Kevin Oswald Wins Mid-States Poker Tour Firekeepers Casino Main Event

Kevin Oswald – Photo Credit: Mid-States Poker Tour

Kevin Oswald won his first tournament title along with the Mid-States Poker Tour trophy at the Firekeepers Casino main event on May 19 in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was the first tournament victory for the Michigan native, and he claimed his first MSPT trophy along with $234,422 in prize money in a four-way chop that brought the large tournament to a close.

“This feels awesome, I’ve been coming here for the last three years every May, so this is just an amazing feeling to be able to win it,” said Oswald to reporters after the victory. The heavy equipment operator continued, “I work a full-time job but have gotten together with a group of people every Friday for the last 20 years, some of us for the last 25 years. I just want to say thank you to the MSPT for always putting on such a great event and I look forward to the next one.”

The $1,110 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament attracted a field of 2,717 runners thanks to three starting flights, and 327 returned for the final day of play. The top 279 finishers cashed, with at least $2,371 in prize money going to those who made it that far.

The long march to the final table on the final day of play saw many notables fall along the way. World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Will Givens and Word Poker Tour Champions Club member and MSPT champion Dan Sepiol fell before the money bubble burst when MSPT champion Richard Bai fell one spot short of a cash. The eliminations came quickly after that, and familiar faces that made a deep run into the tournament included MSPT champions Michael Berk (16th), Chris Meyers (20th) and Sean Hinton (25th), as well as MSPT Hall of Fame member Pat Steele (21st).

Oswald was right up top challenging for the chip lead when the final table began after multiple hours of play to kick off action between the final nine. He took out Buck Becceri in eighth place, and Oswald followed that up with a knockout punch to Daniel Schill in seventh place to jump up to a dominant chip lead.

Steve Wangler then took out the next two players, including MSPT champion Curtis Vierstraete in sixth place, and WSOP gold bracelet winner Rob Mitchell in fifth place. The chip counts had evened out and the hour was late when a four-way even chop was agreed to among the final four players. That chop gave each player remaining $234,422 in prize money, and Oswald was awarded his first MSPT title along with the victory.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

The next two MSPT main events will be hosted by The Venetian Poker Room right along the Las Vegas Strip. Those two stops are coming up soon on May 25-28, and June 3-5.

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