FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Mich., hosted the latest Mid-States Poker Tour in mid May as Jason Zarlenga walked away with the title and $101,482. The $1,100 buy-in event attracted 411 players, one of the MSPT largest, for a $411K prize pool.
The event started with Day 1A on May 16 and culminated with the live-stream final table May 19. Zarlenga of Lansing beat Ann Arbor’s Michael Deis, who took home $58,589.
The final table consisted of all Michigan players with the exception of sixth-place finisher John Michalak of Cleveland ($18,866).
The win is Zarlenga’s second MSPT cash, his first being a 22nd-place finish in 2013, also at FireKeepers.
The other final table players included Mark Johnson of Warren (third, $35,745); Xingjun Chen of Richland (fourth, $28,795); Nick Perkins of Chesaning (fifth, $22,639); Dustin Hargis of Galesburg (seventh, $15,092); Scott Hammett of Chelsea (eighth, $11,518); Dash Dudley of Lansing (ninth, $7,943), and Marko Doljevic of Highland (10th, $5,163).
Though the win propels Zarlenga to fifth place in the player-of-the-year race, Deis is sitting atop the POY standings with 3K points.
The MSPT returns to FireKeepers Casino on Oct. 16.
— Email Frank at anteupmichigan@gmail.com.
