For the first time this season, the MSPT returned to Hollywood Casino to host its first 18-trophy event series, headlined by the $1,110 Missouri State Poker Championship, and the turnouts did not disappoint.
A total of 713 entries were tallied (124 from Day 1a; 235 from 1b; 354 from 1c) were tallied through three starting flights and generated a $691,610 prize pool.
On Sunday, 89 players returned for Day 2 action, and after roughly 12 hours of action it was St. Louis native Andrew Pichee coming out on top to win the $142,396 top prize and his first MSPT title.
Pichee came into the day as the chip leader and started stacking chips early after eliminating one big stack after another on his way to a victory.
Day 2 Action
With 72 slated to get paid, a few handfuls of bodies needed to drop before players reached the money.
Among those to leave empty-handed were Paul Fehlig, Brandon Butler, Seniors champ Danny Shurtz and three-time bracelet winner Dutch Boyd just to name a few.
After Boyds departure, the hand-for-hand process begun, and a full level passed before MSP champ Travis Young was wheeled out the door by Andy Rogowski to burst the bubble starting the march to the final table.
With the remaining players left in the money, the fast-paced action hit a new gear with players dropping like flies while other making moves to gain chips.
Among those players trying to make it to the finish line was defending champ Jeff Sauer who had an unfortunate turn of events after he ran his pocket kings into Tanner Pray’s pocket aces and became an early money Day 2 causality.
After the defending hit the deck, eliminations continued like wildfire, those to fall along the way, albeit with a payday, were MSPT champ’s Gerald Cunniff (42nd Place - $2,697), & Justin Lynch (27th Place - $2,697), Jeff Copeland (23rd Place - $4,980), MSPT champ Keith Heine (17th Place - $6,916), and Andy Rogowski (11th Place - $10,374).
Final Table Action
Once the player returned from their dinner break, action picked right up with Roger Ruehmann getting into a race with Abhishek Yerra only to end up running to the payout desk after becoming the first final table elimination.
In the same level, Mike Reisner found himself in a similar race holding two overs against soon to be champ Pichee, but just like Ruehmann, he was unable to pull ahead and followed him next in line.
A few levels went by with chips shuffling across the table as double-ups were being handed out like candy on Halloween, that was until spree of eliminations occurred BK Goli hitting the rial in seventh place while Darren Cunningham jammed into Pichee’s flopped nuts, eliminating him in sixth place.
The same level continued to produce casualties after Chris Audrain got his short stack in the middle holding a made hand of sixes and was called by Shawn McCracken holding a made hand of fives.
Audrain was in good shape looking for a double, but McCracken ended up making quad fives to send Audrain home in fifth place finish for $35,964.
Four-handed action saw Pichee start his final push as it took one swoop to finish off his final three opponents. He started with Yerra after he failed to connect with live cards ending his tournament in fourth place for $47,721, and then followed by winning a race against bracelet winner Blair Hinkle which sent him home in third place for $64,320.
The heads-up match saw Pichee holding over half of the chips in play, and he only needed a few hands before setting-up McCracken in second place ($86,454) enroute to becoming the MSPT Season 15 Missouri State Champion.