As the leaves start to change color, Minnesota poker players always come out in droves for Canterbury Park’s Fall Poker Classic, Minnesota’s largest and arguably most prestigious poker series, which is in its 11th year. This year’s FPC, which ran Oct. 1-16, had more than 4,800 entries over the course of 25 events with a cumulative prize pool of more than $1.1 million. Players flocked to Shakopee for a variety of events, including hold’em, Omaha and stud, with winners representing seven states.
The championship no-limit hold’em two-day event, which began Oct. 15, drew 293 entries (48 more than last year) for a $284,210 prize pool. The event concluded with Jared Hubbard of Farmington, Minn., beating Brandon Beery heads-up for the $70,769 first-place prize.
“Nine o’clock last night is when I really started to go on a run,” Hubbard said shortly after his win. “And then I just built it from there. I came into today as the chipleader.”
Hubbard maintained a decent chip stack for most of Day 2. Once he regained the lead five-handed he didn’t relinquish it. Despite his relaxed demeanor at the table he’s still fairly new to live poker.
“I usually don’t play much live, but I figured I’d at least play all of the Fall Classic events for a nice little change of pace,” Hubbard said. “It’s actually only my 13th live tournament.”
What Hubbard lacks in live experience he makes up for in online credentials, being an accomplished pro player for the past five years.
“When I played (six-handed single-table tournaments) I led the world in total profit three out of the four years I played them,” he said.
Since then he has shifted his focus to heads-up SNGs. His online results have earned him a position as a Lock Poker sponsored pro. For more information about Hubbard visit jaredhubbard.com.
MIDWEST CLASSIC: Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus, Minn., hosted the third annual Midwest Poker Classic from Sept. 26-Oct. 2. The series boasted more than 1,300 combined entries split among its 14 events.
The Ironman Freeroll event started things off with Derek Knisley beating a field of 373 entries. Kelly Sobczak, Justin Huebener and Shawn Nelson each won a $125 NLHE event. Josh Grover won the $125 spread-limit Omaha/8 tournament and 2010 Fall Poker Classic champion Kou Vang won the $230 NLHE bounty event.
The series culminated with the $1,100 main event, which attracted 149 entries for a prize pool of $142,183. Shawn Douglas of Fridley, Minn., took the first-place prize of $41,150, besting David Bashel of Brooklyn Park, Minn., heads-up.
MID-STATES POKER TOUR: Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Welch, Minn., hosted a Mid-States Poker Tour event Sept. 9-18. The main event exceeded its $100,000 guarantee and drew 138 players. Ben Marsh, a successful online player, walked away with a first place and $40,071.
The Mid-States Poker Tour began in 2010 as the Minnesota State Poker Tour, but it recently expanded beyond the confines of the Minnesota borders with events scheduled for Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin during Season 3. The next event will be at Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Onamia, Minn., on Nov. 12-20. Visit msptpoker.com for details.
— John Somsky is the Ante Up Ambassador for Minnesota. You can email him at john.somsky@gmail.com.
Fall Poker Classic, Canterbury Park, Shakopee, Minn., Oct. 1-15
Event 1 $300 NLHE
244 Entries • $71,004 Prize Pool
1. Henry Holderness $17,680
2. Ryan Ellison $9,941
3. Nes Coburn $7,100
4. Burton Joseph $5,325
5. Richard Jones $4,615
6. George Shabatura $3,905
7. Tyler Lankford $3,195
8. Erik Glenister $2,485
9. Sami El-Dein $1,811
Event 2 • $150 NLHE
235 Entries • $34,193 Prize Pool
