Meskwaki Casino

Max Havlish Breaks Through to Win MSPT Meskwaki for $90,152

The last MSPT Season 8 stop at Meskwaki Casino in Tama, Iowa drew 424 entries (203 on Day 1A, 221 on 1B), and after an action-packed weekend, 30-year-old Max Havlish had his breakthrough win to walk away with a $90,152 top prize.

“I feel great,” Havlish said after the win. “It’s about time. I’ve been working hard at it for a long time, so it’s nice to finally take one down.”

Prior to the win, Havlish had just one MSPT cash when he finished ninth out of 3,273 entries in the MSPT Venetian for $41,698.

“I was happy to get ninth in Vegas, I was happy how I played, but it was nice to redeem myself,” admitted Havlish, who works but plays poker on the side. As for the prize money, he revealed that he and his girlfriend will be taking a vacation.

“She’ll be the decider as to where we go,” he said when asked where they’ll go.

Final Table Results
1^st – Max Havlish (Coon Rapids, MN) $90,152
2^nd – Victor Hoffman (Onslow, IA) $55,730
3^rd – Jon Hanner (St. Paul, MN) $40,568
4^th – John Rausch (Cedar Falls, IA) $29,914
5^th – John “Farmboy” Kurfman (Baylis, IL) $22,538
6^th – Dan “DQ” Hendrickson (Faribault, MN) $17,211
7^th – Albert Carpenter (Waterloo, IA) $13,523
8^th – Ken Pates (Brooklyn Park, MN) $10,654
9^th – Roger Bennett (Kirksville, MO) $7,786
10^th – Jason Sell (Plymouth, MN) $6,555

Day 2 saw 83 players return to action, but with only 45 of them slated to get paid, nearly half the field would leave empty handed. Among them were former champs Keith Heine, Ahmad Taleb, and Kou Vang; and well as World Series of Poker bracelet winner John Reading and bubble boy Chris Durant.

Among those to earn a payday but fall short of the final table were Nik Stone (43^rd - $2,254), MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup (33^rd - $2,459), World Poker Tour champ Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul (30^th - $2,459), Day 1B chip leader Dale Berger (18^th - $4,508), Brian Reinert (14^th - $5,327), Day 1A chip leader Lee Douglas (12^th - $6,555), and final table bubble boy Tom Hammers (11^th - $6,555).

At the final table, MSPT Season 5 Ho-Chunk champ Jason Sell was the first to go after shoving with king-queen and running into the ace-queen of fellow MSPT champ Dan “DQ” Hendrickson, who won the MSPT Season 6 Canterbury Park finale.

After a short-stacked Roger Bennett bowed out in ninth place, another former MSPT champ hit the rail. MSPT Season 5 Running Aces winner Ken Pates moved all in for less than ten bigs with pocket threes and Victor Hoffman decided to race holding king-queen in the big blind. A lady on the flop was a fat one, and she sang to put an end to Pates’ run in eighth place.

A short time later, Havlish doubled with pocket jacks through Al Carpenter, who held eights. Carpenter was left short and then shoved with king-seven suited only to run into jacks again, this time those of John “Farmboy” Kurfman. Carpenter wound up missing a flush draw and hit the rail in seventh place.

Hendrickson, the last MSPT champ left in the field, was then the victim of a cooler when he picked up kings only to run them smack dab into the aces of Hanner. The chips went in preflop, both players flopped sets, and Hendrickson, nicknamed “DQ” for his Dairy Queens franchises, had to settle for sixth place.

The final five battled for quite some time, and Hoffman seemed to get the better of Kurfman time and again. Eventually the man known as “Farmboy” shoved with king-nine only to get called by Havlish, who held Big Slick. The board ran out clean and Kurfman was sent out the door in fifth place.

The next three eliminations came pretty quickly. First to go was John Rausch, who tried to bluff the river against Havlish, who held two pair. Jon Hanner then fell when he got it in preflop with ace-jack against Havlish’s pocket sixes. Hanner paired his jack on the three-spade flop, but Havlish, who had the only spade, made a flush on the turn.

That allowed Havlish, who fired two bullets into the tournament, to take a nearly 8-1 chip lead into heads-up play against Hoffman. After a few hands, Havlish shoved the button with pocket sixes and Hoffman called off with threes. No trey appeared and Hoffman had to settle for second place and a $55,730 consolation prize.

