Cash Game Grinder Wins First-Ever Great Lakes Poker Classic Main Event
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The first Great Lakes Poker Classic $1,200 Main Event drew 314 entrants to FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan, generating a $321,700 prize pool.
Only 44 players returned for the final day, and just 34 players would earn a payout. After roughly 12 hours of play, the field was reduced to a single name, with Alec Magdan capturing the first Great Lakes Poker Classic Main Event title.
Magdan entered Day 2 in a unique position after taking advantage of the tournament’s multi-bag format. He was the only player to double bag — and went one step further by triple bagging — securing $8,000 in bonus money even before the money bubble burst.
By the time the final card was dealt, he had added the top prize of $75,601 and the Main Event trophy to his resume.
“I play mainly cash. MGM is so close and 2/5 is so popular,” Magdan said moments after his win.
The victory adds $75,601 to his Hendon Mob profile and pushes his lifetime tournament earnings above $300,000.
Despite primarily grinding cash games, Magdan still makes regular appearances at FireKeepers.
“I definitely don’t miss the MSPT FireKeepers, but there are occasionally nightlies or like the Sizzling $750s. I play those, so maybe like three to four times a year. But now I’m definitely going to be coming up for the Great Lakes Poker Classic.”
After bagging a sizable stack in the opening flight, he continued firing in the remaining flights to claim the multi-bag bonus, at times multi-tabling and even sitting out late levels to protect his position.
“It affected my play in the later levels,” Magdan said of his strategy during the Day 1 flights. “I wasn’t used to playing for bags, so I just really needed to play tighter. I didn’t need to accumulate chips because I had a big first bag.”
That early success shaped the rest of his tournament.
“If I didn’t bag a lot on the first flight, I would have been playing more normally, not trying to coast into Level 15.”
With 18 players remaining, Magdan found himself among the shorter stacks at the final two tables. From that point forward, his tournament began to shift.
He steadily built momentum through the late stages and entered the final table in the middle of the pack before quickly climbing into the chip lead, a position he would hold for most of the remainder of play.
“There’s definitely momentum behind it. I kind of snowballed my momentum throughout the final table,” Magdan said. “My opponent heads up (Jacob Baumgartner) was a lot more card dead throughout the final table, which I think allowed me to keep riding that momentum.”
“Having the chip lead for the majority of the final table gave me the courage to take some spots when I was covering people — maybe some spots I wouldn’t have taken if I was covered.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alec Magdan* | Warren, MI | $75,601 |
| 2 | Jacob Baumgartner | Grand Rapids, MI | $46,743 |
| 3 | Andrew Olive | Saline, MI | $33,949 |
| 4 | Frank Lucarelli | Woodhaven, MI | $25,077 |
| 5 | Pat Steele | Chelsea, MI | $18,826 |
| 6 | Brian Barnes | Augusta, MI | $14,357 |
| 7 | Robert Strunk | Schoolcraft, MI | $11,121 |
| 8 | Jamie Eisenhut | Bluffton, IN | $8,744 |
| 9 | Jack Hays | Tompkinsville, KY | $6,978 |
*Player received $8,000 extra because they bagged in three separate flights.
Final Table Action
The first elimination at the final table saw Jack Hays, who began the day as chip leader, move all in with jack-ten suited. Alec Magdan called with pocket nines, which held to eliminate Hays in ninth place and extend his growing chip lead.
Magdan added further distance between himself and the field in a memorable hand against Jacob Baumgartner. Facing a turn three-bet and river overbet, Baumgartner folded pocket nines, only to be shown ten-high after Magdan missed both straight and flush draws.
Momentum continued in Magdan’s favor when Jamie Eisenhut moved all in with eight-seven suited and ran into Magdan’s ace-eight. Both players paired the eight, but Magdan’s kicker held to eliminate Eisenhut in eighth place.
Brian Barnes briefly mounted a comeback after doubling through Robert Strunk, but his run ended after the dinner break when his turned set of nines ran into a flopped straight from Baumgartner.
Magdan remained firmly in control. His pocket jacks held against the king-queen of MSPT Hall of Famer Pat Steele, sending Steele to the rail in fifth place.
One hand later, Frank Lucarelli was eliminated when his ace-seven ran into Magdan’s ace-queen, further extending the chip lead.
Andrew Olive exited in third place after his king-queen found a king on the flop but was overtaken by an ace on the river against Baumgartner’s ace-ten.
Heads-up play began with Magdan holding roughly a 5:1 chip advantage over Baumgartner. While Baumgartner managed a few short-lived swings, Magdan maintained steady pressure throughout.
The final hand saw Baumgartner raise with ace-queen before Magdan moved all in with ace-three suited. Baumgartner called, but a three on the turn ended his chances.
With that, Alec Magdan secured the first Great Lakes Poker Classic Main Event title.
“I think I’ll just go back to grinding, do all the Midwest stuff,” Magdan said after the win. “I’ll be back for the FireKeepers stop in May, I’ll play the Reserve in April, and after that I’ll go play the WSOP Main Event in Vegas.”
