Dan Goepel has made a habit of cashing in Mid-States Poker Tour events in his home state of Wisconsin. On Sunday, he notched his fourth score on the tour and it was a big one. He took down the MSPT Potawatomi Main Event in Milwaukee, topping a field of 462 entries to pocket $114,117 in prize money.
"I'm a firm believer that when it gets heads up, the dealer does most of the work," Goepel said after his win.
If that's the case, the dealer did quite a job in propelling Goepel to victory. He entered heads-up play against Travis Lauson at about a 2:1 deficit, but that quickly turned into 6:1 as Lauson whittled him down. However, the two were playing extremely shallow with just over 9 million in play at Level 33 (100,000/200,000/30,000), so variance was Goepel's friend.
First, he doubled up with the K♠6♦ against the Q♣10♦. Then, Lauson hammered him back down to 1.1 million, but Goepel managed to spike a three-outer with the K♦4♥ against the A♥4♦. Goepel then check-shipped a 3♠5♠3♦ flop in a raised pot and took it down, giving him an improbable lead.
In the end, it was decided in a classic race: Goepel's A♦K♥ against Lauson's 10♦10♣. Goepel flopped aces and kings and faded Lauson's six outs on a K♦J♥A♠2♠7♣ board, leaving Lauson devastated and frustrated at his poor luck.
When the final table began, Goepel was third in chips and he showcased his chops with a king-high calldown of Paul Elfelt. That left Elfelt short and he busted ninth after Matt Hauge went out 10th.Jon Lane went out eighth and then came a long period of seven-handed play, with short stacks doubling numerous times, including a three-outer by WSOP Circuit ring winner Yossi Azulay.
Finally, everyone was feeling the pinch with average stacks around 12 big blinds and players hit the exits in a hurry. Brian Smith busted seventh, followed by tour regular Rob Wazwaz in sixth. Azulay then got sevens in against the A♣6♠ of Goepel, but the latter hit Broadway. Lauson sent Colin EricLovelock packing in fourth and Kenneth Schetter in third to assume the role of favorite in heads-up play.
But as Goepel told it, the dealers worked their magic and he emerged the winner.
Thomas Peebles (35th), Jason Seitz (29th), Brett Reichard (27th), Howard Hankin (24th), Jim Boone (19th), and start-of-day leader David To (17th) were some of the runners cashing among the 45 places paid.
The MSPT returns in two weeks for an event in its home state of Minnesota at Running Aces, so come back for more coverage then here on PokerNews.