After 14 hours of Day 2 play, Craig Trost is the last player standing and well-deserved MSPT Iowa State Poker Main Event Champion.
A total of 979 entrants took their shot at the Main Event here in Riverside, Iowa. Madison, Wisconsin's Trost outlasted the entire field and took home the first-place prize of $180,145 along with the trophy.
This is Trost's first MSPT Main Event title and largest ever live cash according to Hendon Mob. "It just feels fantastic. I've run deep in a few of these and either punted or got unlucky," said Trost. "I just want to thank my supportive and loving wife who is pregnant with twins, my family, my poker friends, and my dog Rita."
Memorable Hands on the Path to Victory
Trost accumulated a large stack midway through Day when he held a premium against the aggressive tournament chip leader, Dan Bekavac. Shortly after that, he picked up aces against Dan Swailes' semi-bluff and held to vault into the chip lead.
Once at the final table, he battled fearlessly against the skillful and intimidating presence on the felt of CJ Peake. A tournament-changing hand was when he made a big hero call with bottom pair to take command of heads-up play. "I guess I’m glad he didn’t see when I was on the WSOP Main Event feature table," said Trost, who was recently featured on PokerGO broadcasts. "I don't like to fold."
Peake's well-deserved deep run also propels him into second place on the MSPT player of the year race.
Congratulations to Craig Trost for the impressive victory and first MSPT Main Event title here at the Iowa State Poker Championship!