ups to climb the chip counts, only to be the next to fall after he flopped top pair, only to be out-kicked eighth place by Knudson, while final table short stack Ryan Remmes was able to get a few pay jumps before losing a flip to Jon Hanner to be eliminated in seventh place.
Unfortunately for Hanner, he would be next on the chopping block after soon-to-be champ Tran, connected with live cards on the flop to end his run in sixth place for $15,265.
Kniudson and Tran would continue trading sending players to the rail, with Knudson securing the next two eliminations.
He would start by winning a race against Blaise Poupore, sending him home in fifth place exit for $19,990, and then dropping Mark Bloomberg the very next hand in fourth place for $26,532.
Back-to-back Player of the Year Umut Ozturk came into the final table with the second-least amount of chips, but was able to maneuver his way up the payday ladder with a third place finish for $35,982, extending his top spot in the ICON standings, while climbing into the second place spot in the POY race.
After Ozturk’s elimination, the heads-up battle between Knudson and Tran would only last one hand, with Tan out-kincking Knudson in second place for $49,426 while Tran secured his first MSPT title, along with a career payday for $79,960.
This wraps up our coverage of yet another ramazing tournament, so make sure you join us next when we make our way down to the Ameristar in East Chicago, August 12th - 17th, and our reporting team will be on hand providing updates for the $300K GTD $1,110 Indiana State Poker Championship, so make sure to come back!