Ryan Dykhouse Wins Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers ($124,500)
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After three starting flights and a grueling Day 2, Ryan Dykhouse bested a huge field of 517 entries to win the latest stop on the 2014 Mid-States Poker Tour schedule at FireKeepers.
The event would see 98 runners return for Day 2 to battle for the titles of Michigan State Poker Champion and MSPT Champion. Dykhouse made his way through to Day 2 via Day 1b and came into Day 2 smack-dab in the middle of the pack, ranked 49th in chips.
On Day 2, players reached the money four levels into play and it would take another six levels to reach the final table. On the way there, notable players lost to the cruelty of tournament poker included Patrick Steele (46th place), Michael Ross (35th), Dash Dudley (26th), and Jean Gaspard (16th).
The first full level of final-table play saw three players hit the rail, as Nik Stone, Chad Bienz and Jim Dominique all fell short in their bid for the championship. Tour regular Steve Anderson was next to go as he couldn’t win a race and his 
fell short against the pocket tens of Adam Friedman.
Next to go was Phung Ngo in particularly brutal fashion, which was perhaps a sign of things to come for Dykhouse. After that, in fifth place was Nick Pupillo, also at the hands of Dykhouse when his 
, couldn’t fade Dykhouse’s 
when he flopped a king. Jeremy Ehrke started the day as chip leader, but couldn’t get it done and exited in fourth place.
Adam Friedman had scratched and clawed his way to the final three and it was he, Dykhouse and Mark Johnson that battled it out for quite some time. Friedman was eventually worn down and exited in third place, leaving Dykhouse and Johnson heads up.
Dykhouse started heads-up play with more than a 2-1 chip lead and, despite a couple of stumbles, never really gave up control and eventually finished off Johnson, who hung in nicely before finally succumbing to the strong play from Dykhouse.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Dykhouse | $124,500 |
| 2 | Mark Johnson | $70,000 |
| 3 | Adam Friedman | $45,000 |
| 4 | Jeremy Ehrke | $35,740 |
| 5 | Nick Pupillo | $28,000 |
| 6 | Phung Ngo | $23,000 |
| 7 | Steve Anderson | $18,250 |
| 8 | Jim Dominique | $14,250 |
| 9 | Chad Bienz | $10,000 |
Johnson would take home $70,000 for his efforts and Dykhouse more than tripled his previous largest live cash with the $124,500 score. Congratulations to Ryan Dykhouse, Michigan State Poker Champion and MSPT FireKeepers Champion!