1. Aaron Johnson, $8,513
2. Ryan Parranto, $4,787
3. Chris Anderson, $3,419
4. Jerry Probst, $2,564
5. Bryan Mileski, $2,223
6. Carlos Gamell, $1,881
7. Ben Schmidtbauer, $1,539
8. Erik Fritz, $1,197
9. Jason Corrigan, $872
Event 3 • $200 NLHE
219 Entries • $42,486 Prize Pool
1. Adam Dahlin, $11,047
2. Blake Bohn, $5,948
3. Adam Stemple, $4,546
4. Thomas Gibney, $3,399
5. Johnny Wright, $2,974
6. Bryan Mileski, $2,549
7. Kiernan Webb, $2,124
8. Michael Fick, $1,699
9. Andrew Carello, $1,275
Event 4 $200 Omaha/8
131 Entries • $25,414 Prize Pool
1. Casey Schams, $6,608
2. Daniel Buckley, $3,558
3. Rebecca Messenger, $2,719
4. John Reiss, $2,033
5. David Stewart, $1,779
6. Dale Laehn, $1,525
7. Robert Stebbins, $1,271
8. Douglass Winn, $1,017
9. Adam Laskey, $762
Event 5 • $200 O/8-HE
81 Entries • $15,714 Prize Pool
1. Doug Fink, $4,400
2. Frankie Powell, $3,143
3. Renee Kessel, $2,200
4. Matthew Suelflow, $1,571
5. Daniel Wandling, $1,100
6. Terrence McGuire, $943
7. Bill Knight, $786
8. Michael Binstock, $629
9. Jean Merkel, $471
Event 6 • $200 NLHE
244 Entries • $47,336 Prize Pool
1. Nate Fair, $11,787
2. Jesse Knobloch, $6,627
3. Tom Ellingson, $4,734
4. Judd Greenagel, $3,550
5. Joe Meehan, $3,077
6. Ben Baccam, $2,603
7. Todd Winkler, $2,130
8. Sara Allgood, $1,657
9. Richard Scoville, $1,207
Event 7 • $300 NLHE
234 Entries • $68,094 Prize Pool
1. Blake Bohn, $16,955
2. Jim Meehan, $9,533
3. Daryl Oppelt, $6,809
4. Brad Hayden, $5,107
5. John Olson, $4,426
6. Ryan Immel, $3,745
7. Louis Hillman, $3,064
8. Dan Favreau, $2,383
9. Jim Erickson, $1,736
Event 8 • $500 NLHE
192 Entries • $93,120 Prize Pool
1. John Olson, $24,211
2. Jack Kashishian, $13,037
3. Jerold Berg, $9,964
4. Quon Tran, $7,450
5. Kyle Knudson, $6,518
6. Derek Crooks, $5,587
7. Erick Wright, $4,656
8. Scott McLaren, $3,725
Event 9 • $150 NLHE
267 Entries • $38,849 Prize Pool
1. Mike Lingenfelter, $9,670
2. Conrad Fink, $5,439
3. Eswar Kaliappan, $3,885
4. Chad Tagtmeir, $2,914
5. John Alexander, $2,525
6. Steve Hammerschmidt, $2,137
7. Mike Wallin, $1,748
8. Glenn Maxwell, $1,360
9. John Sandberg, $991
Event 10 • $200 NLHE
220 Entries • $42,680 Prize Pool
1. Steve Krogness, $10,627
2. Erin Bentley, $5,975
3. Shawn Aaberg, $4,268
4. Troy Rundquist, $3,201
5. John Wakeen, $2,774
6. Sean Giere, $2,347
7. Judd Greenagel, $1,921
8. Nick Marsh, $1,494
9. Doug Prindle, $1,088
Event 11 • $200 NLHE
194 Entries • $37,636 Prize Pool
1. John Alexander, $9,785
2. Robby Rasmussen, $5,269
3. Jesse Donner, $4,027
4. Steve Erickson, $3,011
5. Nick Nierenhausen, $2,635
6. Ryan Hohenstein, $2,258
7. Adam Cooley, $1,882
8. Nick Anderson, $1,505
9. Weslee Brown, $1,129
Event 12 • $200 Stud
55 Entries • $10,670 Prize Pool
1. Russ Scott, $3,200
2. Todd Fisher, $2,134
3. Bill Knight, $1,707
4. Jon Breneman, $1,174
5. Don Wilburn $854
6. Sherry Hammers, $640
7. Bill Criego, $534
8. Nesbitt Coburn, $427
Event 13 • $500 NLHE
124 Entries • $60,140 Prize Pool
1. Wade Woelfel, $15,637
2. Adam Laskey, $8,420
3. Rob Wazwaz, $6,435
4. Steve Hammerschmidt, $4,811
5. Joshua Barnes, $4,210
6. Adam Dahlin, $3,608
7. John Sekevitch, $3,007
8. Jason Corrigan, $2,406
9. Mike Lingenfelter, $1,804
Event 14 • $500 NLHE
183 Entries • $88,755 Prize Pool
1. Adam Laskey, $23,076
2. Soap Song, $12,426
3. Eric Abate, $9,497
4. Ken Miell, $7,100
5. Nesbitt Coburn, $6,213
6. Ken Coy, $5,325
7. Adam Webb, $4,438
8. Yer Vang, $3,550
9. Mike Ruter, $2,663
$1K Main Event
293 Entries • $284K Prize Pool
1. Jared Hubbard, $70,769
2. Brandon Beery, $39,789
3. Paul Schroeder, $28,421
4. Peter Miller, $21,316
5. Adam Schop, $18,474
6. David Marlow, $15,632
7. Brian Halik, $12,789
8. Tom Marsland, $9,947
9. Robert Van Syckle, $7,247
