This weekend the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) could be at Running Aces Harness Park just outside the dual Cities in Minnesota, after which from September 20-28 the tour will head to Wisconsin for the Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells. Not up to two weeks ago, the MSPT visited the “Dairy State” for an event at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, which turned out to be the second-largest event within the tour’s history with 487 entries.
Michigan’s Jason Zarlenga emerged victorious in that event to capture the $120,164 first-place prize. What’s more, it marked the second one MSPT title Zarlenga captured in Season 5, joining the likes of Matt Kirby and Dan Sun because the only two-time champions. His previous victory came back in May when he conquered a field of 411 entrants to win the MSPT FireKeepers for $101,482. To top all of it off, the most recent win established Zarlenga because the MSPT’s all-time money leader with $223,970 in winnings and put him firmly in contention for Season 5 Player of the Year honors.
Zarlenga, who grew up in Boardman, Ohio, was certainly one of four children – two older sisters and a younger brother – in a close-knit Italian family. Either one of his parents were schoolteachers, so it was only natural that education was a concern for Zarlenga. He attended Kent State University where he earned a bachelors degree in finance, and followed that up by obtaining his JD at Thomas M Cooley Law School. However, as opposed to entering the sphere of law, he decided to pursue his dream – poker.
“I learned to play poker after I was roughly 10 years old. My childhood friends and that i would scrape together are change and play five-card draw and the winner would go buy Subway,” Zarlenga recalls. “Not until the last three years did I start taking poker seriously, and that i went during the hard times identical to anyone on this profession learning game selection and money management. I went broke more times then I WILL BE ABLE TO even count before hitting an excellent score on the MSPT FireKeepers back in May.”
Indeed, it’s safe to mention that tournament in Michigan changed his life and got the ball rolling on what was a red-hot 2014.
“I can needless to say morning find it irresistible was yesterday. I bagged a tight Day 1 stack with around 130,000 which had me at a top 10 stack with 90 remaining,” says Zarlenga. “I awoke the morning of Day 2 and that i literally had such a lot confidence I posted some phrase on Facebook stating: ‘Been waiting a very long time for this moment and that i promise you nobody on this field wants it as bad as me because I NEED this as bad as you'll breathe!!’ I won the primary hand of the day with a pleasant semi-bluff and not relinquished the chip lead until the overall table.”
Jason ZarlengaZarlenga’s revelation came true when he defeated Mike Deis, who currently leads the MSPT Season 5 POY race, in heads-up play to capture the title. It couldn’t have come at a greater time either because the 2014 World Series of Poker was right across the corner.
“Winning right before the series gave me numerous confidence and the required bankroll to be in the market all summer,” Zarlenga reveals. “The WSOP was a terrific learning experience thus summer. I'VE BEEN out before for the WSOP but never stayed the entire summer. I played my first WSOP event was the Milly Maker and that i actually went really deep busting 389 out of 7,977 cashing for about $5,000. I played the principle Event for the primary time ever and it was one of the most coolest three days of my poker career.”
Zarlenga, who's friends with 2013 WSOP Main Event champ Ryan Riess, didn't make it past Day 3 of the principle Event, but his buddy and traveling companion Adam Lamphere, of whom he had a piece, finished in 41st place to get Zarlenga “unstuck for the summer.”
Fast forward two months and Zarlenga and Lamphere found themselves on a ferry crossing Lake Michigan. On the last minute they decided to make the trip to Milwaukee for the MSPT’s first stop at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, and it proved a sensible decision as both Lamphere and Zarlenga made the general table. Lamphere bowed out in 10th place for $6,109, but he stuck around to cheer his friend to victory.
“The second major was actually more rewarding than the primary as it had now given me the arrogance that i'm just pretty much as good if not better than anyone at any table I play with during any tournament,” Zarlenga says with a smile.
With two six-figure scores under his belt, Zarlenga put his finance degree to work by investing a few of his winnings into the stock market. He paid off any other debts, but rather then that he’s avoided any big purchases and instead plans to make use of the remainder of the money to travel and pursue his passion.
That includes making his approach to the rest stops at the MSPT Season 5 schedule in an try to win Player of the Year. As a rule two wins can be enough to secure the honor, but consistent deep runs by both Deis and MSPT Team Pro Kou Vang have made the race a heated affair.
“Mike Deis better check his rearview because POY is something that may be in sight and that i would like to capture it,” Zarlenga says before elaborating on why he likes the MSPT. “The MSPT is simply ran amazing all of the way from the highest to bottom. Eric Anderson and Bryan Mileski treat all of the players with respect and feature placed on a super tourney at every stop I’ve encountered. The structure is ideal which supplies any player, amateur or pro, good enough time to do your thing. The $1,100 buy-in isn't too expensive that's another bonus for all players.”
Zarlenga has confirmed to PokerNews that he'll be at both this weekend’s MSPT Running Aces and the MSPT Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells the week after which you could. follow live updates from both those events in our Live Reporting Section.
For additional information at the MSPT Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells, visit msptpoker.com.
Get the entire latest PokerNews updates for your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
Like This text? Please Share, Thank You.
Close
Read More... [Source: PokerNews]
No comments:
Post a Comment