A pile of chips was already in the middle in a blind-on-blind battle between Satoshi Tanaka and Korey Payne. The board read and Tanaka had a bet of 500,000 on the felt from the small blind. Korey Payne called in the big blind.
The river came and Tanaka bet another 900,000. Payne thought for over a minute and then slid his cards across the felt to the dealer to earn Tanaka the pot.
Hand #1: Korey Payne completed his small blind upon action folding to him and Martin Zamani checked his option in the big blind. Action checked through the flop and the turn came . Payne fired out 175,000 and Zamani raised it to 350,000. Payne called.
The river was and Payne led out for 250,000. Zamani announced that he actually had something good, but that he was going to pay off Payne nonetheless. He reached across the table and set his call down right next to Payne.
Payne showed ad it confirmed Zamani's suspicions about Payne having the better hand. Zamani sent his cards to the muck and Payne took in the pot.
Hand #2: On the following hand, Payne raised on the button and received a call from Randy Froelich in the big blind. The flop came and Froelich check-called a continuation-bet of 160,000 from Payne.
Froelich led out on the turn for 300,000 and Payne called, bringing the river .
"I'm all in," said Froelich. His stack was counted to be 1.135 million and it was more than Payne wished to commit, resulting in him sending his cards to the muck to earn Froelich the pot.
On the penultimate hand of the previous level, Salim Admon raised to 300,000 in the cutoff and was three-bet to 900,000 by Korey Payne in the small blind. Admon called.
The flop came and Payne continued for 750,000 with Admon calling again. Action then checked through the turn and the river fell .
"One-point-two (million)," announced Payne, putting out an equal amount. Admon took about 20 seconds and then found a call.
Payne showed and took down the pot with his aces upon receiving a muck from Admon. With the pot, Payne is now up to 10.8 million while Admon holds 12.26 million and now has company above 10 million for the first time in the tournament.
Salim Admon raised to 300,000 on the button and both Satoshi Tanaka and Korey Payne called in the small- and big blinds, respectively. The flop was and action checked to Admon, who made a ;continuation-bet of 325,000. Tanaka folded and Payne called.
Payne checked the turn and Admon continued, firing a second barrel for 600,000. Payne called again without. much deliberation.
The river fell and Payne led out, betting 850,000. Admon took about 10 seconds and then sent his cards to the muck.
David Poces shoved in the hijack for 2.725 million and Satoshi Tanaka called all in for just less, totaling 2.535 million in the cutoff. All remaining players folded.
David Poces:
Satoshi Tanaka:
Poces found no help as the board ran out and was left with just 190,000 after losing the pot. He lost it on the following hand to Martin Zamani with jack-seven to Zamani's queen-four and finished the tournament in sixth place as a result, earning $49,610 for his efforts.
Action folded to Satoshi Tanaka in the small blind and he completed. Korey Payne raised to 285,000 and Tanaka called.
The two saw a flop of and Tanaka check-called a bet from Payne. Both players checked through the turn and Tanaka fired out 500,000 on the river. Payne thought for a few moments and then cut out a raise to 1.5 million.
Tanaka thought for a bit and then let his hand go, earning Payne the pot. Payne lifted up and then sent it down onto the felt face down before raking in the pot.
Action folded around to Satoshi Tanaka in the small blind and he completed. Korey Payne raised his option, making it 520,000 and Tanaka limp-jammed for 1.9 million. Payne got the count and then called.
Satoshi Tanaka:
Korey Payne:
Tanaka found a small sweat to a backdoor gutter but ultimately found a safe runout of and earned the double.
Since its inception in 2009, the MSPT has done a great job keeping track of player stats. As a result, 11 years on they have one of the best player databases in the industry.
On their "Leaderboards" page, the MSPT tracks such things as Career Earnings, Main Event Cashes, Main Event Final Tables, Main Event Titles, Total Cashes, Most Cashes/Final Tables in a Season, Most Final Tables All-Time, and much more.
Several players in today's field are looking to climb on the leaderboard for "Most MSPT Main Event Final Tables."
Here's a look at the top eight MSPT Main Event final tables in tour history: