Mark Collins Wins MSPT Canterbury Park
The Mid-States Poker Tour crowned a new six-figure winner as recreational player Mark Collins took down MSPT Canterbury Park in Minnesota for a first-place prize of $102,076.
Collins only had about $3,000 in tournament cashes before that but was able to take down a final table that included WSOP bracelet winner John Reading and traveling pro Aaron Johnson.
“You’ll definitely see me playing more,” Collins said after the win. “I probably won’t win again, but you’ll see me playing.”
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Collins | Moro, IL | $102,076 |
| 2 | Bob Van Syckle | St. Paul, MN | $62,720 |
| 3 | Sherry Hammers | Eden Prairie, MN | $45,198 |
| 4 | Aaron Johnson | Red Wing, MN | $34,183 |
| 5 | Joel Doering | Brooklyn Park, MN | $25,638 |
| 6 | John Reading | Rochester, MN | $19,466 |
| 7 | Gary Ewald | West Fargo, ND | $15,193 |
| 8 | Charlie Workman | Savage, MN | $11,869 |
| 9 | Gerald Cunniff | St. Paul, MN | $9,021 |
| 10 | Umut Ozturk | St. Paul, MN | $7,122 |
The tournament drew a field of 491 runners for the $1,100 event, just shy of the tour record 493 for the venue. Some of those cashing included Mike "Schneids" Schneider, Todd Breyfogle, Craig Trost, Kou Vang and super high roller regular John Morgan.
According to the live updates, Reading went into the final table with the most chips, but it was still anyone's game since he had less than 50 big blinds.
Collins figured heavily into the early action as he scored the first two eliminations. First, he tried check-raise bluffing with 7♣7♠ on J♥A♣6♣. However, Gerald Cunniff called him with a slowplayed top two, only to get incredibly unlucky when a seven hit on the turn. Collins shoved and eliminated Cunniff to rocket into the lead when he faded the river.
Then, Collins busted Charlie Workman when his dominating A♦7♣ hit a jack-high straight on the turn against A♥6♦.
Reading didn't have much luck at the final table, and his bid to add an MSPT title to his trophy case ended in sixth when he three-bet shipped threes and couldn't hold against the A♠K♠ of Bob Van Syckle.
Van Syckle and Collins headed the remaining five, but Johnson made a move up when he won a flip to bust Joel Doering. His surge was short-lived, however, as Collins made trips with the Q♣5♥ in a blinds battle to get a chunk of Johnson's stack and then Sherry Hammers sent the pro packing with a dominating ace for his last few blinds.
Collins then picked up A♠K♣ and dominated the K♦Q♦ of Hammers to bust her in third and take a commanding lead of about 4-1 into heads-up play. Van Syckle did his best to overcome it by getting in there ahead with ace-queen against ace-six, but Collins would pair his kicker on the flop to end things.
