$1,110 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
$1,110 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
Steve Wilkie was down but not out several times at the Mid-States Poker Tour Denver Poker Open $1,100 Main Event at Golden Gates Casino. He kept hold of his precious tournament life no matter how short his stack got, and he climbed out of more than one deep hole at the final table to ultimately emerge as champion.
Wilkie won $85,149, his biggest live cash, and it comes just a few months after he chopped the Colorado Poker Championship $1,100 Main Event for $60,114.
He said he really felt his game taking off in recent months, and he now has two wins as evidence.
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | Steve Wilkie | $85,149 |
2 | Ryan Remington | $52,636 |
3 | Tony Piazza | $38,316 |
4 | Cooper Wanty | $28,253 |
5 | Michael Rankins | $21,287 |
6 | Ben Greenberg | $16,255 |
7 | Sam Benavram | $12,772 |
8 | Leonardo Valenzuela | $10,063 |
9 | Don Marquis | $7,354 |
10 | Ryan Barnett | $6,192 |
While Wilkie had a nice stack heading into the final table, ranking third in chips, the early stages were completely dominated by Ryan Remington. After coming in as the second stack just a bit behind Leonardo Valenzuela, Remington caught fire.
He made several big hands and caught a bluff from Valenzuela, and by the time Valenzuela busted in eighth, Remington had half the chips in play. He only added to that when he coolered Sam Benavram with aces over queens.
Meanwhile, Wilkie sank to the bottom of the counts by far when it was four-handed. He was below five big blinds after making an inferior flush on the river against Tony Piazza. However, he slowly start his climb back by doubling his last three big blinds with king-nine against the jack-three of Piazza.
After he picked off a big bluff from Remington with nines on a board with two overs and three to a flush, Wilkie really caught a charge.
"All right!" he exclaimed with a clap. "Now we're playing poker."
Still, when he got heads up with Remington, it seemed he was destined for second place. After all, Remington had been running like hot fire and had more than 6 million chips of about 8 million in play.
The British transplant wasn't having it though, as he opted to employ a small-ball strategy and began to chip away at his deficit. Nearly every pot the two played was limped, and showdowns were frequent as neither player seemed willing to risk many chips aside from the times Wilkie overbet shoved and showed top pair of aces in raised pots.
About an hour in, Wilkie took the lead when he made trips against Remington's top two. A disgusted Remington could scarcely believe the hands Wilkie was making.
Finally, Wilkie completed the comeback when he won a race with sevens against ace-king, ending the two-hour match. While both players seemed happy to battle over small pots, they'd finally found hands, along with the fact that only 40 big blinds were in play, that compelled them to get stacks in.
"That was a grind man," Wilkie said afterward with a grin. "It feels incredible."
The MSPT will wrap up its 10th season December 5-8 at Minnesota's Canterbury Park. PokerNews will be on-site to offer live updates from the $1,100 Main Event.
Steve Wilkie shoved all in on the button for about 2.5 million effective and Ryan Remington called.
Remington:
Wilkie:
The board ran out , no threat to Wilkie's sevens, securing him the MSPT title.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Steve Wilkie |
7,980,000
2,200,000
|
2,200,000 |
Ryan Remington | Busted | |
|
Level: 32
Blinds: 100,000/200,000
Ante: 20,000
Steve Wilkie and Ryan Remington checked down until Steve Wilkie bet 350,000 on the end. Remington flicked in a single chip and Wilkie tossed in for the nuts.
"You and that river," Remington lamented.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Steve Wilkie |
5,780,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
Ryan Remington |
2,200,000
-600,000
|
-600,000 |
|
Steve Wilkie bet 225,000 on after he and Ryan Remington saw fourth street for the minimum. Remington called and the river was a . Wilkie slid in 500,000 and won the pot right away.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Steve Wilkie |
5,180,000
400,000
|
400,000 |
Ryan Remington |
2,800,000
-400,000
|
-400,000 |
|
Level: 31
Blinds: 80,000/160,000
Ante: 20,000
Players are on break for 10 minutes.
In another limped pot, the board read on the turn. Steve Wilkie bet 300,000 and Ryan Remington called. The river was a and Wilkie instantly checked. Remington slid in about 600,000 and received a snap-call.
Wilkie showed for trips and Remington mucked in disgust.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Steve Wilkie |
4,780,000
1,200,000
|
1,200,000 |
Ryan Remington |
3,200,000
-1,200,000
|
-1,200,000 |
|
Most of the pots played heads up have been limped pots, but Steve Wilkie is slightly inching closer to Ryan Remington.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ryan Remington |
4,400,000
-680,000
|
-680,000 |
|
||
Steve Wilkie |
3,580,000
680,000
|
680,000 |