Matthew Schulte Wins Latest MSPT Venetian $1,100 Event

The poker world is descending on Las Vegas for the impending kickoff of the 2023 World Series of Poker. The night before the first bracelet event of the year got underway, Matthew Schulte won a big tournament further up the Las Vegas strip. The Ohio resident defeated a field of 807 entries in the latest Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event, earning $118,874 and his first MSPT trophy.

“I ran super hot at this final table,” Schulte told MSPT reporters after coming out on top. “That is usually what it takes.”

This was Schulte’s second-largest score ever, trailing the $198,550 he secured as the 33rd-place finisher in the 2021 WSOP main event. He now has nearly $788,000 in lifetime tournament cashes.

This tournament, held inside The Venetian Las Vegas, featured three starting flights from May 27-29, with the 91 total players that bagged up returning on Memorial Day to play down to a champion. 2016 WSOP main event final tablist Kenny Hallaert held the chip lead to start but was ultimately knocked out on the final table bubble, earning $12,028 as the tenth-place finisher.

Adam Walton entered the final nine with the lead, with Schulte in third chip position to start. Walton knocked out two-time bracelet winner Michael Wang in seventh place ($23,480) to extend his advantage going into six-handed action. Schulte closed the gap a bit by winning a preflop race with A-Q suited against the pocket sevens of William Latta (6th – $29,980).

The pair then took turns busting two more players, with Walton eliminating Al-Farouk Mosoyore Obi (5th – $38,685) while Schulte knocked out two-time bracelet winner David Jackson (4th – $50,437). Shulte’s A-4 suited drew out on Jackson’s A-10 suited with all of the chips going in preflop. Schulte flopped a four and held from there to narrow the field to three.

Schulte doubled through Walton not long after that, winning a flip with pocket nines against A-Q to move into the lead. Walton then got the last of his stack in with an open-ended straight draw against Schulte’s middle pair. The turn improved Shulte to trip sevens, and a blank on the end sent Walton home in third place ($66,443).

Schulte’s heads-ups battle with Nick Pupillo didn’t last long. With a board of 9659 Schulte checked with 94 for tips and Pupillo bet holding 87 for a flopped nine-high straight. Schulte check-raised, only to have Pupillo shove all-in. Schulte called and was trailing, but the 5 on the end paired to board to give him a full house for the win. Pupillo earned $88,426 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credit: MSPT.