Grand Falls Casino Resort in Larchwood, Iowa hosted a BLUFF Mid-States Poker Tour event for the first time this past week and was a huge hit with players. The beautiful casino opened in May of 2010 and lies just outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which was voted one of CNN Money’s top 100 places to live in 2011 and the reason why it is one of the fastest growing cities in America.
It may have been a first for Grand Falls, but Season 3, Event 5 became a second for Dan Sun. Just three weeks to the day after defeating a 301-player field at the BLUFF MSPT Meskwaki Casino for $77,103, Sun went back-to-back!
This time Sun outlasted a 215-player field to become the first ever back-to-back MSPT champ and the first to win two MSPT bracelets.
Sun’s victory at Grand Falls earned him another $60,486 and the RF Moeller Diamond Championship bracelet, making his three week total a sensational $130,589.
Sun entered Day 2 average in chips with 54,300 and arrived at the final table with 439,000 which placed him 5th of 9 players remaining.
“I grinded an average stack all of Day 2 until the final table.” Sun said. “I never really felt comfortable.”
When Sun reached the final table, that’s when he got hot. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa resident eliminated five of the eight other final table players.
“I had a great run of cards at the final table.” Stated Sun. “But also, the experience I’ve had making a couple of other deep runs in major events has definitely helped me learn what I need to do to close things out. I’ve applied that and really focused more on tournaments this past year. Its paying off.”
Sun picked up a nice pot early to accumulate 1.2 million of the 4.3 million in play. With eight players remaining, Denver Smith – 2nd in chips with about 900K – raised from the cutoff with 77. Sun re-raised all-in with KK. Smith took a few moments and called. The board ran clean for Sun launching him to half the chips in play. From there he would never relinquish the chip lead on the way to his second title.
Though Sun maintained the chip lead throughout, there was no shortage of excitement. Both John Hayes and Taylor Tollefson took chunks of Sun’s stack and made runs at different times when three-handed.
John Hayes is no stranger to deep runs in major events. “JohnnyGstaks” as he is known online has accumulated over $2 million in earnings on the virtual felt. Hayes also cashed multiple times at this year’s WSOP including a 3rd place finish in Event #49 - $1,500 Ante Only – for $99,409. Hayes would get sent to the rail here in 3rd as well. Hayes opened from the button with A-10. Sun 3-bet from the big blind with pocket tens. Hayes 4-bet shoved and Sun called. Hayes was unable to hit an ace. He did take home $18,770 for his great run.
Tollefson entered Day 2 with a healthy stack, 3rd overall. This was Tollefson’s second MSPT cash.
On the final hand, Sun limped in with K-6. Tollefson – short stacked – shoved A-Q. Sun called. The board ran J-2-8-3-6. The pair of sixes on the river sealed the win for Sun, sending Tollefson home in 2nd. Tollefson’s great run added a nice $29,823 to his bankroll!
Can Dan Sun be the first poker player ever to 3-peat a major series? We’ll find out!
The next BLUFF Mid-States Poker Tour event will be hosted by Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells in Baraboo, Wisconsin, September 8-16.
“There’s no doubt I’ll be in Wisconsin for that one.” Sun exclaimed.
The BLUFF MSPT has now awarded $3,054,854 to date!
To view the upcoming schedule of events for the BLUFF MSPT, visit www.msptpoker.com.