Three finalists reached a deal to split the remaining prize pool on Day 2 of the $1,600 Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Main Event at Venetian Las Vegas. The event had 808 entries who created a $1,151,400 prize pool. Yet, Connor Stuewe won $156,520, the largest share in the pool.
The Main Event's Final Table Results
- Connor Stuere – $156,520
- David Jackson – $154,589
- Aaron Massey – $139,852
- Nick Pupillo – $75,017
- Jared Jaffee – $55,052
- Peter Lynn – $41,135
- CJ Peake – $30,973
- Jared Strauss – $24,079
- Errol Samuel – $19,203
Action on the Final Day
The final day's action started with 91 players including Jesse Lonis. He was the overall stack leader after the three opening flights. Each returning player was guaranteed winning money and several eliminations occurred fast.
Justin Barnum was among the first players to get busted despite sharing the table with Dan Bekavac. They battled it out earlier searching for more points to reach Josh Reichard. Andrew Moreno used seven-deuce to call his shove and deuce of hearts to make a flush before ending Barnum's run in the 45th position.
The 2022 MSPT Player of the Year (POY) Standings
- Josh Reichard from Janesville, Wisconsin – 6,125 POY points
- CJ Peake from Cleveland, Ohio – 5,325 POY points
- Dan Bekavac from Chicago, Illinois – 5,150 POY points
- Justin Barnum from Fargo, North Dakota – 4,250 POY points
- John Dennehey from Savage, Minnesota – 3,850 POY points
- Michael Estes from Coralville, Iowa – 3,400 POY points
- Aaron Massey from Elmwood Park, Illinois – 3,375 POY points
- Wesley Cannon from Minneapolis, Minnesota – 3,300 POY points
- Miroslav Semanisin from Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin – 3,100 POY points
- Craig Trost from Madison, Wisconsin – 3,000 POY points
CJ Peake had a great opportunity to top the MSPT leaderboard when action resumed. He improved from seventh to the second position. Still, he has another chance to garner more points in the Minnesota stop and at Venetian in a few weeks.
Some of the skilled players who missed a spot at the final table included Anthony Spinella, Michael Wang, Martin Zamani, Jessica Vierling, and Mitchell Halverson. The play continued and the rate of eliminations was reduced.
Errol Samuel finished ninth after using ace-jack to shove and losing to Peter Lynn's Big Slick. The remaining eight finalists continued playing for almost three hours before Jared Strauss exited the tournament in eighth place. His pocket sixes lost to Stuewe's pocket queens.
Peake followed him in seventh place after Lynn's ace-jack beat his suited ace-ten. The latter picked up momentum with consecutive eliminations. But, his run ended in sixth place after Stuewe's pocket threes defeated his jack-ten.
Jared Jaffee followed him in the fifth position despite having the largest stack in some instances. He used a suited queen-jack to call Jackson's shove but his opponent turned over pocket aces and sent him packing.
Nick Pupillo exited the event in the fourth position after Jackson's suited king-eight outdrew his pocket tens. The former won his 25th cash in MSPT this week hence fulfilling a key requirement for being an MSPT Hall of Fame entrant. Besides, the player has to win the MSPT Main Event to be inducted as the 11th player in the coveted club.
The three remaining finalists played for several hours with Stuewe being the chip leader. Yet, Jackson's late double helped him narrow his chip gap with Stuewe and they discussed a deal that earned Stuewe the trophy.
