After eight very successful stops in the Midwest this season, the Mid-States Poker Tour held its first-ever tournament in Las Vegas this week. The $1,100 buy-in Main Event attracted a record-setting field of 854 players, and after three days it was Drake Bronk who walked away with the $163,870 top prize and his first MSPT title.
The Chicago native had a big chip lead with 36 remaining continued his onslaught the rest of the way, eventually defeating Maxsim Rosenfeld heads-up after Rosenfeld rejected several deal proposals at the final table.
Many new faces participated in MSPT for the first time in Las Vegas, including Matt Salsberg, Jerry Yang, Andy Frankenberger, Samantha Cohen, Ravi Raghavan and Sergio Aido.
The field also included MSPT regulars such as Season 4 MPST Player of the Year Patrick Steele and current MSPT POY leader Kou Vang, both of whom cashed in this event but fell short of the final table.
Bronk held the chip lead when the final table began on Wednesday and never looked back. With four players remaining he had half the chips in play, and despite sitting back while Rosenfeld eliminated Bradley Tuck (fourth place) and Hicham Chami (third place), he still held the lead when heads-up play began.
On the final hand of the tournament, Bronk min-raised to 300,000 from the button and Rosenfeld reraised to 600,000. Bronk moved all in for more than 6 million, having Rosenfeld covered, and Rosenfeld called.
Bronk: A♣10♣
Rosenfeld: K♠J♥
The board ran out 10♥9♣7♣K♣6♦, giving Bronk the nut flush on the turn to secure the title. Rosenfeld earned $100,840 for his runner-up finish.
The next MSPT Event will take place at the Meskwaki Casino in Iowa from July 25 through 28. Be sure to follow the PokerNews Live Reporting page for up-to-the-minute MSPT updates all season long!