Ameristar Casino St. Charles

For the first time ever, the MSPT traveled to the Ameristar Casino St. Charles to host a ten-Gold Card event series, headlined by the $1,110 Season 17 Missouri Poker State Championship.

A total of 528 entries were tallied across three starting flights, generating a $512,160 prize pool.

On Sunday, 59 players returned for Day 2 action, and after roughly 10 hours of play, it was business owner/ tour grinder Mike Estes who battled his way through the challenging final day field en route to winning the $107,691 top prize and his second MSPT title!

“Feels phenomenal,” Estes stated after his win. “I’ve been working a ton on my game, filling in my leaks, and it seems to be working out.”

For Estes, who hails from Coralville, IA, the victory comes just nine months after he secured the 2025 Iowa Poker State Championship at his hometown casino, Riverside, for $153,551, and he marked his name in the record books after becoming the second player in tour history to win two different State Championships alongside MSPT Hall of Famer Umut Ozturk, an ICON in which he hopes to join in both the Player of the Year honors, and the coveted MSPT Hall of Fame.

“I came into the year with both Umut and Jake (Long) saying they weren’t going to chase POY this year, and I told Jess (Anderson) that I’m definitely going to chase it this year and I really needed this big finish to get me into the rankings.”

Estes continued, “I’ve been top five in the POY standings the last 3 out of 4 years, and I’m playing more events this year than I ever have because I really want to win it and today was a big step forward towards achieving that goal.”

With the win, Estes now sits second in the POY standings, and he secured his 31^st MSPT Main Event cash along with his ninth MSPT Top 10 finish. He now has $588,480 in MSPT Earnings and boasted a #10 MSPT World Ranking prior to this win!

Estes is now nine Main Event cashes and a MAJOR win away from joining the coveted MSPT Hall of Fame, and he has amassed almost $600,000 in MSPT career earnings, and his MSPT 10^th place World Ranking is likely to improve when the system recalculates on Monday.

This win also earned him a 2nd Gold Card on the tour, and he has also secured himself a seat in the $3,500 MSPT Championship Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO), which will be held at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, Nov. 18 – Dec. 2, boasting a $2,000,000 GTD Main Event!

MSPT Season 17 Missouri Poker State Championship Final Table Results

Day 2 Action

The final day came back with all 59 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with Andros Ioakimides being the first body to drop, while MSPT Hall of Famer Umut Ozturk and Diamond Poker Championship runner-up Carlton Taylor were part of the first batches of eliminations.

The fast-paced action would continue with Kanat Ozturk (45^th Place - $2,454), Jessica Anderson (40^th Place - $2,454), WSOP bracelet winner Blair Hinkle (36^th Place - $2,705), Justin Coliny (29^th Place - $2,705), and Dalton Jones (27^th Place - $3,106) all falling in quick succession of each other.

Six fomer champs were then left in contention for a second title, until Keith Heine (24^th Place - $3,656) & Charlie Dawson (23^rd Place - $3,656) fell back-to-back, followed by Season 16 Player of the Year Jake Long (20^th Place - $4,308), MSPT Champ Chris Audrain (18^th Place - $5,009), and Mike Estes (IL) (11^th Place - $7,513) all fell before the final table.

Final Table Action

Once the final table was set, a few double-ups occurred before Saad Ghanem (WR #267) lost a battle of the blinds against Ryan Julius (WR #2,354) to become the first final table elimination, while Mark Lafata (WR #280) had the same happen to him against Brandon Butler (WR 2,628) to follow Ghanem to the payout desk. For Ghanem, this was his 19th MSPT Main Event Cash and 7th Top 10 Finish, now with $288,214 MSPT Earnings.

Unfortunately for Butler, he was next on the chopping block after his pair of aces was set up by MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff’s (WR #10) lucky pair of sevens to fall in seventh place, while Delvonte Gathright (Not Ranked) lost a big race with a pair of tens to soon-to-be champ Estes ace-king, as he took home $20,536 for his sixth-place efforts.

The fast-paced action would continue with Julius getting aggressive with an ace-ten offsuit, only to run into Cunniff’s Big Slick to hit the payout desk in fifth place for $27,048.

With four players remaining, three of them were former champs looking for their second title, but Jeff Copeland’s (WR #19) hopes of becoming a two-time champ came to an end after he lost a race to Cunniff, ending his run in fourth-place for $36,064. For Copeland, this was his 19th MSPT Main Event Cash and his 3rd MSPT Top 10 Finish, earning $244,608 during his MSPT career.

After Copeland’s departure, Cunniff held a significant chip lead, but only held it for a few orbits before losing it to Estes after both players flopped top pair, and after a couple of levels of chip shuffling, he ended up taking a third-place finish for $48,837. Cunniff is a MSPT Hall of Famer with 37 MSPT Main Event Cashes and 9 MSPT Top 10 Finishes, now with $491,856 in MSPT Earnings and a #12 MSPT World Ranking!

