From MNPokerMag.com

Hey folks, I’m currently sitting in the Canterbury Park horse betting area up on the second floor, working on my laptop while dozens of degenerates gamblers root for horses on TV screens… This is what I will likely be doing in 30 years!

The Minnesota State Poker Tour is taking place downstairs, which is extremely gratifying from a personal standpoint, because Bryan Mileski and I have worked SUPER hard to launch this thing. It will take time to build it as big as we want, but you can only take one step at a time.

One of the cool things about MSPT events is the qualifying structure. Technically, anyone can buy directly into the $1,000+100 Main Event, but most people don’t have that kind of cash.

Like me.

The alternative is much more appealing — $60 SNGs and $250 qualifiers. There’s a very good chance that somebody is going to turn a $60 SNG victory into a $30,000 or $40,000 payday at the end of this event.

Either that, or somebody will probably turn a $250 qualifier into a huge payday.

And because the qualifiers send 20% of the field to the Main Event, players always feel like they have a fantastic shot to advance at the start of the tournament.

That said, I’ve been getting my ass kicked all week! Can’t get anything to hold up, can’t win any coinflips, etc. Whatever. It’s still been an awesome time.

Poker is on the rise in Minnesota.