Joe Matheson wins MSPT Running Aces event, $51k
By 
Joe Matheson
After nearly 21 hours of grinding, Joe Matheson outlasted Mario Hudson heads-up to win the Minnesota State Poker Tour event at Running Aces Harness Park on Sunday night for $51,349.
This was only the third ever MSPT event since the tour launched in December, 2009 at Canterbury Park, yet the Main Event drew a massive field of 183 players.
Matheson, from Andover, won his seat into the event through a $90 qualifier. In other words, he turned $90 into over $51,000.
The 21-hour MSPT Main Event is believed to be the longest major poker tournament in Minnesota history.
* See photo gallery below
Final Results (183 entrants, $1,100 buy-in):
1st – Joe Matheson – $51,349
2nd – Mario Hudson – $25,321
3rd – John Alexander – $15,936
4th – Darren Hendrickson – $12,395
5th – Everett Carlton – $10,624
6th – Tony Moses – $7,968
7th – Brian Schallhammer – $6,906
8th – Kuong Yek – $6,020
9th – Matt Leshovsky – $4,958
10th – Peter Baker – $4,073
11th – Doug Fink – $3,451
12th – Tyree Johnson – $3,099
13th – Bruce Vang – $2,656
14th – Tom Burandt – $2,213
15th – Jesse Knoblach – $1,948
16th – Jason Banfi – $1,771
17th – Tony Hartmann – $1,771
18th – John Wilhelmy – $1,771
19th – Leon Sells – $1,594
20th – Chuck Marty – $1,594
21st – Babe O’Gorman – $1,594
22nd – Kyle Belgarde – $1,417
23rd – Amir Tavanae – $1,417
24th – Scott Naisbitt – $1,417
25th – Chad Poitra – $1,239
26th – Phil Mackey – $1,239
27th – Tami Yanta – $1,239
April 12th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Congrats to Joe! He played aweseome and the win was well deserved. The entire final table was tough, it was full of solid players and extremely tough to get anyone to commit all their chips. It was great poker and fun to watch!