Matt Stroud Wins First-Ever Southern Poker Open for $47,734
Matt Stroud took the top spot in the first-ever Southern Poker Open at the Bossier City Horseshoe. He won $47,737 after topping a field of 1,138 entrants who queued up over five starting flights in the $420 buy-in tournament.
Stroud was almost knocked out of the tournament with 11 players remaining. Richard Morris shoved from early position and Huey Hulin called on the button. Stroud jammed for 3 million and Hulin reluctantly folded pocket queens face up. Stroud had pocket tens and held on to eliminate Morris. Both players would have lost to Hulin had he stayed in.
“I just jammed all in automatically thinking I was good,” Stroud said, “I did not expect him to make that fold.”
Regardless if his tournament would have ended there, Stroud was confident he made the correct play.
“I felt like I played it right in that moment, so I wouldn’t have cared either way," he said.
Shortly after, Arthur Collins was eliminated in tenth place and the final table began.
“My main strategy when I came to the final table was kind of let people knock each other out,” Stroud explained. “I was lucky enough the first two hands to gain about 2-3 million in chips.”
Stroud held the lead for the final table, winning a few big pots against Mike Vardeman and Hulin.
When the players returned from their last break, the final six agreed to an ICM chop and Stroud took home the most cash and the specially-crafted Southern Poker Open card protector.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize(USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Stroud | $47,734* |
| 2 | Jeremy Tinsley | $40,942* |
| 3 | Huey Hulin | $34,196* |
| 4 | Nate Wheeler | $33,426* |
| 5 | Ben Markway | $29,286* |
| 6 | Robert Provine | $24,525* |
| 7 | Stuart McMahen | $11,471 |
| 8 | Tim Harris | $9,041 |
| 9 | Mike Vardeman | $7,209 |
*Denotes six-way ICM chop.
Final Table Action
The final table started with Mike Vardeman being eliminated in ninth place. He busted to Tim Harris who had ace-high against Vardeman's king-high. Vardeman flopped a flush draw but it didn't come and he hit the rail.
Next to go was Harris, who was eliminated by Nate Wheeler when Wheeler shoved over a turn bet. Harris called and both players turned top pair, though Wheeler held the better kicker.
Stuart McMahen was the seventh-place finisher. He was left short after losing a race to Ben Markway. His short stack was busted when he had half a big blind and was eliminated by Hulin, who flopped Broadway.
The day started with 235 players returning to action and the top 117 made the money. Terry Griffith thought he was the stone bubble, but it turned out he was the first player to make the money. From there the eliminations mounted and included RunGood Ambassador Mina Greco, who finished in 87th place ($836), and two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Keith Lehr, who finished in 12th ($5,815).
Several more familiar faces found a cash including Grant Hart (15th - $4,740), Jeff Wyatt (30th - $1,992), and Mark "Milkman" Burford (28th - $1,992). Finally, Ben Mintz found a min-cash for $757 and was a big supporter of the event all weekend long. He even recorded his popular radio show from the floor on Friday afternoon.
The Southern Poker Open almost doubled its $200,000 Guarantee and brought all sorts of fun and a big crowd to the Riverdome at the Bossier City Horseshoe for their first land-based tournament.
Congratulations again to Matt Stroud the winner of the first-ever Southern Poker Open!