Ken Komberec Triumphs at 2016 MSPT Meskwaki
November 14, 2016 1:48 pmThe Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Meskwaki Main Event was held at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Iowa, with 405 competitors stumping up $1,100 each to create a prize pool worth $391,350. Three days of action later, and it was Wisconsin player Ken Komberec who would eventually triumph over the field to capture the trophy, and collect a $93,922 first-place prize.
Just four months earlier, Komberec’s best friend, John Sun, took down the 2016 MSPT Iowa State Poker Championship for $104,627, while Komberec supported his buddy from the rail. This time around the positions were reversed, and following his impressive performance, Komberec commented:
“Feels good. I don’t play in a lot of these, so it feels great. John won here in July. Hopefully you’ll keep having us back. We’ll be playing some more tournaments in the next six months for sure.”
The MSPT Meskwaki main event attracted a number of notable pros, and amongst those finishing in one of the 45 money spots was Blake Bohn in 43rd ($1,957), Jason Seitz in 37th ($1,957), Rodger Johnson in 32nd ($2,348), Kou Vang in 26th ($2,935); Matt Alexander in 17th ($3,796), John Reading in 14th ($5,088), and Aaron Massey in 20th ($2,935).
After the final table got underway, Ken Komberec would eventually progress all the way through to three-handed play, where his jacks cracked Tom Hammers’ pocket aces to take a 2-1 chip advantage over Drew Woodke into heads-up play. Following a brief exchange, it was then the pocket rockets which helped Komberec claim the title, after they held against his opponent’s open-ended straight draw.
Drew Woodke subsequently collected $56,746 for his runner-up finish, while Komberec collected the title, and commenting on his friend’s victory, John Sun, who had a 3% share of the spoils, stated:
“I just knew he was going to do it today, I just knew it.”
Final Table Results:
1: Ken Komberec $93,922
2: Drew Woodke $56,746
3: Tom Hammers $36,983
4: Josh Reichard $25,633
5: DJ Buckley $19,568
6: Carl Carodenuto $15,067
7: Ron McMillen $12,523
8: Anthony Knepper $10,371
9: Keith Neuzil $8,766
10: John Whitacre $6,653