Poker sports have been reluctant to restart live matches. In fact, Poker was the last game to get back to land casinos. Only cash games were allowed in several poker rooms. Few casinos and tours believed in holding profitable and safe tournaments following the limit on capacity after the Coronavirus outbreak.
However, MSPT (Mid-States Poker Tour) recently bounced back after a long break. It was marked as the first Poker tour to hold a big Poker tournament since COVID brought the United States to its knees, causing all card rooms and casinos to be closed towards the end of March.
The large MSPT main event was held in Grand Falls Casino from August 28th to 30th. Shockingly, the tournament was such a success and even set a new record featuring five hundred and eighteen entries for the one thousand and one hundred dollars buy-in event. The prize pool was $500,960 exceeding by far the $150K guarantee.
This colossal success compelled MSPT to organize another event in Las Vegas.
Series with 2 MSPT Events
The popularity of the Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip stems from its DeepStack Spectacular Poker Series. The series had run multiple times before the Coronavirus pandemic hit the country. Recently the series prompted MSPT to host its major event.
MSPT and Venetian were completely assured that the players were dying to compete, and therefore they planned 2 MSPT tournaments in the fifty-two event series.
The first tournament featured a $1,100 buy-in MSPT tournament. It was set to kick off on the 13th and 14th November on a Friday and Sunday. The 1st tournament had a $200k guarantee on its grand prize pool. Also, they placed an official Mid-States Poker Tour trophy plus a coin for the champion.
The second entailed a $1,600 buy-in MSPT with three starting days. They included Novmeber 19th to November 21st. A $4000K guarantee was placed on the tournament, plus a gold coin and a trophy for the winning player.
First Tournament one for one thousand, one hundred dollars Buy-In
On the first day of the tournament, 485 entries far exceeded the $200K guarantee.
The day came to an end with only sixty-two players, with Alan Lead being the man of the day. On day one, B had 638 entries. Brian Heed was among the 84 players that participated on that day, and he emerged the winner.
The one hundred and forty-eight survivors were present on the second day, but only the leading 128players received the money. As the play continued, some paid players included Alan Findlay for 36th place, Brian Heeb for 51st place, Matt Stout, Aaron Massey, Ryan Hughes, and Jacqueline.
Eventually, Mike Shin took ninth place in the final table. He received $14 706. The champion for the final table was Jese Vilchez. Abraham Hichman came second, followed by Landon Tice and Sara Stohler.
Major Event two for one thousand, six hundred dollars Buy-In
This one had a greater buy-in. The first day had 252 entries, the second 492 entries, and Day one C added 323 entries. Registration took place for only two days.
Players that returned on the second day were 326 plus extra 170 entries. Hence, the total count was 1,239.
The $4000k guarantee underrated the tournament’s anticipation and the players’ willingness to play the live tournaments.
Shortly after breaking for the evening meal, Michael Rossitto surrendered, thereby breaking the money bubble. This guaranteed the 128 final players about $3,189.Some players who received a payout included Landon Tice in the 68th place, Aaron Van Blarcum, Shannon Shorr, Ben Keeline, and Katie Lindsay. The players who made through were 63 in numbers, with John Lytle as the chip leader.
Players paid on day 3 were Aaron Massey, David Moshe, and Ralph Masse. John Lytle took home $11,871 after exiting in 17th place. Finally, on the final table, Daniel Kusnerak bust in 9th place for $23,919.
