The MSPT returned to JACK Cleveland Casino for the third and final time this season, hosting a four-event series which was headlined by the $1,110 buy-in, $750K GTD Main Event.
A total of 892 entries were tallied after three starting flights, and on Sunday, 99 players returned to Day 2 action to take their stab at the $863,740 prize pool.
Of those 99 players, 10 were past champs on their quest for another Main Event title, and after 15 hours of play, it was Day 1b chip leader James Anderson who denied them all as he navigated his way through the tough field to claim the $165,303 first-place prize along with his first MSPT title!
“It feels good”, Anderson said after his win, “The final table was crazy, but the structure was really good and deep, so I just grinded it out as long as possible.”
Anderson came into the final day with one of the top stacks, and started the final table as the chip leader, but he hit a few rough patches that saw him fall to just a few big blinds before he was able to spin it back up to a victory.
“This is originally my hometown”, Anderson stated, “So it’s nice to be able to come back here and get a win.”
Anderson continued, “Joe runs really good tournaments, and I enjoy playing these ones. The guys who travel along with the tour are really good players and are very nice as well, so I’m very proud of the win.”
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with 99 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with Mark Osoteo being the first elimination of the day while MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard and WSOP bracelet winner Katie Kopp followed him to the payout desk as part of the first batch of eliminations.
After Kopp hit the deck, 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 Jennifer Lin (89th Place – $2,203), MSPT champ Abdul Amer (67th Place - $2,373), Sara Hall (47th Place – $2,712), the MSPT’s top casher DJ Buckley (39th Place - $3,051), and MSPT champ Mike Estes (38th Place - $3,051).
Players would continue to fall by the wayside as Jack Corrigan (25th Place - $4,915), Merritt Kuhn (22nd Place - $6,017), two-time MSPT champ Bobby Noel (20th Place - $7,119), WSOP bracelet winner Billy Kopp (19th Place - $7,119), and MSPT Hall of Famer Chris Moon (11th Place - $11,865) all hit the rail, setting the stage for the final table.
Final Table Action
Back-to-back Player of the Year Umut Ozturk began the final table at the bottom of the chip counts, but watched Shiva Dudani and Rodney Colson become the first two final table eliminations before Ozturk caught a double-up through Matt Hamilton to jump above the chip average.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, he would be the next elimination after he jammed his pair of nines into Haroldo Perez’s pair of kings, as he took seventh place finish while Cassidy Clark followed him to the payout desk in sixth place for $32,206.
With five players remaining, Dan Wolf sat at the bottom of the chip counts and found a suited ace-queen to roll with only to have Perez show a dominating Big Slick to take a fifth-place exit for $43,377, while Adam Durbin tried a bluff of the ages against soon-to-be champ Andersto depart in fourth place for $55,937.
The chips then started to be passed around the three remaining players, with each riding rollercoasters until Ozturk got his short stack in the middle after pairing his six on the flop, only to have Anderson call holding a pair of aces, ending his run in third place for $74,922.
This was Ozturk’s fifth final table appearance this season, tying the record set back in Season 14, and he added another 1,600 POY points to jump into the top spot this season.
The heads-up battle started with Anderson holding almost a 2:1 chip advantage against Perez, but the match proved to be a feisty one as they would exchange double-ups until the final hand, which saw Perez take a home runner-up finish for $101,784, while Anderson walked away with the $163,760 top prize to go along with his first MSPT the title!
This wraps up our coverage of another eventful tournament, so make sure you join us when we make our way to San Diego's Sycuan Casino next for their second 100 GRAND STACK Series of the season which is headlined by the $1,110 buy-in, 300K GTD Main Event and as always, that will be reported by our live reporting team starting Thursday, September 4th so make sure to tune in!