From Triple Bagging to a Victory; Alec Magdan Takes Down the GLPC Main Event for $75,601
The first-ever Great Lakes Poker Classic $1,200 Main Event drew a total of 314 entrants to Firekeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan. Only 44 of those initial entrants survived into the beginning of the day, and only 34 of those players saw a piece of the $321,700 yet to be awarded. After 12 hours of play, today’s starting field was left with just one player, the first player ever to be crowned GLPC Main Event champion.
Only one player in the field managed to capitalize on the unique bonus for double bagging, and he went one step beyond to triple bag. This ensured that Alec Magdan would receive $8,000 even if he did not make the money on Day 2. As the tournament concluded, he added a new high score to that sum on top of the first-ever GLPC Main Event trophy, winning more money than anyone else coming into the day could have won.
“I play mainly cash. MGM is so close, and 2 /5 is so popular,” Magdan said just moments after his win. Now Magdan adds $75,601 to his The Hendon Mob profile, pushing his lifetime earnings above $300,000.
Despite being primarily a cash game player, Magdan still makes it out to Firekeepers to play a few times. “I definitely don’t miss the MSPT Firekeepers, but there are occasionally nightlies or like the Sizzling $750s. I play those maybe like three to four times a year. But now I’m definitely going to be coming up for the Great Lakes Poker Classic.”
Magdan’s unique position of bagging a sizable stack in the first flight led him to play all four remaining flights to accrue as many bags as possible. On occasion, he would even multi-table, which saw him sit out the final level entirely on Day 1c.
“It affected my play in the later levels,” the new champion talked about his strategies on Day 1s. “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, which was another dynamic that got set on the first flight. 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.”
As the day progressed and the final two tables came into form, Alec sat with one of the shortest stacks from 18 down to 12 players. It wasn’t until after that point that he began an upward trend with his stack, coming into the final table as the middle of the pack. He quickly hopped up to first place and spent nearly all of the final table as the chip leader.
“There’s definitely momentum behind it. I kind of snowballed my momentum throughout the final table. My opponent heads up, Jacob Baumgartner, was a lot more card dead throughout the final table, which I think I got to continue to ride that momentum into heads up.”
“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 wanted to take if I was covered and end up not placing first, but the chip lead helped a lot.”
Despite the new high score, Magdan’s plans haven’t changed significantly for the future.
“I think I’ll just go back to grinding, do all the Midwest stuff. 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.”
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 up in three separate flights.
Final Day Action
A flurry of eliminations started out the day as players like MSPT champions Christopher Moon, Satish Thakur, and George Janssen all fell short of the money. When the round for round process began, it took just one round for Grant Henderson, WSOP bracelet winner Mark Schmid, and Conor Laughey to chop two min cashes. With their eliminations confirmed, the tournament continued as normal with all 31 of the remaining players guaranteed $1,921.
The next wave of eliminations saw players like Kannon McCavit (27th-$2,442), Buck Bucceri (20th-$3,275), Rudy Mamo (16th-$3,873), Linas Kasputis (15th-$4,645), and Athir Saco (11th-$5,642) all fall short of their desired finish in the payouts. Dan Schmitt got in his last chips up against Frank Lucarelli, with king-jack against ace-jack. He was unable to improve, and he collected $5,642 for his tenth-place finish.
Final Table Action
It did not take long at the final table before the first elimination. Jack Hays had begun the day with the overall chip lead, but the final two tables saw his stack go from one of the biggest to the shortest at the final table. He opted to move his remaining chips in from under the gun, holding jack-ten suited, only for Alec Magdan to look him up in late position, holding pocket nines. No help came to change either hand, and Magdan cemented his chip lead while Hays departed in ninth place for $6,978.
Magdan would further add to his chip lead in a memorable clash with HPT champion Jacob Baumgartner, who was second in chips at the table. A three-bet on the turn and an overbet on the river would see Baumgartner toss away three-nines, only for Magdan to fan a missed flush draw and straight draw for just ten-high. Baumgartner would remain in second while Magdan pulled away into the chip lead.
He would be the executioner once again. Magdan opened in middle position to see Jamie Eisenhut move in his final eight big blinds holding eight-seven, finding out he was far behind Magdan’s ace-eight. Both players paired their eight on the runout, but it was Magdan’s kicker that played to eliminate Eisenhut in eighth place for $8,744.
Brian Barnes dipped down to three big blinds at his absolute low point, he managed to find a few fortunate double-ups to put him back into contention which set him up for his confrontation with Robert Strunk. Barnes defended his big blind with jack-five and flopped jacks and fives up against Strunk’s aces. The chips went all in, and no help came to Strunk on the runout to leave Barnes even with half of the table, while WSOP bracelet winner collected $11,121 for his seventh-place finish.
Barnes busted after the dinner break to collect a career best $14,357 for his finish. He opened with pocket nines in the hijack and Baumgartner called in the small blind with six-five suited. Baumgartner flopped a straight as Barnes turned his set of nines to get all the chips in the middle. The board did not pair, and Barnes finished in sixth place while Baumgartner narrowed the gap between himself and Magdan.
The lead kept growing for Magdan as he once again took over the role of executioner. He opened holding pocket jacks from first position, and MSPT Hall of Famer Pat Steele moved all in from the small blind holding king-queen. No help came on the runout, and Steele collected $18,826 for his fifth-place finish to put him over the seven-figure mark on The Hendon Mob.
One hand later, Lucarelli raised on the button and then called a jam from Magdan in the big blind holding ace-seven. Magdan had him outkicked, holding ace-queen, and some potential chop outs came up empty on the runout for Lucarelli. Magdan extended his lead even further while Lucarelli was eliminated in fourth place, good for $25,077.
Andrew Olive would end his run on the podium in third place. After being whittled down to just a few big blinds, he would open and then call off his remaining couple of blinds with king-queen up against Baumgartner’s ace-ten. A king on the flop looked promising for him, but an ace on the river would secure the pot for Baumgartner while Olive collected $33,949 for his efforts.
Heads-up play began with Magdan extending his lead over Baumgartner until he was about a 5:1 favorite, where the match hung for a while before they took their first break. As they came back from the break, despite a few swings, Magdan continued to hold a significant lead over Baumgartner and continued to apply the pressure. It all came to a head when Baumgartner raised his ace-queen, and Magdan responded by three-bet jamming his ace-three suited for the last 15 big blinds effective. Baumgartner called, but a three on the turn ended his chances as the HPT champion shook hands with Magdan. Magdan became the first-ever Great Lakes Poker Classic Champion.
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