The MSPT returned to JACK Cleveland Casino for the second and final time this season, hosting a five-event Gold Card festival which was headlined by the $1,110 buy-in, $500K GTD Main Event.
A total of 819 entries were tallied after three starting flights, and on Sunday, 91 players returned to Day 2 action to take their stab at the $792,930 prize pool.
Of those 91 players, seven were past champs on their quest for another Main Event title, and after nearly 14 hours of play, it was Paul Lampl who denied them all while defeating Hall of Famer Josh Reichard heads-up to claim a career score of $154,220, along with his first MSPT title!
“It doesn’t feel real, honestly, it’s crazy,” Lampl stated after his victory. “I’ve played a lot of tournaments over the last 10 years, and I’ve never come close to having a bag like this or a score like this. I mean, I was really starting to give up hope.”
Lampl continued, “But I came here on a whim yesterday, drove from Pittsburgh without a change of clothes, and it’s just really surreal right now.”
It was an emotional victory for Lampl, who, after nearly giving up on the game, decided to gamble on himself and pulled off a victory against one of the most decorated palyers this game has to offer, giving him the drive to continue playing.
“I mean, now that I finally got that first win, it’s definitely a monkey off my back, and I feel like I can now just play without having the pressure of cashing in the back of my head.”
The win not only marked Lampl’s largest career score, but with it, he also received a $3,500 seat into the MSPT Championship Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO), which will be held at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, Nov. 18 – Dec. 2, boasting a $2,000,000 GTD.
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with 91 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with Nick Lanzi losing a big flip against Harold Perez to become the first elimination of the day, while last year’s fifth-place finisher Daniel Wolf and DJ Swartz followed him to the payout desk as part of the first batch of eliminations.
After Swartz hit the deck, a flurry of “payouts” could be heard throughout the room, as handfuls of players were walking to the payout table which included the likes of 2018 Champ Abdul Amer (75th Place – $2,135), two-time MSPT State Champ Mike Estes (74th Place - $2,135), the MSPT’s top casher DJ Buckley (63rd Place - $2,373), Nader Wahdan (39th Place - $2,847) and back-to-back JACK Cleveland final tablist Harold Perez (30th Place - $3,480) all were sent home much sooner than they had hoped.
While players like Spencer Wright (27th Place - $4,508), two-time MSPT Champ Bobby Noel (24th Place - $5,536), WSOP bracelet winner Billy Kopp (22nd Place - $5,5,36), and MSPT Champ Satish Thakur (21st Place - $6,643) continued to hit th the deck by the wayside, two-time Player of the Year and defending Champ Umut Ozturk was making moves in hopes of securing his third title and second this season.
Unfortunately for Ozturk, his journey fell short after his ace-jack was outflopped by Andrew Hoppenjans’ ace-ten, as he took a 14th place finish for 9,490, but the exit made him the fourth player in tour history to earn over $1,000,000 in MSPT career earnings, solidifying his status as one of the top GOATS on the tour.
Final Table Action
It took a little while for the final table to be set, but once it was, action kicked right into gear with a three-way all-in, with MSPT Hall of Famer Reichard picking up a pair of aces to put Jeremy Halaska and Paul Kardules at risk.
While he was able to maintain the lead after the flop, Halaska turned Broadway to secure the pot, sending Kardules home as the first final table elimination, while Brian Hall followed him out the door shortly after.
The fast-paced action would continue with Hoppenjans losing back-to-back all-ins to take a seventh-place finish, while Jeremy Halaska followed him to the payout desk in sixth place for $32,053.
With five players remaining, Ricky Landais sat at the bottom of the chip counts, but was able to gain some traction after securing back-to-back double-ups to send Tom Hanley out the door in fifth place for $39,544.
Unfortunately for Landais, he was next on the chopping block after Lampl turned two-pair to crack his pair of kings, while high-hand freeroll winner Dietrich Boysel was crippled by Reichard’s pocket tens to take a third-place finish for $70,388.
The heads-up battle started with Lampl holding a 2:1 chip advantage over Reichard, and he never really looked back, as he would turn over two-pair after two-pair, and caught a huge bluff to send Reichard home with an uncanny runner-up finish for $94,912, while Lampl walked away with a career score of $154,220 to go along with his first MSPT title!
This wraps up our coverage of another eventful tournament, so make sure you join us when we make our way to back the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago for the Season 17 Indian Poker State Championship, and as always, that will be reported by our live reporting team starting Thursday, August 27th, so make sure to tune in!