Around the Country: Pickett wins $120k

I’m going to try something new here at MNPokerMag.com — a semi-regular post called “Around the Country,” which is intended to give props to Minnesotans who make noise in big tournaments around the country.

It’s obviously not easy to keep track of every tournament series across the nation, let alone whether or not a Minnesotan makes a deep run, which is why I’m making no promises about the longevity of this article. But if you know of somebody (a Minnesotan, or someone with strong Minnesota ties) who made a deep run recently in any big tournaments, shoot me an email (Phil@MNPokerMag.com).

- Mike Pickett, Little Canada, MN, won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $5,000 Heads-Up event for $120,000 in January. Pickett, who nearly won the Fall Poker Classic Main Event last year, is one of the best young poker players in the country these days, and that’s not a stretch.

- David Taylor, a Duluth native, finished 4th in a World Series of Poker Circuit Event in Tunica, Mississippi last week for nearly $4,000. Taylor has career cashes in the LA Poker Classic, California State Poker Championships, WSOP, and several other tournament series.

- Wade Woelfel, a 26-year-old from Mankato, crushed the Borgata Winter Open  in Atlantic City recently, finishing 2nd in a $400 preliminary event for $12,000, and 12th in the Main Event for $32,000. Woelfel, who plays online as “soggy dogg,” has several big live and online cashes under his belt.

- Tony Hartmann, from Richfield — and a regular fixture at Canterbury’s Fall Poker Classic — finished 3rd place in a Southern Poker Championship (WPT) preliminary event down in Biloxi, Mississippi for just under $4,000 in mid-January. Hartmann has roughly $700,000 in career live tournament winnings.

If you have tournament result tips or information, email me at Phil@MNPokerMag.com