The MSPT returned to the Hollywood Casino in St. Louis, Missouri for the third and final time this season, hosting a nine-trophy event series which was headlined by its $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event271.
A total of 402 entries were tallied through three starting flights, generating a $388,440 prize pool, and on Sunday, 43 players returned for Day 2 action in hopes of claiming the title.
After roughly 10 hours of action, only one was able to claim the top spot and that was local hero Jeff Copeland who walked away the victor to win the $85,871 top prize, along with his first MSPT title!
“I can’t even describe it right now”, Copeland stated after his big win. “It’s something we all dream about as poker players”, Copeland continued, “Not only to win but one of these, an MSPT, it’s the epitome of what we seek out to achieve and to do it in my home casino is just indescribable”.
The victory marked Copeland’s largest career score and added another cash at his hometown casino to bring his overall record to 31.
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with 43 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Johnson finding an early double with Big Slick to start his day while Josh Guthrie jammed into Hyun Lee’s pocket aces to become the first elimination of the day.
After Guthrie’s elimination, players started catching doubles like they were outfielders for the Cardinals, as Brad Sailor hit some bad luck only to bounce back right away, while inaugural Hollywood Casino St. Louis winner Umut Ozturk found a pair of kings for his first double as well.
Unfortunately for the Sailor, his day ended shorter than hoped as he fell in 31st place ($2,440) to bring his Season 15 earnings to $261,350.
The fast-paced action kept rolling, and players like MSPT champ Keith Heine (20th Place - $3,765), Josh Wisdom (17th Place - $4,389), Mark Lafata (15th Place - $5,169), MSPT champ Tim Thorp (12th Place - $6,339), and Hall of Famer Johnson (10th Place - $6,339) all fell by the wayside setting up the stacked final table.
Final Table action
Cody Bartlett started the final table at the top of the counts while Brad Heitmeyer sat in a close second but after a few orbits, it would be Heitmeyer who would be the first to walk away from the final table after he was set up by soon to be champ Copeland’s lucky pair of sevens.
After that action hand, another occurred after MSPT Hall of Famer Ozturk was involved in a three-way all-in hand after the flop with ”Wild” Bill Romer and John Ro.
Ro was ahead holding a made hand of kings, and they held to secure him the double-elimination with Romer taking an eighth place finish while Ozturk came in seventh.
The finish marked another tally in the record book for Ozturk, as he broke his record he set last year recording his 18th cash on the season, which also gave him a 1,000-point lead over fellow Hall of Famer Josh Reichard in the POY race this season while also putting him only 225 points behind Reichard in the Icon standings with only one event left on the schedule.
After the double elimination, “Pyzza” Teston got a few pay jumps before moving his chips in the middle with Big Slick only to run into Copeland’s pair of cowboys as he took a sixth place finish for $16,477.
Following Teston to the payout desk was the start of day chip leader Brett “Pops” Reichard who’s roller coaster of a day came to an end after he called the wrong side of a flip against Cody Bartlett to take a fifth place exit for $21,547.
With four players remaining, Copeland held nearly half the chips in play and added more after he rivered quad nines to eliminate Casey Blakeley in fourth place for $28,566.
Copeland would then continue his final table rampage with the elimination of Bartlett in third place ($38,704) and then finished off Ro runner-up for $53,132 while Copeland secured his first MSPT trophy and career payday good for $85,871!
This wraps up our coverage of this event but the MSPT heads to the Hollywood Casino in Columbus, OH for their inaugural Winter Poker Classic Season 15 Finale (December 12th - 15th), and our reporting team will be on hand providing updates for the $500K GTD $1,110 Main Event272 so make sure to come back!