The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT), which kicked off Season 16 within the New Yr, wrapped up its cease at Bally’s Black Hawk On line casino on Sunday night time. The $1,110 buy-in Principal Occasion attracted 636 entries over a trio of beginning flights and awarded a $615,420 prize pool.
Strolling away with a $127,849 prime prize and his first MSPT title was established poker professional Faraz Jaka, the patriarch of JakaCoaching.com.
“I believe I’ve performed 4 tournaments right here at Black Hawk and gained two of them, in order that’s cool,” Jaka informed MSPT officers after his win. “I really feel like I ought to play extra right here as a result of I dwell right here. I usually play larger buy-ins however since this was in my yard and I had some college students enjoying I believed I ought to pop in. I’m tempted to play extra MSPTs as a result of so lots of the individuals I coach, that is the value level they play in, and I wish to be conversant in the gamers right here so I can higher information them, so possibly you’ll begin seeing me at a number of extra of those.
He added: “This was a very cool second. I had three of my Jaka college students right here on the remaining desk with me whereas one other (Kaushik Kannan) gained the ultimate [side] occasion, in order that was superior.”
Previous to the win, Jaka, who eradicated 5 gamers on the remaining desk on his method to victory, had $8,057,431 in lifetime match earnings relationship again to 2007. The win got here lower than two months after Jaka took down the Seminole Hard Rock RRPO Event #37: $10,000 NLH Deep Stack for $313,495, and fewer than two years after he claimed his first gold bracelet by profitable the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #85: $1,500 NLH Shootout for $237,367.
MSPT Black Hawk Remaining Desk Outcomes
| Place | Participant | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faraz Jaka | San Jose, CA | $127,849 |
| 2 | Zach Gutierrez | Denver, CO | $77,952 |
| 3 | Michael Banducci | Traverse Metropolis, MI | $58,000 |
| 4 | Umut Ozturk | St. Paul, MN | $43,032 |
| 5 | Caden Coleman | Oxbow, ND | $32,430 |
| 6 | Kelly Mahana | Denver, CO | $24,322 |
| 7 | Ross Babel | Breckenridge, CO | $18,710 |
| 8 | Mike Wheeler | Aurora, CO | $11,226 |
| 9 | Dianwei Solar | Aurora, CO | $11,226 |
Others to money the match have been Michael Giardina (thirteenth – $7,484), Justin Lynch (seventeenth – $6,237), Alex Cruz (twenty first – $5,363), Angela Jordison (twenty third – $4,490), Kevin Eyster (twenty fourth – $4,490), Steve Wilkie (thirty fourth – $2,744), DJ Buckley (forty fifth – $2,432), and Mo Nuwwarah (54th – $2,308).
Final yr, Jaka was a visitor on Life Outside Poker hosted by PokerNews’ Connor Richards. Within the interview, the longtime poker professional talked about working up a six-figure bankroll in school, going broke and transferring down stakes, battling again from a debilitating again harm to win his first bracelet in 2023, and working deep on this yr’s $25,000 Heads-Up Championship.
Jaka Coaching Review – Is it Worth It?
Dispatching a MSPT Corridor of Famer
Jaka started the ultimate desk because the chip chief, however he needed to deal with stiff competitors together with reigning back-to-back Participant of the Yr and MSPT Corridor of Famer Umut Ozturk. The Minnesota participant made it to four-handed play earlier than bowing out in Stage 26 (40,000/80,000/80,000).
Based on live updates from the tournament, Ozturk shoved all in from the small blind holding ace-jack over an open from Jaka on the button. Jaka referred to as with ace-king and the kicker made the distinction because the board ran out clear to ship Ozturk out in fourth place for $43,032.
After Michael Banducci exited in third place, Jaka took a slim chip lead into heads-up play towards Zach Gutierrez. The 2 battled for 2 and a half hours earlier than Jaka gained momentum and opened up a lead. In what could be the ultimate hand of the match, Gutierrez obtained his stack all in preflop with ace-five and didn’t get fortunate towards the ace-ten of Jaka.
What’s Coming Up
The MSPT will now return to Potawatomi On line casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a cease they haven’t been to since earlier than the pandemic because of the poker site shutting down and solely reopening final yr. The $1,110 MSPT 100 Grand Stack Principal Occasion contains a $500,000 assure and can run January 28-February 2.
After that, the tour heads to Las Vegas for the $1,000,000 GTD Poker Bowl IX on the Venetian with the ultimate desk slated to be live-streamed within the poker site’s new studio.
Click here to see all upcoming MSPT stops.
*Photographs courtesy of MSPT.
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