Jonathan Olson Wins 2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki ($95,741)
Jonathan Olson topped a field of 368 runners to claim a $95,741 first-place prize here at Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki in Tama, Iowa. The Iowa resident and MSPT first-timer defended his home turf, triumphing over Mike Holm after about a two-hour heads-up match that saw Holm display classic "alligator blood," tenaciously hanging on with a shorter stack for multiple all ins before capitulating. Holm earned $53,188 for second.
A total of 71 players came into Day 2 hopeful for the title, but about half left the room without being paid a cent for their tournament efforts. That number included Jason Seitz, Grant Hinkle, Adam Zych, Ryan Hohenstein, Tom Hammers, and Scott Mahin. The bubble burst at the conclusion of Level 18.
Matthew Alexander, Gennady Shimelfarb, Steve Belland, Phil Mader, and Brandon "norajean" Meyers were among those getting paid after busting in the money. Also, Kou Vang was able to score a small cash, ensuring he will come out of the tournament in first place on the MSPT Player of the Year leaderboard.
Olson came into the day with a mediocre stack of 65,000, good for just over 20 big blinds. He won a key flip relatively early on with 
against the 
of Stan Webb and was able to build his stack to the point where he went into the final table third in chips with just over 1 million.
Joe Matheson was the first final table participant to fall, the victim of a slowplay that allowed former MSPT champion David Gonia to overtake him on the turn. Matthew McGrory busted next in ninth, followed by heavy hitter Lance Harris in eighth. Harris' fellow Minnesotan Adam Dahlin went down in seventh after his kings were outdrawn on the river by the 
of Olson. Chance Langeness and Frank Huschle were the next two to go in sixth and fifth, respectively.
Gonia entered the day with the top stack, and he used it well, continuing to accumulate chips throughout the grind. Unfortunately for Gonia, all of his hard work came undone in a dizzying three-hand spiral that saw him go from top contender to fourth-place finisher in the span of a few minutes.
Play slowed considerably three-handed, but former chip-leader Chance Lautner ultimately fell in third when he jammed over a raise from Olson with 
and was called. Ace-king was again the ticket for Olson, this time 
, as the board came 
, giving him the knockout and allowing him to advance to heads-up play with a lead of about 4.4 million to 3 million.
Thanks for tuning in to PokerNews' coverage of another great MSPT event. Be sure to come back next week for another tour stop at Majestic Star Casino.