Blake Bohn Wins 2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Grand Falls Casino ($54,607)
After scoring two runner-up finishes in past Mid-States Poker Tour events, tour pro Blake Bohn made sure to finish the job this time, though he almost let the victory slip away late. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native added $54,607 to a tournament tally of more than $1.4 million in cashes. He defeated a field of 201 runners, ultimately claiming victory in an aggressive heads-up match with Fort Calhoun, Neb., native Jeff Bryan.
Bohn came into the day with a massive chip lead, and he put it to good use, absolutely steamrolling the final table, where he knocked out seven of his nine fellow finalists.
Before that could happen, a few of the 36 Day 2 starters had to miss the money, including Mark Sandness, who defeated Bohn heads up earlier this year at MSPT Running Aces. Once Justin Heilman busted to get the tournament in the money, "Red Bull" Robbie Thompson, Kou Vang, Lance Harris, Day 1b leader Ken Ihringer, Renee Kessel, and Ryan Skluzak collected payout tickets before the final table was set.
Bubbling had to be a tough pill to swallow for Skluzak, as his kings were cracked to bust him in 11th.
Vang, meanwhile, will pull back into first place in the MSPT Player of the Year standings after Mike Deis knotted things up with a cash at Majestic Star.
Bohn had more than a third of the chips in play as the final table began, and he quickly bounced Frank Martin and Max Bergquist in 10th and ninth, respectively. After short stack Steve Pint bowed out in eighth, Bohn was able to take out one of the more accomplished players in the tournament, Phil Mader, who got some air time during last year's World Series of Poker broadcast by locking horns repeatedly with Phil Ivey during the Main Event.
Mader opened to 40,000 in middle position and was called by only Bohn on the button. Mader continuation-bet 35,000 on the 
flop, and Bohn made the call. Mader fired another 60,000 on the 
turn, and Bohn called once more. On the 
river, Mader bet 105,000, and Bohn put him all in for about 90,000 more. Mader quickly called and was shown the bad news: 
for a backdoor flush.
"Really?" Mader said with a slight smile, showing 
for top set on the flop.
Bohn's roll continued as he booted Herb Laney in sixth by spiking a king with 
on the river against Laney's 
. Robertson then eliminated Marty Rahbusch, making him easily the second-biggest stack. However,a three-outer at the hands of Bohn left him with only fourth-place money.
Steve Belland finished second last time the MSPT came to town, and he followed up with another excellent placing when he busted in third with 
against Bohn's 
as the board ran out 
.
That left Bohn and Bryan heads up, and the action heated up quickly. Bryan twice doubled up with ace-high hands against Bohn's live 
all in preflop, as Bohn seemed to be willing to gamble to try to lock up the victory that seemed all but assured with a nine-to-one chip lead. With the two deadlocked after Bryan took another big pot off Bohn, the Minnesota native was suddenly staring at the possibility of third second-place MSPT finish.
However, Bryan made the classic misstep of slowplaying aces, as he check-called 100,000 on a 
flop after letting Bohn see the flop for a limp. Both players checked the turn, and Bryan fired out 200,000 on the 
river. Bohn shoved all in, and Bryan called with the aces only to be shown 
for a full house. Interestingly, Bohn's runner-up finish to Sandness also featured a final hand of 
against 
, with Bohn jamming a straight draw on the flop and Sandness turning him dead with aces full.
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