The $2,200 Main Event at the Maryland State Poker Championship has been completed, with Ben Gazzola taking first place and brining home $110,578. Gazzola defeated PokerStars Team Pro Member Parker Talbot in heads up play, who walked away with $73,719.
Gazzola from Hagerstown, MD had over $155,555 in career poker earnings, achieved a new high score after taking the top prize in the Main Event. Gazzola said he plans to wind down on Poker for a bit after his big win, and grinding all summer in Vegas and the Maryland State Poker Championship.
To go along with cash prize, Gazzola will also receive a PokerStars Gold Pass. The Gold Pass is valued at $10,000 and includes a $5,300 NAPT Las Vegas Main Event buy-in, a seven-night stay at Resorts World Las Vegas, and $1,800 for travel expenses.
Final 5
The Main Event had 245 entrants and Day 3 began with just five players left at the final table.
Our first elimination of the day came when the defending champion from the 2023 MSPC Main Event Isiah Ditoto was eliminated afterlosing a flip with his ace-queen suited versus Parker Talbot’s pocket fours.
Then out in fourth place was Nicholas Verderamo, who is roommates with the champion. When Gazzola was asked about the experience of playing against Verderamo, He said, “It was really cool” and that it’s “Not every day you get to play a final table with one of your closest friends”. Verderamo was eventually knocked out by his close friend Gazzola after they got all the chips in the middle with both players having a flush draw. Gazzola had the bigger flush draw and turned an ace to leave Verderamo drawing dead on the river and was eliminated in fourth place.
The third-place finisher was Xiaoqiong Liu who took a bad beat from Gazzola after being all in with pocket jacks against Gazzola’s pocket fours. But after Gazzola flopped a set, Liu was sent to the rail by the eventual champion.
Heads Up Play
Gazzola went into heads up play against the PokerStars Canadian Pro and Twitch streamer Parker Talbot, also known as “tonkaaaa”. Gazzola held an almost 2-1 chip lead coming into heads up play, but after he ran into the set of jacks from Talbot in the second hand of heads-up play, the roles were reversed.
But it didn't take long for Gazzola to retake the lead after he and Talbot both rivered trip eights. Talbot made a massive bet of 1,900,000 on the river and Gazzola made the call to scoop the pot and retake the lead with his bigger kicker.
The Winning Hand
Parker Talbot raised to 230,000 on the button and Ben Gazzola three-bet shoved all in from the big blind, putting Talbot at risk. Talbot, who had roughly 2,600,000 behind, made the call.
Parker Talbot: A♥8♥ 
Ben Gazzola: K♦2♦
Gazzola pulled ahead on the 7♥Q♣K♣ flop, pairing his king. The Q♠ on the turn and 4♣ river offered no help to Talbot, and he was eliminated in second place.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Name | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Gazzola | United States | $110,578 |
| 2 | Parker Talbot | Canada | $73,719 |
| 3 | Xiaoqiong Liu | United States | $53,832 |
| 4 | Nicholas Verderamo | United States | $39,868 |
| 5 | Isiah Ditoto | United States | $29,952 |
| 6 | Michael Bills | United States | $22,832 |
| 7 | Tim Faro | United States | $17,663 |
| 8 | Nicholas Banyas | United States | $13,870 |
| 9 | David Urban | United States | $11,058 |
That concludes PokerNews coverage at Live! Casino And Hotel Maryland for the 2024 Maryland State Poker Championship.