For the win, Havlish earned 1,500 points on the Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year leaderboard. Along with the 1,100 he earned in Vegas, that gave him 2,600 points and put him in fourth place with only three stops left in the year.

“I’ll see you at Milwaukee and Canterbury,” he said. “I might have to fight for POY.”

Congratulations to Max Havlish, winner of the MSPT Meskwaki!

The MSPT continues Thursday with the start of the $1,100 buy-in, $200K GTD Denver Poker Open at Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. The weekend after that, the tour heads to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the $1,100 buy-in 2017 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship.

Victor Hoffman Eliminated in 2nd Place ($55,730)

With such a chip disparity, it didn’t take long for things to come to a head.

It happened when Max Havlish moved all in from the button and Victor Hoffman called off for around 700,000.

Havlish:
Hoffman:

Havlish was a big favorite to win the title, and held on both the flop and turn. Hoffman needed a three on the river to stay alive, but it was not meant to be as the bricked.

Victor Hoffman - Eliminated in 2nd place for $55,730

Heads-Up Chip Counts

Max Havlish - 7.5 million
Victor Hoffman - 900,000

Jon Hanner Eliminated in 3rd Place ($40,568)

Max Havlish raised to 170,000 on the button only to have Jon Hanner three-bet all in for 1.78 million from the small blind. Havlish thought for a bit and then made the call.

Hanner:
Havlish:

It was a flip, and Hanner managed to take the lead on the flop. However, Havlish held the only spade, and he made the flush on the turn. The was run out on the river, and Hanner bowed out in third place.

Jon Hanner - Eliminated in 3rd place for $40,568

John Rausch Eliminated in 4th Place ($29,914)

After John Rausch defended a preflop raise from the big blind, he check-called a bet from Max Havlish on a flop.

Rausch then bet roughly 300K on the turn, Havlish called, and the completed the board on the river. Rausch moved all in and Havlish snap-called.

Rausch indicated that he had been caught bluffing and showed the , which was no good against the of Havlish.

John Rausch - Eliminated in 4th place for $29,914

John "Farmboy" Kurfman Eliminated in 5th Place ($22,538)

John “Farmboy” Kurfman moved all in for 605,000 from the button and Max Havlish called from the small blind.

Havlish:
Kurfman:

Kurfman was crushed, and he failed to get lucky as the board ran out .

John Kurfman - Eliminated in 5th place for $22,538

Max Havlish Doubles Into the Chip Lead

Max Havlish raised to 170,000 from the cutoff and Jon Hanner put his big stack to use by moving all in from the button. Both blinds folded and Havlish thought long and hard before calling off for 1.675 million total.

Havlish:
Hanner:

It was a flip, and Havlish held on the flop. He actually locked it up when the turn gave him a full house, and he was pushed the pot after the was run out on the river.

Max Havlish - 3,520,000 (44 bb)
Jon Hanner - 1,910,000 (29 bb)

Victor Hoffman Doubles Through John Kurfman

In the last hand of the level, Victor Hoffman limped the small blind and then called when John Kurfman raised to 260,000 from the big. Both players checked the flop, and then Hoffman moved all in for his last 170,000 on the turn. Kurfman snap-called.

Hoffman:
Kurfman:

Both players had flopped trips, but Hoffman got lucky to boat up. He shipped the double after the was put out on the river.

Victor Hoffman - 910,000 (15 bb)
John Kurfman - 845,000 (14 bb)

Updated Five-Handed Chip Counts

Jon Hanner - 3,885,000
John Kurfman - 1,630,000
John Rausch - 1,235,000
Max Havlish - 895,000
Victor Hoffman - 840,000

Dan "DQ" Hendrickson Eliminated in 6th Place ($17,211)

The preflop action escaped us, but we do know sparks flew and resulted in MSPT Season 6 Canterbury Park champ Dan “DQ” Hendrickson getting all in for roughly 800,000 against 2017 Minnesota State Poker Champion Jon Hanner.

Hanner:
Hendrickson:

It was a cooler for Hendrickson, and while he made a set on the flop, so too did Hanner.

Hendrickson was looking for the case king, but it didn’t come as the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river.

Jon Hanner - 3,610,000 (72 bb)
Dan Hendrickson - Eliminated in 6th place for $17,211