The next of the Mid-States Poker Tour events played out at the Majestic Star Casino over the weekend and by the end of it, it was Ken Baime from Glenview, Illinois outlasting 300 others to emerge the winner of the $1,100 Main Event.
The final day saw a total of 86 players return to battle it out, combining fields from day 1a and day 1b. Still remaining in the field was Matt Alexander and Matt Kirby, both of whom are on the Mid-States Poker Tour Pro Team.
But for most of Day 2, Baime managed to stay out of trouble, and went on a winning streak when it really mattered with just 7 players remaining. In a key hand, which gave him momentum heading into final stages of the tournament, Allen Lanier shoved his remaining 6,000 of chips. This was met by Brian Zimcosky, who raised to 100,000, however both Baime and Leon Morford made the call. The flop came down Qh-7s-8s, Zimcosky continued with a bet of 160,000, Baime shoved with bottom set, and Zimcosky made the call with bottom two pair.
Lanier, who was still in the hand and competing for the side pot, had an open ended straight draw. The 10c completed the straight draw for Lanier, but the river bricked, meaning Baime essentially doubled up through Zimcosky and Lanier won the small side pot. Shortly after this, Baime grabbed the chip lead after managing to win an important coin flip against Zimcosky.
Then during level 22 with blinds at 30,000/60,000/5,000, Baime won another important hand. After check-shoving the turn with a pair and flush draw, he was called by Fadi Hamad with top pair. But he completed his flush on the river, which gave him around half of the tournament chips in play.
Things only got better for Baime from there. In another big hand, he managed to induce Zimcosky, who was playing the most aggressive style at the final table. Unfortunately for Zimcosky, it came at a bad time, as the river gave his opponent two pair, which was never folding to an all-in. This meant Baime was the commanding chip leader heading into heads up play. With such a difference in stacks it was going to take a great deal of luck for his opponent in the heads up match to turn things around and win.
Both Baime and Morford played for a bit more than an hour before the final hand went down. Baime made a raise to 215,000, and Morford responded by shoving for 1.4 million in chips total. Baime decided to make the call with A-T which is a big hand playing heads up. Morford also had an ace but was dominated with A-4.
The flop came down Q-T-Q so there were potential chop opportunities now in play. The 7 on the turn and J on the river didn’t pair up Morford or the board, meaning Baime had the winning hand and Morford hit the rail in second place, earning himself $42,504, not a bad effort for two days of play. Baime claimed the title and $77,681 in prize money.
The final table results were as follows:
1st – Kenneth Baime – $77,681
2nd – Leon Morford – $42,504
3rd – Brian Zimcosky – $28,141
4th – Fadi Hamad – $19,054
5th – John Simon – $14,657
6th – Michael Deis – $11,725
7th – Allen Lanier – $10,260
8th – Kou Vang – $8,794
9th – Tony Pena – $7,328
10th – Richard Idrovo – $5,863
It was the first time the Mid-States Poker Tour had visited the Majestic Star Casino. The next stop for the MSPT will be at the Golden Gates Casino in Colorado, commencing later this month.