Grand Island man wins $23k in Milwaukee poker tournament

MILWAUKEE - A Grand Island man won $23,850 playing poker at the Mid-States Poker Tour. Phil Mader won Event #9: $400 Senior’s 50+ NLH defeating 347 walkers to earn his 1st Gold Card and $23,850 after a heads-up deal with MSPT HOFer Jerry Cunniff ($19,389) at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee, WI.  

Mader is currently ranked 294 in the world. He has a career earnings of $254,085. He has six Main Top 10 finishes, 37 mains cashes and one gold card. 

More about the tour below.

Now in our 17th season, the MSPT has grown to 30+ events a year in states across the country. Most stops stay true to our Midwestern roots, but the tour has proved so popular that we now often host 11-12 day series as well as $1,100 Main Events in such poker hot spots as Colorado, California and Las Vegas.

While our tour is geared toward recreational players, plenty of big-name poker pros have taken their shot at a MSPT title over the years including Matt Salsberg and Mukul Pahuja, who were the World Poker Tour Seasons 11 and 12 Player of the Year respectively; 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Poker champ Poorya Nazari, who earned $3 million for that win; World Series of Poker bracelet winners Jeremy Ausmus, Dan Heimiller, and Keven Stammen; and even foreigners Serio Aido, Erwan Pecheux, Marvin Rettenmaier, and Ludovic Geilich.

The MSPT, which offers $70 super satellites and $265 satellites at all stops, serves players of all skill levels proudly and adds new levels of intrigue and prestige to poker in the Midwest — one of the most underrated poker hotbeds in the country. Midwest poker players truly have a poker tour to call their own.