button in SafariMaryland State Poker Championship Main Event Ends in Three-Way Deal
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The final three of the Maryland State Poker Championship $1,700 Main Event final table was a star-studded affair. Local legend Justin Arnwine, the unofficial record holder for most tournament victories, was back in his familiar spot atop the leaderboard. Daniel Iachan, who had proven his poker prowess with back-to-back deep runs in the WSOP Main Event the last two years, was in second as he chased the first victory of his career. And Aaron Pinson, who had already earned more than $1 million for his runner-up finish in the massive WPT Prime Championship a few years ago, had just busted Kevin Grabel to move closer to his two opponents.
All three players had more than 80 big blinds at the start of three-handed play, and with the trophy and $111,000 top prize at stake, it promised to be a long, drawn-out affair inside the Live! Casino Maryland. But then it came to a sudden stop.
The three finalists agreed to an ICM chop, splitting the remaining prize pool among them and bringing the Main Event to an early end. Arnwine took the most money with $86,167, while Pinson took home $76,221. Iachan locked up $78,112 and, just as importantly for him, the other two agreed to let him have his long-awaited first trophy.
Maryland State Poker Championship Main Event Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Arnwine | United States | $86,167* |
| 2 | Daniel Iachan | United States | $78,112* |
| 3 | Aaron Pinson | United States | $76,221* |
| 4 | Kevin Grabel | United States | $41,000 |
| 5 | Valentin Lita | United States | $31,000 |
| 6 | Robert Salera | United States | $23,000 |
| 7 | Nicholas Verderamo | United States | $18,000 |
| 8 | Boris Kravets | United States | $14,000 |
| 9 | Neal Liptak | United States | $11,100 |
*- denotes three-handed deal
“It would have felt a little better if, you know, we played out and I won it the hard way, but a trophy is a trophy, and I think both of them have some respect for my game,” Iachan said. “I played with Justin almost the whole tournament, and he and I have some history too. Aaron and I go back a little ways, and I feel like neither of them really minded giving it up. Maybe they had a feeling it was my day either way. To be honest, when I bought in on Friday, I was eyeing it up, thinking, it looks pretty cool. It would be pretty sweet to have it on my bookshelf. Got the dream.”
Iachan got his first taste of the poker spotlight last summer, when he made it all the way to 17th place in the 2025 WSOP Main Event. He followed it up with another deep run to 96th place this year, and he admits those two experiences gave him the confidence that he could compete against the best players in the world.
“Oh man, everything. Especially doing it again this year, even though I didn’t get quite as far, just helps me trust myself so much more. Know that I am capable of battling with all kinds of players and holding my own, at least. And I think also playing for all that money helps in all the future situations because that’s basically the most money you’re ever going to play for in poker. So a tournament like this, sure, it’s $100K on top, that’s a lot of money, but after playing the Main a few times, it doesn’t feel quite as intimidating,” he said.
Arnwine Satisfied Taking the Money
Arnwine didn’t take home the trophy this time, but that’s just fine with him. He has, after all, more trophies already than most poker players can ever dream of. He was happy to just take the money, a ticket in a drawing for a PokerStars’ EPT package, and let Iachan have the glory and winner’s photo.
“I’m feeling really good. I really like Dan, and when I read that, even though he’s very accomplished, he had never won a live tournament, I literally thought to myself, I like Aaron. I like Dan, but Dan might not want to chop because he might want the win. So that’s why I didn’t mind. And I like him. He’s good energy,” Arnwine said.
“I have a lot of trophies, you know, so, like, this one, I didn’t mind giving Dan a trophy, especially since I knew he never had his one win. And Aaron has a lot of money. He already won the Prime. I think that just securing the win and having a chance at the EPT, if someone had told me that when I was firing my fourth bullet and I had lost half my stack, I would have said, agreed, you know, like immediately.”
Arnwine credits his ability to build massive stacks at final tables and win trophies to two key influences in his life: his wife, Caitlyn, and fellow tournament crusher Bin Weng. In 2023, Caitlyn finished second in the Potomac Winter Poker Open Main Event and gave Justin the inspiration to become a prodigious poker champion.
“I have to credit my wife with that. I made it to the final table of this stuff before, but like I would always get fifth or whatever because I used to play cash from 2005 to like 2019. So it’s like the value of a dollar, I just couldn’t forfeit that in my mind, right? I used to fold and try to ladder up. But then when I saw my wife get second…she hadn’t played 10 tournaments. Her big secret was execution. She just went for it. She wasn’t afraid to try and get first,” he said.
“And then I met Bin Weng. When I met Bin Weng, it was like, okay, if you really want to win, you have to be willing to lose. And then I just adapted that mentality and things have been going a lot better.”
Life off the felt is looking quite different for Arnwine these days. He and Caitlyn welcomed a daughter earlier this year, and Arnwine was already excited about heading back home. "She's six months old now, my baby is. She's about to start crawling any day. Like, literally any day. So I don't like being away longer than I need to be," he said.
Final Table Action
Iachan and Arnwine began the day as the top two stacks as six players returned for the final table after making it through a field of 380. Arnwine scored the first knockout, picking up kings against Robert Salera’s tens to send Salera out in sixth. Valentin Lita then moved all in with ace-four, only for Iachan to snap-call with ace-queen as Lita busted in fifth.
Arnwine won a big pot off Grabel after flopping trip aces. Pinson then picked off Grabel’s 600,000 bet on the river with two pair to drop him below 1,000,000. Grabel shoved for 1,100,000 with two fours a few hands later, but Pinson woke up with eights to earn the knockout.
Arnwine had 6,605,000 at the start of three-handed play, while Iachan followed with 4,460,000 and Pinson had 4,150,000. The clock was then paused as they considered a deal, and they eventually agreed to an ICM chop that brought the tournament to an abrupt end.
Arwine and Pinson got a nice payday. Iachan got his trophy. And all three players left the Live! Casino Maryland poker room satisfied that, after five long days battling against a tough field, they received just what they came for.
