The MSPT traveled to FireKeepers Casino for the first time this season to host the Season 17 Michigan Poker State Championship, and the turnout was another mouth dropper.
The nine-Gold Card Series was headlined by the $1,110 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD Main Event, which was one to remember, with 2,551 entries generating an impressive $2,472,970 prize pool.
After an action-packed weekend, it was Michigan native Sai Mudduluru who emerged victorious to claim his first MSPT title along with a career-best $357,936 first-place prize.
“Feels great,” Mudduluru said after his victory, “I started the final table kind of going downwards after losing a flip, but I was able to stay composed and had a big hand with trips into my full house, making my life easy from there.”
As a Lansing native, Mudduluru doesn’t get out to travel much for poker, but when the MSPT comes into town, he makes sure to play.
“This is my home casino,” Mudduluru stated, “I honestly only play five or six tournaments a year, so when you guys come here, I make sure to play it every time.”
The win marked Mudduluru’s seventh Main Event cash on the tour, all of which have come from this very casino, with his first dating back in 2013 when he made the final table here back in Season 9.
Not only did the win mark Mudduluru’s largest career score, but he also will receive 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 Main Event!
Final Day Action
The final day came back with all 274 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with players like Alec Magdan, three-time bracelet winner Dash Dudley, two-time MSPT Champ Greg Himmelbrand , and MSPT Hall of Famer Umut Ozturk all falling in the first batch of eliminations.
The rush of players to the payout line continued as fellow Hall of Famers Kou Vang (220th Place $2,345), Aaron Johnson (169th Place $2,962), Rob WazWaz (167th Place $2,798), and Chris Moon (106th Place $3,703) all had their final day cut much shorter than anticipated.
With the march to the final table in full swing, others to fall along the way albeit with a payday, was decorated Hall of Famer Josh Reichard (95th place - $3,950), Season 16 Player of the Year Jake Long (76th place - $4,443), New Years Poker Open Champ Matt Wantman (41st place - $7,159), Season 14 Michigan Poker State Champion Travis Young (33rd place - $8,640), ”Wild” Bill Romer (24th Place - $13,824), and MSPT Champ Dan Sepiol (11th place - $30,857).
Final Table Action
Once players took their seats at the final table in the customized poker room, it didn't take long for action to kick into gear with Raymond Mancini becoming the first final table elimination after he jammed into Brett “Pops” Reichard’s pair of aces, while short-stack Bhanuchandar Sadineni followed him out the door shortly after in eighth place for $48,136.
Wisconsin’s Kirby Rogers started the day with 67,000 in chips but was able to maneuver his way to a seventh-place finish after being out-kicked by Grant Juric for $59,245.
Six-handed action saw Howie Guo get his stack in the middle after flopping middle pair, only to be called by Mudduluru’s top pair to end his run for $78,993.
After starting off the final table with a double-up, Todd Wildig was looking to secure another with a made hand of jacks, only to run into Mudduluru’s superior pair of ladies to take a fifth-place finish for $102,938.
With four players remaining, Reichard and Mudduluru stood within a big blind of each other, and the two would tussle, which saw Reichard end up on the wrong side of cooler, ending his run in fourth place for $130,832.
From that moment, Mudduluru held over eight percent of the chips in play and made quick work of both Huy Dinh ($172,920) and Juric ($225,85) to claim a career score of $357,936, while becoming the MSPT Season 17 Michigan Poker State Champion!
This wraps up our coverage of another eventful tournament, so make sure you join us when we make our way back to Venetian Las Vegas July 11th - 19th, with back-to-back tournaments boasting a $1,000,000 prize pool’s and, as always, full coverage being provided by the MSPT reporting team, so make sure to come back and tune in!