JACK Cleveland Casino

The MSPT returned to JACK Cleveland Casino for the third and final time this season, hosting a four-event series which was headlined the $1,110 buy-in, $500K GTD Main Event.

A total of 896 entries (219 from Day 1a; 316 from 1b; 361 from 1c) were tallied and on Sunday, 106 players returned to Day 2 action to take their stab at the $867,620 prize pool.

Of those 106 players, 12 were past champs on their quest for another Main Event title and after 12 hours of play, hometown hero Anthony Hancovsky denied them all as he navigated his way through the tough field to claim the $103,928 first place prize along with his first MSPT title!

A 20-year vet in the game who decided to take a break from the bad beats in cash games, never had a doubt in his mind that he wasn’t bringing the MSPT title back home to Cleveland.

“I’ve been telling everyone for the last few months that I was going to be bringing this title back home to Cleveland and no one believed me, so it feels good to prove them wrong”, Hancovsky said after his win.

Hancovsky was able to silence the doubters and walked away with his first career six-figure payday in the process.

MSPT Season 15 JACK Cleveland Final Table Results

*denotes chop

Day 2 Action

The final day came back with 106 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with one of the 12 MSPT champ’s hitting the rail early as Sherman Wu ended up being the elimination of the day while fellow champ and MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Massey caught an early double with a pair of aces.

After Massey’s double, a flurry of “payouts” could be heard throughout the room, as handfuls of players were walking to the payout table which included the likes of Brad Sailor (81^st Place – $2,264), two-time MSPT champ Ken Baime (78^th Place - $2,264), WSOP bracelet winner Billy Kopp (71^st Place – $2,348), and Season 15 POY points leader Chris Meyers (52^nd Place - $2,684).

Both Meyers and Biame were able to inch their way closer into the coveted MSPT Hall of fame while DJ Buckley was able to notch another cash in the record book with his 44th place finish ($3,019).

Defending champ Bobby Noel wasn’t able to claim back-to-back titles here at JACK Cleveland, but his 42nd place exit took his career MSPT earnings over the half milly mark as he now sits in 13th place on the leaderboard.

Former champs continued to fall by the wayside as Massey (39^th Place - $3,019), Jon Kim (37^th Place - $3,019), Richard Bai (36^th Place - $3,690), Umut Ozturk (34^th Place - $3,690), and Jon Lewis (32^nd Place - $3,690) all hit the rail in quick succession, leaving only former champ remaining in the field.

Final Table Action

Once the final table was set, the lone surviving former champ Chris Moon sat atop the chip counts while Hancovsky sat in second, and they got to work early.

Hancovsky started the final table domino by showing his opponent’s he had no mercy by outkicking his good friend Val Bencivenni to become the first final table elimination.

Shortly after, Hancovsky would continue with the elimination of Ron Kaleal, as he sent him home on a pair of rockets in eighth place while Brian Springman followed him to the payout table in seventh place.

Next on the chopping block was Michael Spagnolo who got his chips in good holding a dominating ace-king to John Rasch’s ace-queen, only to have a queen come on the runout ending his run sixth place for $31,875.

With his final table mates putting in work, Moon decided it was time for him take a turn as he called Joe Makdessi’s all in bet holding a suited ace. Makedssi was holding a suited queen-nine and flopped an open-ender only to come up short to take a fifth place exit for $41,941.

With four players remaining, the chips between them started shuffling around as they were tossing around double-ups like they were playing hot potato.

Luckily for Hancovsky, he was able to catch the last double-up which ultimately led to him taking the chip lead before an ICM chop was discussed and agreed upon, which saw him take the title back home to Cleveland for a six-figure payday!

This wraps up our coverage of another eventful tournament, so make sure you join us when we make our way to The Ameristar in East Chicago August 22nd - September 2^nd, to host a 10-trophy event series and as always, the MSPT live reporting team will be on hand providing updates for the $300K GTD $1,110 Main Event so make sure to come back!

