NATION'S #1 POKER TOUR OCTOBER 2016 OCTOBER 2016 Mid-States Poker Tour PAGE 3 Letter from the Editor SEASON 7 PLAYER OF THE YEAR RACE HEATING UP BY CHAD HOLLOWAY By the time this issue hits the stands, just six events will remain on the Mid- Vol. 1/No. 6 States Poker Tour (MSPT) Season 7 schedule. As usual, our Player of the Year race is an exciting one. If history is any indication, the race will come down to the wire, President and Publisher meaning the last stop of the season at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. Bryan Mileski As of this writing, Iowa State Poker champ John Sun leads the way with 3,300 [email protected] points, while TJ Thondup, who had deep runs in both the MSPT Golden Gates and Editor-in-Chief Venetian Main Events, sits second with 2,400 points. Not too far behind is MSPT Chad Holloway Potawatomi champ Travis Lauson with 2,117 points. Interestingly, Sun and Lauson, [email protected] who both hail from Wisconsin, have been posting playful messages on each other’s Facebook wall. Event Manager Eric Anderson “What you REALLY mean is you can’t wait to see me spank John Sun at another final table,” Lauson joked, referring to Sun’s third-place finish in the MSPT Art Director Potawatomi. Sun simply responded by posting a picture of the current POY Carolyn Borgen rankings. Touché. [email protected] The point we’re trying to make is the MSPT POY is fun! Those with points not Advertising Information only get to see their name in print right here in , they also get to MSPT Magazine [email protected] compete against their peers for a great prize package, not to mention the chance of etching their name in poker history. Story Ideas Mark our words, this is going to be a tight contest as both Sun and Lauson plan to [email protected] make a big push in the last quarter of the year. It won’t be easy though as players Our Mission like Aaron Massey (1,800 points), Matt Alexander (1,684 points), and Keith Heine MSPT Magazine is a monthly (1,650 points) are well within striking distance. magazine dedicated to serving poker players and gaming facilities Bryan Mileski Chad Holloway through MSPT news, results, tour- MSPT Founder MSPT Magazine Editor-In-Chief nament schedules, player profiles and professional tips. Coupled with our website, msptpoker.com, we are the Nation's #1 Poker Tour. Mid-States Poker Tour Lakeville, MN 612-743-9847 Mid-States Poker Tour is published on or near the first of each month. All claims or guarantees are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. All comments and views of contributing writers are their own and do not reflect official policy of Mid-States Pok- er Tour which assumes no liability for any advertisement not supplied camera ready by the advertiser. Reproduction or use in whole or in part without written consent from the publisher and Copyright owners is prohibited. PAGE 4 Mid-States Poker Tour OCTOBER 2016 Grand Falls Casino FISHING HALL OF FAMER TED TAKASAKI WINS MSPT GRAND FALLS FOR $52,360 BY MSPT POKER STAFF he Mid-States Poker Tour Grand Falls Casino in Larchwood, Iowa—which is just outside Sioux Falls, TSouth Dakota—attracted 187 runners (87 Day 1a; 100 Day 1b). That surpassed the advertised $150,00 guarantee by creating an $187,000 total prize pool. After two days, including one of the wildest hands in MSPT history, professional walleye angler Ted Takasaki, a 2010 inductee of the Freshwater Fish Hall of Fame, emerged victorious to capture a $52,360 first-place prize. The 58-year-old and father of three from Sioux Falls had been playing poker "semi seriously" for six years, and as soon as the final river card fell it was apparent how much the win meant to him. "Poker's a hobby for me, fishing is my profession," he said. "I get a big high every single time I win a pot. This is the biggest win I've ever had by far. I play online a lot, come out to the casino quite a bit. This is equivalent to the first $100,000 fishing tournament I won. I was jumping up and down. It was exciting. It was exactly how I envisioned being a professional fisherman would be like back when. This win is exactly the same euphoria, the same kind of emotion. It's like the culmination of all the work I've done." While many poker players resort to fishing for their break from the grind, Takasaki has flipped the script. "My work is my fishing business, so in the winter I'm doing seminars and attending sports shows," he explained. "During the summer I'm fishing tournaments or shooting tournaments [for tv]. Everybody asks why I'm not fishing the weekends; I say why would a plumber fix a toilet on the weekend? I love fishing, but poker is my hobby. To take a hobby and win a tournament like this is incredible." Day 2 began with 49 players returning to action, but with only 18 places being paid, 31 of them left empty handed. They included 2014 MSPT Grand Falls runner-up Jeff Bryan, start- of-Day 2 chip leader Wesley Ismay, and Wisconsin's Brett Reichard, who busted as bubble boy in 19th place. