WSOP POY Ian Matakis Wins Canterbury Park Fall Poker Classic Main Event ($117,668)
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Ian Matakis took the poker world by storm earlier this summer at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) when he racked up 22 cashes and a bracelet victory to win the WSOP Player of the Year race. The young grinder is back on the felt and, on Sunday evening, took down the 2023 Canterbury Park Fall Poker Classic $1,100 buy-in Main Event in Minnesota for $117,668.
Matakis, a Minnesota native, defeated heads-up opponent Wesley Cannon after the two agreed to flatten the payouts and play for the trophy and an additional $10,000 in prize money.
https://twitter.com/CanterburyCards/status/1711270877092839461
Read About Ian Matakis Winning POY!
2023 Canterbury Park Fall Poker Classic Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Matakis | $117,668* | |
| 2 | Wesley Cannon | $97,444* | |
| 3 | Ben Frisch | $60,621 | |
| 4 | Blake Bohn | $44,977 | |
| 5 | Nghia Le | $33,896 | |
| 6 | James Karamanis | $25,422 | |
| 7 | Steven Knish | $19,555 | |
| 8 | Yer Vang | $15,644 | |
| 9 | Daniel Hendrickson | $11,733 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
Matakis Takes Over
Taking down the FPC Main Event was no easy feat and Matakis had to navigate through a field of 679 runners in an event that created a $651,840 prize pool. The final table included Mid-States Poker Tour Hall of Famer and Minnesota all-time money leader Blake Bohn (4th - $44,977) and fellow Minnesota crusher Nghia Le (5th - $33,896).
After the elimination of Ben Frisch in third for $60,621, Matakis and Cannon agreed to a modified ICM chop before playing it out for the trophy. Early into heads-up play, Cannon double through Matakis with ace-jack against ten-eight to even things out.
https://twitter.com/CanterburyCards/status/1711251846390567146
Things got crazy when Cannon three-bet jammed with pocket fours to put himself at risk and Matakis called with ace-eight and a slightly bigger stack, according to Canterbury Park updates on X.
Matakis paired his ace on the turn to become a big favorite to win the event, but a four on the river gave Cannon a miracle double as the WSOP POY was left with crumbs.
In remarkable fashion, Matakis went on to double up four consecutive times to even things out before a similar preflop matchup where Matakis' ace-seven beat out the pocket threes of Cannon, who busted the next hand after being left with a single small blind.
It was a heartfelt victory for Matakis as it took place on the three-year anniversary of his mother's passing, as he noted on social media.
"This one’s for you Momma," he wrote.
https://twitter.com/IMatakis/status/1711380079589068862
Continuing Breakout Year
The victory at his hometown Canterbury Park is the latest in what has been a breakout year for the young Minnesotan. Five of his six biggest career cashes were from this year, including a career-best score of $205,696 from a third-place finish in Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Handed) at the 2023 WSOP.
Earlier in the summer, Matakis took down the WSOP Online $500 Bankroll Builder for $120,686 and his first bracelet en route to a surprise victory in the WSOP POY race ahead of usual favorites like Shaun Deeb and Josh Arieh.
Matakis, who now has $1.7 million in tournament earnings and sits 13th on Minnesota's all-time money list, appeared on the PokerNews Podcast earlier this year to talk about his POY victory and more. Check out Matakis on the PokerNews Podcast below.
*Lead photo courtesy of Canterbury Park via X.
