Tim Thorp Prevails At Mid-States Poker Tour East Chicago Main Event

Tim Thorp prevailed at the Mid-States Poker Tour Ameristar East Chicago main event in Illinois on Nov. 24. It was the largest win of his career by far for a payday worth $108,184 to the remote tax accountant.

“It’s really special to be able to play this game with joy, and that’s all I did today,” said the player from East Lansing after the win. He continued, “You know, it’s funny how you don’t think you need any validation … but it is nice winning a big tournament because now you don’t have to prove it.”

The $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament saw a field of 524 entries over three starting flights. That put the prize pool right above a half million with $508,280 up for grabs with the top 56 players scoring a min-cash of $1,800. All the players in the money returned for the final day of play, and notables that made a deep run in the event to the top 20 included Brad Sailor (12th), Michael Estes (18th), last woman standing Janae Magnuson (19th), and Curtis Vierstraete (20th).

Thorp was second-to-last in chips when cards got into the air at the final table, but he woke up with queens in the hole to take out the other short stack Aaron Flores in ninth place. That would sustain him through the early going of the finale. MSPT Hall of Fame member Umut Ozturk busted next in eighth place, and seventh place went to Andrew Hammell, who fell in a three-way all in. Thorp then scored a timely double up with pocket kings to keep things rolling.

Ben Krauss left the field next in sixth place, and Nic DiTrapani hit the rail after that in fifth place. Thorp scored another knockout when he busted Andrew Keeney in fourth place to take the chip lead. Thorp found a pocket pair again, this time finding a couple of fours to eliminate Asa Snyder in third place.

That gave Thorp a better than 2:1 chip advantage when cards got into the air among the final two players. MSPT Hall of Fame member Christopher Moon was never able to overcome the chip deficit as the first time he got all in in that final pairing was also his last.

Moon was ahead with KQ in the hole when he called off the last of his stack, and Thorp held K10. The flop brought a ten to give Thorp the victory in the hand and the tournament along with his first MSPT trophy. Moon was awarded $66,471 as the runner up in the tournament, and that put his career earnings above $1.6 million.

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

The next MSPT main event will be hosted at the Venetian Poker Room in Las Vegas, with the $1,110 buy-in main event taking place from Dec. 1-4.

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