The first-ever Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Showdown Series at San Diego’s Sycuan Casino wrapped up with the $1,100 buy-in $200K GTD Main Event on Sunday. The showstopper tourney of the series drew 676 entries, crushing the $200K guarantee to create a prize pool of $654,220. Walking away with the lion’s share of the prize pool was a 31-year-old poker dealer in Alejandro Jauregui, who came out on top of the star-studded field to win the title and the first-place prize of $140,665.
Jauregui, who deals at the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, made the trip south to San Diego for this particular event and the decision paid off handsomely. He will be returning home with a trophy and six figures in earnings. Jauregui is a long-time poker player and had two cashes to his name before this win, which fetched his career-best live score, boosting his lifetime earnings to $158,755.
Final Day Action
A total of 81 players survived the three starting flights in this event to qualify for Day 2, with only the top 72 making money among them. The bubble burst early in the day and it was Terence Reid who exited on the money bubble in 73rd place. It took around eight hours for the field to narrow down to the 8-handed final table. After Tony Galanti’s elimination in 9th place ($9,813), Jauregui (3,820,000) entered the final table as chip leader. Jose Araya and Jason Fitzpatrick held the next-largest stacks.
Haiau Han was the first to hit the rail at the final table, when his A-K failed to beat out Q-J of Andrew Moreno. Han earned $11,122 as the eighth-place finisher. He was followed by Britton Scheibe (7th place) and Andrew Moreno (6th place), leaving the five players in contention for the title. Araya was the next to be eliminated. His Kc 8d failed to beat Jauregui’s Ah Jd on the runout of 10d As 8h 7s Ac.
Jauregui took a healthy chip lead into four-handed action. He extended his advantage further by busting Jason Fitzpatrick in 4th place. Fitzpatrick shoved all-in with Qd Jd against the Ad 7d of Jauregui. The board helped neither player and Fitzpatrick was eliminated. The next to fall was Eli Loewenthal whose Ad 2s ran into Ah 6c of Jauregui. The board Jd Jc 4c 5d 7c kept Jauregui’s kicker in play and he took down the pot.
Heads-Up
Jauregui had a 3:1 chip lead into heads-up with Jesse Jones. He was able to extend that lead further by the time the final hand arrived. Jones limped in with Ad Js and Jauregui raised holding 6h 6c. Jones moved all-in and Jauregui made the call. The board ran out Jh 10h 6s 9d 5h, giving Jauregui a set of sixes. Jauregui shipped the title and Jones settled for the runner-up prize worth $88,320.
Final Table Results
- Alejandro Jauregui – $140,665
- Jesse Jones – $88,320
- Eli Loewenthal – $58,880
- Jason Fitzpatrcik – $40,562
- Jose Araya – $26,823
- Andrew Moreno – $20,281
- Britton Scheibe – $15,701
- Haiau Han – $11,122