Ken Baime Wins MSPT U.S. Poker Championship Main Event For $82,512 After Missing His Flight Home

Ken Baime (cover image) and his wife had to board a flight home and were all packed and had even checked out of their hotel room. However, fate had other plans for Baime, who ended up besting the 436-player field in the 2022 MSPT U.S. Poker Championship Main Event, winning $82,512 in first-place prize money and the elusive MSPT trophy! Miles Barum finished runner-up for $67,511.

The 2022 Mid Stakes Poker Tour (MSPT) U.S. Poker Championship kicked off on September 15 at Sycuan Casino. The $1,110 Main Event played out from September 22 to 25.

Baime’s live tournament archives date back to 2009, and his most notable score came in the World Championship event this summer at the 2022 WSOP NLHE Main Event (46th for $176,200). He also took down a $250 Seniors side event earlier in the week for $6,300.

Baime praised his better half for always supporting him. In the winner’s interview, he said, “To my wife who lets me do all this. She didn’t know what she was getting into when we got married, but I appreciate it.”

He continued, “I mean right now, I’m ecstatic but just so fatigued. It really could have been anyone’s game, and we fought back and forth so hard. I do feel like I played with a lot more confidence. I had a pretty good summer, and I have a lot of confidence in my reads.”

The $1,110 buy-in Main Event registered a starting field of 436 runners. The $421,420 prize pool was distributed among the top 45 finishers.

ClubGG Qualifier Zach Jump (10th for $6,742), Day 1B chip leader Pat McCool (11th for $6,742), and WSOP gold bracelet winner Massoud Eskandari (14th for $5,477) were among the notables who boarded the money bus but busted short of the final table.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Ken Baime – 2,875,000
2. Hal Marcus – 1,870,000
3. Brayan Noriegasolis – 1,625,000
4. Kevin Malis – 1,260,000
5. Jason Kapoor – 910,000
6. Miles Barnum – 910,000
7. Elvis Toomas – 615,000
8. Suhail Khan – 480,000
9. Brian Nordin – 375,000

Final Table Recap

Kevin Malis was the first final table casualty. On the first hand of the final table, he ran his into Jason Kapoor’s cowboys, losing almost sixty percent of his stack. Running low on fuel, he shoved into Elvis Toomas’ . The board was as dry as a desert, sending Malis packing in ninth place.

Suhail Khan was the next to fall in eighth place. Kapoor was again put to work as he stacked Khan with his , crushing the former`s .

Elvis Toomas followed Khan to rail in seventh place after coming out short against Ken Baime in a pre-flop showdown. Toomas raised with and Baime three-bet with . Toomas moved all in, and Baime called and flopped top pair to take over the remainder of Toomas’s chips.

Making the sixth-place exit was Brian Nordin whose couldn’t crack Brayan Noriegasolis’ .

Hal Marcus quickly followed Nordin in fifth place, his falling flat against Jason Kapoor’s , who made a flush.

Eliminations came by quickly as Brayan Noriegasolis bowed out in fourth place. His yielded to Kapoor’s .

Jason Kapoor`s epic run came to a premature end in third place. With almost seventy-five percent of the chips in play at one point during three-handed play, Kapoor lost four big pots in a row, eventually falling to the soon-to-be winner Ken Baime.

Ken Baime and Miles Barnum were the last two players left standing in the battle for the MSPT trophy and the first-place cash prize. The heads-up match lasted almost three hours, with the chip lead exchanging hands countless times. Both players seemed to be on the verge of victory at several points.

Ultimately, Barnum moved all-in with against Baime’s pocket rockets . The board made a clean run, getting Baime the bragging rights of winning the MSPT title.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Ken Baime – $82,512
2. Miles Barnum – $67,511
3. Jason Kapoor – $41,721
4. Brayan Noriegasolis – $30,764
5. Hal Marcus – $23,178
6. Brian Nordin – $17,700
7. Elvis Toomas – $13,907
8. Suhail Khan – $10,957
9. Kevin Malis – $8,007

Cover Image and Content Courtesy: MSPT and PokerNews