Matt Kirby Wins Canterbury Park Main for $99,573 to Become Three-Time MSPT Champ
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In its 10-season history, the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) has hosted 143 Main Events and awarded $82,241,590 in prize money. Prior to this weekend, there were only two players, Carl Carodenuto and Blake Bohn, who had won three titles. Now, thanks to his victory over a 479-entry field in the latest $1,100 buy-in MSPT Canterbury Park, Minnesota’s Matt Kirby has equaled the feat.
Kirby, who won $99,573 for the victory, previously won two events way back in Season 3 (2012) when he took down the MSPT Northern Lights Casino and MSPT Grand Casino Mille Lacs for $47,070 and $46,970 respectively.
Kirby, featured in this classic PokerNews piece from 2012, was previously one of only four players to cash every season of the MSPT, but he saw that streak come to an end when he failed to notch a cash in Season 8.
"I haven't been playing much, I used to play so much that it wasn't that exciting and now I play every few months; I've only played five (MSPT Main Events) in the last couple of years," Kirby told MSPT officials. "But it's got to the point where it's really fun and you look forward to coming back again. And obviously, this helps a lot and makes it really fun, but I have young kids at home, so it was really nice to stay home as much as possible. But now they're getting a little bit older, so it's a little easier to leave for a couple of days."
MSPT Canterbury Park Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Kirby | Bemidji, Minnesota | $99,573 |
| 2 | Andy Redleaf | Minneapolis, Minnesota | $61,179 |
| 3 | Adam Tolander | Des Moines, Iowa | $44,090 |
| 4 | Tyler Kolness | Hendrum, Minnesota | $33,345 |
| 5 | David Bashel | Brooklyn Park, Minnesota | $25,009 |
| 6 | Matt Alexander | Minneapolis, Minnesota | $18,988 |
| 7 | Jon Hanner | St. Paul, Minnesota | $14,820 |
| 8 | Todd Sladek | Glen Ellyn, Illinois | $11,578 |
| 9 | Mark Feil | Mankato, Minnesota | $8,799 |
| 10 | Rich Alsup | New Hope, Minnesota | $6,947 |
Others to cash the tournament were Carodenuto (12th - $6,947), Tom Stambaugh (16th - $4,631), Cody Brinn (22nd - $3,567), MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang (23rd - $3,567), Tom Hammers (34th - $2,501), Dan “DQ” Hendrickson (38th - $2,269), Ben Wiora (43rd - $2,269), and Paul Carney (54th - $2,084).
Final Table Action
Kirby didn’t score his first final table knockout until six players remained. That is when Matt Alexander got his chips in holding king-queen and was dominated by Kirby’s Big Slick suited. Kirby flopped a flush and Alexander, a former roadside shrimp salesman, hit the rail in sixth place for $18,988.
Kirby then picked up pocket queens to eliminate Dave Bashel, who had ace-queen, in fifth place for $25,009 and then got lucky with queen-eight to dispatch a short-stacked Tyler Kolness, who saw his ace-queen go down in flames when an eight spiked on the flop.
With three players remaining, Kirby three-bet jammed with pocket jacks and Adam Tolander called off with ace-four. The fishhooks held and Kirby took a near 3:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Andy Redleaf.
In the final hand of the tournament, Redleaf jammed with pocket fours and Kirby called holding queen-jack. A lady on the river saw Redleaf finish as runner-up for $61,179 and made Kirby a three-time MSPT champ!
The MSPT’s next stop is a $350 buy-in Regional Event at Grand Falls Casino just outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota March 6-10. The next $1,100 Main Event will take place March 22-24 at Meskwaki Casino in Tama, Iowa.
