Sun Rises Again: John Sun Wins MSPT Majestic Star, Second Tour Title
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John Sun started Day 2 with the chip lead and he put the ammo to good use as he ended the day with all of the chips at Mid-States Poker Tour Majestic Star in Indiana. Sun topped a field of 324 to win $71,945.
The win is Sun's second MSPT title after he previously took down MSPT Meskwaki for $104,627 in July 2016, still his biggest cash. The chipper Milwaukee native now has just under $500,000 in total tournament winnings.
MSPT Majestic Star Official Final Table
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Sun | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | $71,945 |
| 2 | Ken Baime | Glenview, Illinois | $44,415 |
| 3 | Greg Geller | Denver, Colorado | $32,216 |
| 4 | Anthony Kastelic | Schererville, Indiana | $23,771 |
| 5 | Cheryl Choon | Chicago, Illinois | $17,828 |
| 6 | DJ Buckley | Eden Prairie, Minnesota | $13,762 |
| 7 | Robert Noe | Buffalo Grove, Illinois | $10,635 |
| 8 | Andrew Campbell | Oswego, Illinois | $8,445 |
| 9 | Ting Luo | Ann Arbor, Michigan | $6,537 |
| 10 | Justin Scovil | Tinley Park, Illinois | $5,286 |
The 324 entries in the event allowed it to comfortably surpass the $200,000 guarantee. Some players among the 36 cashing included HPT Tournament Director Jeremy Smith, reigning MSPT Player of the Year Aaron Johnson, and Nick Pupillo.
Mike Shin, who won this event in January and just took down HPT St. Louis, also made a deep run in an attempt to go back-to-back. He'd wind up busting in 12th place, padding his lead in the tour's POY standings.
Sun Turns a Slide Around
According to the live updates, Sun had started the day with north of 500,000 in chips but actually went net negative en route to the final table as he took in only 480,000, good for 24 big blinds. That left him as one of the shortest stacks, while Anthony Kastelic led the way at 1.5 million.
Luckily for Sun, he won a big flip right away when his ace-king triumphed against two tens held by Justin Scovil, rendering the Chicago-area regular to a 10th-place finish.
With six players left, Sun would have another big windfall in a preflop all in. This time, he woke up with kings in the small blind after Kastelic opened. Sun put in a three-bet and MSPT reg DJ Buckley, at his seventh final table on the tour, stuffed it in with A♦Q♦. Sun's hand would hold to give him the pot.
Three-Outer Ends Things
Meanwhile, another former champ of the event was on fire. Ken Baime, who won it in 2014, scored several eliminations at the final table and grabbed the lead short-handed.
However, Sun would pull even with him when he used another big pair, this time aces, to bust Greg Geller in third. Each player had about 3.2 million at 25,000/50,000/5,000, so the even-stacked duel commenced.
They'd play for about an hour, with Sun taking a sizable lead early on. Baime got down to 12 big blinds and had an opportunity to get back in it when he raised and flopped top pair with A♣K♣ on A♦10♥2♦. He snapped off Sun's check-raise all in, and Sun needed a lot of help with A♠4♥. However, the dealer heeded Sun's calls for a four on the river when the 4♠ arrived, ending the tournament in his favor.
"Oh my God!" he yelled. "Holy s***."
It seemed Sun could scarcely believe it himself, but the three-outer gave him a second MSPT crown.
