Canadian Triumphs In Mid-States Poker Tour Ohio Poker State Championship

Renmei Liu took down the Ohio Poker State Championship hosted by the Mid-States Poker Tour on Feb. 17 at the Jack Cleveland Casino, securing the title and the top prize of $156,414.

“I’ve never ran like this before, this is really nice,” said Liu after the victory. The Canadian from Ontario is fast approaching $1 million in career tournament earnings.

The $1,110 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament attracted 824 entries over three starting flights, resulting in a prize pool of $797,780 that eclipsed the $500,000 guarantee. The top 88 players made the money, with a min-cash being worth $2,085.

Day 2 saw all the players that made the money return, and notables that made a deep run on the final day included Daniel Wolf (10th), Jon Lewis (15th), and MSPT champions Bobby Noel (16th) and Chris Meyers (36th).

Liu was the clear short stack when the final table began, making his run to the title all the more impressive. Nick Barile was out first in ninth place before Liu started the comeback tour by taking out Joseph Distasio in eighth. Brian Springman fell next in seventh place, and then it was Tim Fleenor who hit the rail in sixth while Liu continued his climb up the leaderboard.

A second knockout punch was booked by Liu when he got the best of Daniel Finley in fifth place, and then it was all Liu, all the time from there on out. Fourth place went to three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Sean Troha, as Liu kept building his stack with another winning hand, and the battle for third place saw recent MSPT Venetian champion Anthony Scarborough take his leave to set up the heads-up final.

Thanks to the hot streak, Liu took a 3:1 chip advantage into the final match against Michael Valore. Liu made quick work of that as well, with just one all-in pot taking place between the final two players.

Valore was all in with K7, and Liu had him covered holding AQ. The final board read 93238, and Liu won the hand along with the tournament. Valore was awarded $96,234 in prize money for the deep run in the event, taking his career earnings above $193,000.

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

The MSPT tour will continue with another main event at the Hollywood Casino in St. Louis, Missouri running from Feb. 20-23.

Photo Credit: Mid-States Poker Tour.

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