June 3-10
Top ten finishes for Rich Alsup in Main Events on the Major Series of Poker Tour.
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1ST
Rich Alsup
$1,302,125
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2ND
Sal Dicarlo
$900,000
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3RD
John Ripnick
$700,000
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4TH
Aaron Massey
$520,000
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5TH
Matthew Miller
$400,000
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6TH
Pierce Mckellar
$305,000
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7TH
Kevin Eyster
$240,000
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8TH
Nikolaos Angelou
$190,000
Minnesota: 10,000 lakes, cold weather, the lowly Twins, and a whole lot of great poker players.
You might not think of Minnesota when you list the great Poker Capitals of the World, but you might be wrong. Some of the game's best and most consistent players hail from the Twin Cities and parts beyond, and you can find them on just about every tour.
The best among them is Blake Bohn, widely considered the standard bearer and overall Bronko Nagurski of Minnesota poker. He's an MSPT Hall of Famer, a WSOPC ring winner, and he's stacked up over $4 million in lifetime earnings. Bohn tops an all-time Minnesota money list that also includes familiar faces like Aaron Johnson, Ryan Laplante, Lyle Berman, and Rob Wazwaz.
But Bohn has a new challenger after the Monster Stack final table on Tuesday night at the World Series of Poker, where fellow MSPT HOFer Rich Alsup won $1.3 million after a heads-up battle with Sal Dicarlo. The score vaulted Alsup from Minnesota's eighth most-winningest player to its second, a small cash away from $4 million and just $250K and change behind Bohn for the all-time Minnesota lead.
Busy week for MN rail
Minnesota, as always, turned out on the rail for Alsup, who has grown accustomed to the support from their tight-knit community.
"It means everything," he told us after the win. "The guys that I hang out with are a great support group and we're all friends. It's just an amazing experience to have them all here."
Alsup is the third Minnesota player this week to finish heads-up for a WSOP bracelet, so the rail has been busy. The first was Randy Jacks of Delano, MN, who finished second in the $600 PLO Deepstack, followed by Jason Hoffman of Excelsior, MN, runner-up of the $500 Freezeout. The third time would be the charm when Alsup took down the Monster Stack.
"There are a lot of great players in Minnesota," Alsup said. "People don't know that, but they're getting better and better. There are a lot of young guns coming up."
They play at places like Canterbury Park in Shakopee, one of the birthplaces of the MSPT, and at home games all over the state. Bigger poker stops in Milwaukee and Iowa are a short drive away, by Midwestern standards. There's even a Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame.
Minnesota would have eight players remaining on Day 3 of the Monster Stack, most notably Jason Funke, the chip leader from Minnetonka. Alsup would be the last one standing on the final day.
The champ defeated Sal Dicarlo of Missouri in heads-up play. Dicarlo wore a Kansas City Chiefs jersey, hoodie, and hat, and his rail joined in the color scheme. They even brought a cowbell, one of the many things that Chiefs fans do to make noise. The Minnesota-Kansas City rivalry has a sneaky intensity to it, and that was on display Tuesday night.
Small ball
Both sides would have plenty to cheer about in the final duel, where the big blinds were shrinking fast. Dicarlo was running hot in the final stretch, but Alsup battled back from 20 big blinds to win it all.
"I just small balled it," Alsup explained. "I didn't raise one hand. I just limped every pot."
It worked, and Alsup bounced back with a well-timed hero call and some friendly cards.
"I didn't force anything. I just stayed positive and I just really felt it that I was gonna win. And even on the last hand when I got it in ace-seven against ace-king, I just felt it was gonna come."
The win was Alsup's second WSOP bracelet. His first was another deep field win in the $800 Deepstack in 2022. He was never the type to chase them, but that may change.
"Now that I'm at two, I might start to chase a little bit. For me, it's just about supporting my family and competing. I love the game. I've always played. I love the competition."
Photos courtesy of the World Series of Poker.