With the chips being pretty evenly disbursed, an ICM chop was discussed which saw MSPT champ Chris Moon take a second place finish for $103,927.

With the chips being pretty evenly disbursed, an ICM chop was discussed which saw John Rasch take a third place finish for $93,514.

With the chips being pretty evenly disbursed, an ICM chop was discussed which saw Dennis Milko take a fourth place finish for $92,425.

John Rasch raised to 500,000 from the cutoff and Anthony Hancovsky defended his big blind to see a flop.

Hancovsky got his remaining stack in the middle and was called.

Anthony Hancovsky:
John Rasch:

Hancovsky connected with the flop but was still trailing Rasch’s top pair of aces until the hit the turn giving him two-pair.

The completed the board on the river and secured Hancovsky his double-up to take a slight chip lead four-handed

Anthony Hancovsky - 8,300,000
John Rasch: 5,700,000

For the first time this season, the MSPT is headed to the Ameristar Casino Hotel in East Chicago, Illinois from August 27th - September 2nd for a 10-event trophy series!

Last season, the MSPT made its inaugural stop at the Ameristar in August which set a high bar with the Main Event attracting 841 entries which saw Illinois native Marc Bernal capture his first MSPT title along with a cool $130,822 first place prize.

The next trip saw the MSPT come into town just before Old Hallow's Eve and attracted another 557 runners which saw MSPT Hall of Famer Blake Bohn capture his record-setting fifth Main Event title enroute to a $113,146 payday to become the defending champion.

Season 14 Main Event Final Table Results

The 10-event trophy series will start on Tuesday, August 27th and a series of $100, and $265 satellites will feed into the headlined $1,110 buy-in MSPT263 Main Event, which requires players be 21+ to play.

The tournament holds a $300K GTD and will offer four starting flights with Day 1a beginning Thursday, August 29th with a Noon start time.

Day 1b will take place at the same time on Friday, August 30th, with Day 1c following suit on Saturday, August 31st, and Day 1d on Sunday, September 1st.

The surviving players from all starting flights will return at 11:00 a.m. on Labor Day Monday and will play down to a winner.

Also, on that Sunday starting at 11:00 a.m. will be the $125 Flip 'N' Go with 1 in 10 players receiving a $1,100 satellite entry into the $1,100 Milestone satellite which will award a direct entry into the $10,400 WPT World Championship held in December!

John Rasch raised to 500,000 from the cutoff and then called off his 5,450,000 stack after Dennis Milko three-bet jammed for more from the big blind.

John Rasch:
Dennis Milko:

It was a race with the runout giving Rasch a full house to double-up through Milko.

John Rasch - 11,000,000
Dennis Milko - 4,850,000

Action folded to Joe Makdessi who moved his short stack in the middle from the small blind and MSPT champ Chris Moon looked him up from the big blind.

Joe Makdessi:
Chris Moon:

Makdessi was behind holding two suited connectors and didn’t mind the flop that gave him more outs with an open-ended straight draw.

The then paired the board on the turn, leaving Makdessi needing some help on the river to stay alive.

Unfortunately for him, the completed the board and ended his run in fifth place for $41,941.

Chris Moon - 8,850,000
Joe Makdessi - Eliminated

Michael Spagnolo was all in from the small blind and was called by John Rasch from the button.

Michael Spagnolo:
John Rasch:

Spagnolo had Rasch dominated, that was until the flop fell giving him top pair.

The turn left Spagnolo needing to either find a king or ten on the river to stay alive, but the paired the board and ended his Main Event run.

John Rasch - 4,200,000
Michael Spagnolo - Eliminated

Brian Springman raised all in from middle position and John Rasch looked him up from the big blind.

Brian Springman:
John Rasch:

Springman was ahead holding a made hand of threes but didn’t like the flop that fell giving Rasch a spade flush draw.

Things took a turn for the worse after the fell giving Rasch top pair, and the river completed his flush to send Springman home in seventh place for $24,325.

John Rasch - 2,900,000
Brian Springman - Eliminated