The heads-up match saw Estes holding a sizeable chip advantage over Horace Ingram (Not Ranked), but he didn’t let that faze him as Ingram gave Estes a run for his money, but ultimately ended up being sent home in second place ($67,121) while Estes secured his second title to become the MSPT Season 17 Missouri Poker State Champion.

This wraps up our coverage of this year’s Missouri Poker State Championship but Season 17 of the MSPT continues as we head to north to Running Aces in Skol Country for the Minnesota Poker State Championship (April 7^th -19^th) and our reporting team will be on hand providing updates for the $500K GTD $1,110 Main Event so make sure to come back!

Horace Ingram raised, and MSPT Champ Mike Estes defended to see a flop.

Estes then check-raised to 1,500,000 after Ingram fired out a 500,000 continuation bet, and then called Ingram’s 4,525,000 three-bet jam.

Horace Ingram:
Mike Estes:

Both players flopped top pair, with Ingram holding the better kicker, but the dealer turned the to put Estes out in front.

Ingram was then left needing an ace on the river to stay alive, but the completed the board on the river and ended his tournament with a runner-up finish.

Mike Estes - 15,480,000
Horace Ingram - Eliminated

Mike Estes raised to 4,000,000, and Horace Ingram called off his 2,150,00 stack.

Horace Ingram:
Mike Estes:

Ingram rolled over a dominated hand, and the flop didn’t change a thing.

The turn, however, fell the to give Ingram the lead, while the river kept his Main Event hopes alive.

Mike Estes - 10,200,000
Horcae Ingram - 5,640,000

Horace Ingram raised to 600,000 from the small blind and then called MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff’s 1,525,000 three-bet jam from the big blind.

Gerald Cunniff:
Horace Ingram:

Cunniff was ahead holding a suited king, and nine appeared in the window on the flop, but a ten was lying underneath, giving Ingram the lead.

The turn then left Cunniff needing any king or nine on the river to stay alive, but the completed the board and ended his run.

Mike Estes - 12,340,000
Horace Ingram - 3,500,000
Gerald Cunniff - Eliminated

For the first time ever, the MSPT made its way to St. Charles, MO, and players have been duking it out over the past week inside the Ameristar Casino for their Season 17 Missouri Poker State Championship!

Kicking things off the ten-card event series was Event #7: $250 Monster Stack NLH, which saw 112 hunters take to the trenches, and generated a $22,400 prize pool that was paid out to the top 12 players.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Ryan Kinder (10^th Place - $4970), Glenn Wells (11^th Place - $470), and Saad Ghanem (12^th Place - $470).

In the end, it was St. Louis native, Mitchell Semple, who tamed the monster stack, earning himself the lion's share of the prize pool!

Final Table Results

MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff raised all-in from the button, and Horace Ingram called off his 1,075,000 stack from the big blind.

Horace Ingram:
Gerald Cunniff:

Ingram rolled over a dominating hand and enjoyed the flop that fell, giving hip trip nines.

The dealer then brought a sweat with the turn, but then followed with the on the river to secure Ingram his much-needed double.

Gerald Cunniff - 3,500,000
Horace Ingram - 2,600,000

MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff raised all-in for 2,550,000 from the small blind, and fellow MSPT Champ Mike Estes looked him up from the big blind.

Gerald Cunniff:
Mike Estes:

Cunniff rolled over a dominating hand and didn’t have a sweat as the runout gave him the ace-high flush to collect a double.

Mike Estes - 8,600,000
Gerald Cunniff - 5,100,000

MSPT FESTIVAL

: Potawatomi Casino Hotel - Milwaukee, WI

: April 28 - May 3, 2026

: $1,000,000 GTD Main Event
: $3,500 MSPT Championship Seat ADDED to Main Event 1st Place

: 11 Gold Card Events

: https://msptpoker.com/.../book-today-for-the-upcoming...

Event Schedule: https://msptpoker.com/showpdf.aspx?eventID=494msptpoker.co

MSPT Champ Mike Estes raised the button, and MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff defended his big blind to see a flop.

Cunniff then check-jammed after Estes fired out a continuation bet, and Estes thought briefly before calling off his 3,025,000 stack.

Mike Estes:
Gerald Cunniff:

Both players flopped top pair, but Estes held the superior kicker as the turn and river secured his double-up.

Gerald Cunniff - 7,000,000
Mike Estes - 6,000,000
Horace Ingram - 2,300,000

MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff limped in from the small blind, and then snap-called fellow MSPT Champ Jeff Copeland’s all-in raise from the big blind.

Jeff Copeland:
Gerald Cunniff:

Copeland was ahead holding a pair of deuces, and the flop kept him out in front.

However, the was then turned to give Cunniff the lead with a pair of aces, and the proceeded on the river, ending Copland’s Main Event run.

Gerald Cunniff - 9,000,000
Jeff Copeland - Eliminated