Season 7 of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) has been one for the record books, from our biggest events and prize pools to date, to memorable winners such as Thomas Boivin, Aaron Massey, and Jeremy Dresch. From December 2-11, the tour will wrap up the season with our traditional finale at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota.

The venue, which only requires players be 18 years old to participate, played host to the first-ever MSPT event way back in 2009, and this December it will hold a series of qualifiers and bonus events leading up to the $200,000 guaranteed, $1,100 buy-in Main Event.

The Main Event will feature two starting flights beginning with Day 1a at 4 p.m. on Friday, December 9. Then, on Saturday, December 10, Day 1b will take place at the same time. The surviving players will then return on Sunday, December 11 for Day 2 to play down to a winner.

The final table will be broadcast LIVE (15-minute delay) worldwide on msptpoker.com using RFID technology allowing all viewers to see the hole cards. In addition, the entire Main Event will be live reported in the MSPT live blog, which can be found on msptpoker.com once the tournament begins. Simply look for the neon green button that reads "Live Updates."

Last December in the Season 6 finale, 470 entrants took to the felt and created a $470,000 prize pool. Carl Carodenuto emerged victorious in that event and walked away with a $116,103 first-place prize. Amazingly, Carodenuto returned in April and defended his title against a field of 376 entries to win $90,805. It marked the first time in tour history a player successfully defended his title (a rare feat in the poker world indeed).

“What we witnessed earlier this season was truly remarkable,” said MSPT President Bryan Mileski. “Carodenuto’s title defense will go down in history, and I can’t wait to see if he can make it an unprecedented three wins in a row. We’re also looking forward to an exciting conclusion to the tightly contested MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Race.”

The season-ending MSPT Canterbury Park is usually the final proving ground for POY contenders. Since its establishment in Season 4, the race has come down to the wire with implications involved in the last tournament of the season. This year is shaping up to be similar as players like Iowa State Poker champ John Sun, MSPT Potawatomi champ Travis Lauson, and MSPT regular Rodger Johnson are among those competing on the POY leaderboard, which you can view here.

In addition to the MSPT qualifiers and Main Event, Canterbury Park will be hosting a number of bonus events including a $100 No-Limit Hold'em on Sunday, December 4; $120 Green Chip Bounty on Monday, December 5; and $35 No-Limit Hold'em on Thursday, December 8.

Here’s a look at the MSPT Canterbury Park schedule: