David Berger captured his first Mid-States Poker Tour title, coming out on top at the tour’s stop at Sycuan Resort & Casino near San Diego, California on Jan. 20. The main event was a part of the casino’s San Diego 100 Grand Stack Series, and the top prize that went to Berger was worth $87,100. This was the Colorado resident’s largest tournament victory yet.
“It feels great, I made a New Year’s resolution to win a trophy I don’t already have, and it feels really good to cross that off in this first month,” said Berger to MSPT reporters moments after the victory.
The $1,110 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament saw a field of 474 runners pass through the starting gate over the course of five starting flights. That put the total prize pool at $458,280 to top the $300,000 guarantee. The top 50 players all cashed for at least $2,100 in prize money, and that’s how many players returned for Day 2.
Familiar faces that exited after a late run in the tournament included Andrew Ostapchenko (19th), two-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Justin Lapka (26th), defending champion Justin Muse (29th), and MSPT champion Daniel Bekavac (33rd).
Berger was fourth in chips when the final table began, but he had some work to do to catch up to the chip leaders. Brad Gafford kicked off the eliminations by exiting in ninth place, and he was followed to rail by Anastasiia Knapp in eighth place. Steve Hoang was out next in seventh place, and then Berger got his first knockout by eliminating Patrick Roteman in sixth place. Roteman was all in with A-K, but the A-8 for Berger connected for two pair on the turn and river.
Berger caught fire after that on the path to victory. He busted Armando Mesina when his pocket sixes held against A-K (5th), and Dillon Najor with A-J dominating A-5 (4th) in quick succession. He continued the heater by sending Jerric Jiang to the rail in third place when pocket queens held against A-J, and that gave Berger a nearly 2:1 chip advantage over Bradley Miller at the start of heads-up play.
The final two players quickly agreed to an ICM deal that saw Miller take home second place prize money worth $74,883, and Berger captured the top prize along with the MSPT trophy.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | David Berger | $87,100 | 720 |
| 2 | Bradley Miller | $74,883 | 600 |
| 3 | Jerric Jiang | $44,428 | 480 |
| 4 | Dillon Najor | $33,601 | 360 |
| 5 | Armando Mesina | $25,201 | 300 |
| 6 | Patrick Roteman | $19,134 | 240 |
| 7 | Steve Hoang | $14,934 | 180 |
| 8 | Anastasiia Knapp | $11,667 | 120 |
| 9 | Brad Gafford | $8,867 | 60 |
The MSPT tour will continue with another main event at Bally’s Black Hawk in Colorado running from Jan. 23-26.
Photo Credit: Mid-States Poker Tour.
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