Corey Wick crossed the border from Wisconsin into the land of Wolverines and Spartans to conquer the $1,110 buy-in MSPT Michigan Poker State Championship for $397,587 on Sunday.
If you're wondering how the payout was so massive for a tournament with a buy-in just over $1k, it's because the field at FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek had 3,040 entries across three Day 1 starting flights. Wick defeated Ryan Eamon heads-up for the title.
The tournament promised players at least $1 million in the pot. But by the time registration closed, the prize pool had reached $2,947,300. The guarantee had been smashed before the end of registration on Day 1b, and the largest starting flight was still to come.
Season 16 of the MSPT arrived at FireKeepers Casino, which boasts a new 21-table poker room, on May 15. Many top pros such as MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard and World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion and Michigan native Ryan Riess showed up to compete.
Wick showed consistency throughout the tournament, with some luck sprinkled in, as he bagged the fifth largest stack out of the 334 players who advanced to Day 2. But he was only sitting on an average stack with three tables remaining.
The Wisconsin native then started winning some all ins, one time with QxQxholding up to beat AxQx, and then another spot where he had the AxQxand beat QxQx. By the time the final table rolled around, he was in second place, although trailing the chip leader, Ryan Brown, by a healthy margin.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corey Wick | $397,587 |
| 2 | Ryan Eamon | $244,462 |
| 3 | Travis McCullough | $182,448 |
| 4 | Ryan Brown | $142,248 |
| 5 | Jose Montes | $108,085 |
| 6 | Sung Kim | $85,408 |
| 7 | D.J. Buckley | $65,381 |
| 8 | Oliwer Sankiewicz | $50,656 |
| 9 | Dale Kirgis | $41,820 |
Brown would only extend his lead early at the final table when he clipped Dale Kirgis in ninth place ($41,820) with a full house. Oliwer Sankiewicz then busted his short stack in eigth place ($50,656). Brown won a 60/40 to send DJ Buckley home in seventh place ($65,381) before Sung Kim, the smallest stack at the time, gambled with a suited connector and lost to Jose Montes to bust in sixth place ($85,408).
Montes, however, wouldn't last much longer after losing a race against Travis McCullough, and was out in fifth place ($108,085). Brown then doubled Wick, who had become the short stack, when Jx8xsucked out against AxJx.
Wick's luck was even greater moments later when he went all in with AxJxand ran into Brown's AxAx. The board would bring a straight for Wick, who moved into the chip lead. The suckout left Brown with less than 10 big blinds. To add insult to injury, Brown would get it all in with KxJxand lose to Wick's KxKx.
Brown was eliminated in fourth place for $142,248, a large payday, but a cruel way to go from chip leader to elimination. Wick would take McCullough out in third place ($182,448) when the bigger ace held up against the weaker kicker.
Heads-up play began with Wick holding a 3-1 chip lead over Eamon. The match didn't last long, and it came to an end with Wick's A♣3♣holding up against K♠9♠. Eamon took home $244,462 for his efforts and moved into second place on the MSPT Season 16 leaderboard. But he would be leading the way over Anthony Scarborough had he won the tournament.
A humble Wick wasn't afraid to admit he got a couple breaks at the final table.
“It was completely undeserved,” Wick told MSPT reporters after his two double ups, “He (Ryan Brown) was probably the best player at the table, and probably should have won, but he caught the worst run of hands all caused by me.”
Wick had just $93.771 in prior live tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob. He's now an MSPT champion.
“It’d be nice to have the 2x next to my name but if this is the only one I win, I won’t complain,” Wick said.
*Images courtesy of the MSPT.