Howard Enjoys First Big Win
Taylor Howard topped a field of 423 entries to win the #MSPT136 at Meskwaki Casino for $89,939! (submitted photo)
Tama, Iowa – Taylor Howard has been on the search for his first professional poker win, and along the way, he’s come close.
This week, one of his long-time goals and dreams came true when he won the Mid-State Pike Tour that was hosted at the Mesquaki Casino.
“I’ve been grinding at the game since I was 18,” says Howard. He’s been working more seriously at professional poker during the past four years.
“I’ve been really close before to a big score like that,” added Howard, who came in fourth a few years ago in the same tournament. “I’ve been close online a few times, I just never got it done where I got the win, and I got the monkey off my back. It feels good.”
A player in a tournament has a buy-in to join, and the top 20% of those in that initial tournament make it into the main tournament. Those looking to skip the opening round can buy-in to the main tournament for the right amount of money.
Howard walked away with nearly 90 thousand dollars on the win.
When the commentators asked Howard during the contest what he would do with the money if he won, he told them he was going to take his girlfriend on a trip. “So now I have to hold up my end of the bargain there too,” said Howard while laughing.
Howard, who has a daytime job in sales, keeps practicing and working at winning at poker, but has no plans to quit his job and chase poker on a full-time basis at this point.
“I have a lot of things to think about,” said Howard. “Maybe I can do this at a high level. This has been a goal of mine. Something that I’ve always wanted to do was get that big win, and i got it in my home state, at a big tournament here in Iowa, which feels amazing.”
The final hand was rather anti-climatic. “The true big hand we had was a few hands prior to that. My opponent had top 2 pair, and I had a flush draw. We got it all in on the flop, and I hit my flush on the turn, which really, it basically crippled my opponent. It left him with barely any chips. I just put the pressure on him for the next three hands,” explained Howard. “He got lucky one game and doubled up, but he still barely had any chips. Then I woke up with a pretty decent hand when he shoved into me. I saw the ace on the flop. I had ace and 8; he had pocket jacks. I saw the ace on the flop, then I was just thinking no jack, and I win. The ace held up.”
“It felt good,” says Howard of getting his first win. “All of the support I got was awesome.”