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Jon Maras (17th - $2,805), Keith Doering (14th - $3,460), and Terry Williams ($4,301), just to name a few. After the eliminations of Robbin Green (10th - $4,301), Johnny McGriff (9th - $5,423), and Charles "Doc" Hanson (8th - $6,545) is when one of the wildest hands in tour history went down. Ted Takasaki MSPTPOKER.COM OCTOBER 2016 Mid-States Poker Tour PAGE 5 Event Recap The hand began when Nebraska farmer Phil Mader moved all in for 110,000 and Chris Burke, who had been Grand Falls Casino crippled the hand before, called off for just 10,000. Keith Buy-in: $1,100 ♣ 187 Entrants Ehlers then three-bet all in for 178,000 from the small blind and four-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner Place Name City, State Prize Mark Fink, who had them all covered, called from the big. 1 Ted Takasaki Sioux Falls, SD $52,360 2 Mark Fink Sioux Falls, SD $31,323 Mader: A♥10♦ 3 Joseph Barnard St. Paul, MN $19,074 Burke: K Q ♠ ♦ 4 Mark Hodge Corcoran, MN $14,025 Fink: 8♥8♦ 5 Keith Ehlers Kimball, SD $10,470 Ehlers: A♠K♦ 6 Phil Mader Grand Island, NE $8,602 Fink actually had the best hand, and he didn’t give the 7 Chris Burke Corsica, SD $7,480 other players much of a sweat when the flop came down 8 Charles Hanson Sioux Falls, SD $6,545 8♠7♣7♥ to give him a full house. The 6♣ turn left the other 9 Johnny McGriff Quinn, SD $5,423 three drawing dead, and they all hit the rail after the 6 ♠ 10 Robbin Green Groton, SD $4,301 completed the board on the river. From there, MSPT Season 6 Player of the Year Mark Hodge busted in fourth place, and Joe Barnard followed "I think I'm going to start a poker bankroll," Takasaki him out the door in third. That set up a heads-up match replied when asked what he'll do with the prize money. "I'll between Fink and Takasaki. use that money to fund my hobby and see where it goes. I'm Fink began the match with a 2-1 chip lead, but most hands not one to spend over my means, but I would love to play a went Takasaki's way until he pulled out front. In the final few more MSPTs and travel a little bit. My dream right now hand, Takasaki shoved holding pocket threes and held after is to win Angler of the Year on one of the big fishing circuits, Fink called off with ace-eight. and another dream is to fish the WSOP." Final Table MSPTPOKER.COM $135,500 IN GUARANTEED PRIZE POOLS OCTOBER WEEKEND EXTRAVAGANZA OCTOBER 6 - 9, 2016 VIEW COMPLETE SCHEDULE AT VENETIAN.COM/DEEPSTACK AND FOLLOW ALL THE ACTION AT VENETIANPOKERROOM.BLOGSPOT.COM THE BEST POKER ROOM IN LAS VEGAS $135,500 IN GUARANTEED PRIZE POOLS OCTOBER WEEKEND EXTRAVAGANZA OCTOBER 6 - 9, 2016 VIEW COMPLETE SCHEDULE AT VENETIAN.COM/DEEPSTACK AND FOLLOW ALL THE ACTION AT VENETIANPOKERROOM.BLOGSPOT.COM THE BEST POKER ROOM IN LAS VEGAS www.PokerCPA.com OCTOBER 2016 Mid-States Poker Tour PAGE 9 Event Preview MSPT RETURNS TO BLACK HAWK, COLORADO FOR REGIONAL & MAIN EVENTS NOV. 3-13 BY MSPT POKER STAFF or the second time in Season 7, the Mid-States Poker will then combine for Day 2 on Sunday, November 6. Tour (MSPT) is headed back to Black Hawk, Colorado The weekend after November’s Regional Event, the highly- Ffor both a $360 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed Regional anticipated Main Event will kick off! That event will feature Event and $1,100 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed Main Event. three starting flights beginning with Day 1a at Noon local From November 3-13, Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, time on Thursday, November 10. Days 1b and 1c will then be which is about an hour west of Denver, will play host to a held at the same time on Friday, November 11 and Saturday, series of satellites as well as two headliner events.