Gallegos Grabs MSPT Bally’s Black Hawk Title

Billyray Gallegos is the latest American to win a Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Main Event title. The Denver, Colorado, native came out on top of a 683-strong field at Bally’s Black Hawk, and walked away with $104,890 after a three-handed chop.

Gallegos is a cash game player by trade but turned his attention to this tournament in his home state. It turned out to be a great decision because Gallegos raked in his largest-ever prize.

Day 2 started with 80 players returning to their seats but only 73 places paid. Miguel Navarro was the unfortunate player who burst the money bubble. His Ks-Td was no good against the Jc-2h courtesy of a Td-Ks-2d-Jh-2s board. Navarro’s exit locked in at least $2,181 for the surviving players, which increased to $11,898 at the nine-handed final table.

Gallegos Holds Commanding Final Table Chip Lead

Mike Meyer busted in tenth when his As-Jd lost to the Ah-Kd in Vincent Moscati’s hand. That put Moscati second in chips with 2,950,000 chips behind the 4,600,000 of Gallegos.

It did not take long for the dealer to shout “seat open.” Devin Garcia got his stack in with Ax-Kx on a 2c-3d-Jd-Ac board, which you would expect to be good. However, Brady Bullard held 3c-3s, which flopped a set. The 5h river sent Garcia home in ninth.

Bullard sent another player to the rail during the next level. Colin Gordon move his short stack in from the button with Ac-Tc, and Bullard called in the small blind with Ad-9d. Bullard came from behind when the five community cards fell 2d-Kd-9s-8c-4d. Gordon collected $15,864 for his troubles.

Seventh-place and $19,830 went to Moscati, who endured some bad luck. First, his ace-four failed to get there against Chris Gfull’s pocket kings. Second, he three-bet jammed with Ah-Jc after Gallegos raised with Kh-Qc. Gallegos called and won the pot when the Jh-Qs-8s-4s-9c landed on the table.

A career-best $25,779 made its way to Scott Husar when his tournament ended in sixth place. Husar open-shoved from the button with Jc-Ts, and Ronald Scott called with Ad-Qc from the small blind. No help arrived for Husar as the final board read 3d-4s-5d-Qh-As.

Only Two More Eliminations

Only two more players busted despite five players remaining in the hunt for the title. Why? Because the final three heroes struck a deal for the remaining prizes.

Jared Ingles lost a coinflip against Bullard to bust in fifth, a finish worth $34,373. Ingles committed the last of his chips with Js-Jh, and rand into the Ad-Kc in Bullard’s hand. The all-diamond 7d-3d-Qd flop gave Bullard flush outs in addition to overcards. The 9c turn kept Ingles ahead, but the Kh river sent him to the showers. Ingles banked $34,373, taking his lifetime earnings past $1 million.

Gallegos claimed the tournament life of Gfull shortly after Ingles crashed out. Gfull made a play for his entire stack with As-Ts and ran into Gallegos’ Ks-Kd. The 5c-Qh-9d-Tc-7d board brought no drama, and busted Gfull.

That was the last of the action from this event because the final three players paused the clock, discussed a deal, before reaching an agreement. Bullard officially finished third for $81,347, and Scott netted $93,369 in addition to a runner-up finish. This left Gallegos as the last player standing and, therefore, recipient of the MSPT trophy and $104,890.

MSPT Bally’s Black Hawk Final Table Results

Place	Player	Home town	Prize
1	Billyray Gallegos	Denver, CO	$104,890*
2	Ronald Scott	Midland, TX	$93,369*
3	Brady Bullard	Edmond, OK	$81,347*
4	Chris Gfull		$45,610
5	Jared Ingles	Baton Rouge, LA	$34,373
6	Sam Husar	Harrison City, PA	$25,779
7	Vincent Moscati	New York, NY	$19,830
8	Colin Gordon	Golden, CO	$15,864
9	Devin Garcia	Denver, CO	$11,898

MSPT players do not have long to wait to play another event because it takes place from February 10-12. The tour heads to Las Vegas and is part of the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza I, which should make it massive.

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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