For the first time this season, the MSPT traveled to Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, IN, hosting an 11-Gold Card Event Festival.
Our featured $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event headlined the series, attracting 386 entrants, and on Sunday, only 43 players returned for Day 2 action.
After roughly 10 hours of play, it was Wisconsin native Lee Rzentkowski, who navigated his way through the challenging field to come out on top to win the $82,955 top prize and his second career MSPT title!
“I’ve been on a heater here lately”, Rzentkowski stated after his win, “Only I’ve come up short back-to-back times, so it feels really good to close this one out”.
Rzentkowski is referring to his back-to-back final table appearances here at Ameristar in the last two outings, with him finishing in ninth and fifth place, respectively.
With this being his third final table appearance in a row here, Rzentkowski knew he had to close this one out and had a bunch of support along the way.
“It was really nice just knowing I had my family in my corner the whole time”, said Rzentkowski, “They were cheering for me from afar, but it feels nice knowing they had my back and were rooting for me”.
The victory marked Rzentkowski’s 17th Main Event cash to go along with his second title on the tour, and his first since 2022, bringing his career MSPT earnings over $300k.
Along with the win, Rzentkowski has earned 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!
The final day came back with 43 players already in the money, and action kicked right into gear with MSPT Champ Anthony Kastelic’s pocket seven’s being set up by Jeff Stephens’ pair of fours, becoming the first elimination of the day, while Tom Koral and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Scott Bohlman followed him to the payout desk as part of the first batch of eliminations.
Players then started to line up at the payout desk as the fast-paced action saw Cody Brinn (34th Place - $2,262), Kevin Maahs (28th Place - $2,262), DJ Buckley (23rd Place - $3,054), and Ryan Scully (14th Place - $4,902) all fall along the way to the final table.
Final Table Action
The final table started with two-time MSPT Champ Mike Estes sitting at the bottom of the chip counts while on the hunt for his third title, but he lost an early race against the soon-to-be fellow two-time MSPT Champ Rzentkowski, making him the first final table elimination.
Rzentkowski would then continue to add to his final table top stack after he rivered a full house against Allen Pritchett’s four-card flush, sending him home in eighth place, while Day 2 chip leader Jinha Park followed him to the payout desk in seventh place.
Shortly after, Del Beiler would see his tournament come to an end after his pair of snowmen was melted in the heat by Aaron Brown’s pair of nines, and he departed in sixth place.
A few hands later would see final table short-stack Daniel Johnson’s pay jumping excursion come to an end after he was out-kicked by Jeff Stephens in fifth-place, while Stephens fate would end in fourth place ($27,526) after Rzentkowski flopped two-pair to send him packing.
After knocking out a third of the final table, Rzentkowski sat with over half of the chips in play when three-handed action started, but Brown closed the distance after he knocked out the “second” Mike Estes in third place for $37,286, setting the stage for the heads-up battle.
The heads-up duel began with Rzentkowski holding a slight edge over Brown, and the two would tussle only for a few brief hands before all the chips went into the middle, with Brown holding a flush draw, and Rzentkowski two-pair.
Brown would then take the lead on the turn after he completed his flush, only to have the dealer drop a third nine on the river, giving Rzentkowski a full house to secure him his second MSPT Main Event title, while Brown finished runner-up for $51,286.
This wraps up our coverage of another eventful tournament, so make sure you join us when we make our way back to the Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee, WI, for another 11-Gold Card Event Festival, April 28th - May 5th, and as always, the MSPT live reporting team will be on hand providing updates for the $1,110 Main Event, so make sure to come back!