The MSPT returned to Sycuan Casino & Resort in San Diego, California to host its third and final Showdown Series this season.
The 15-trophy event series was headlined the $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event, and a total of 374 entries (47 from Day 1a; 135 from 1b; and 192 from Day 1c) were tallied, generating a $361,280 prize pool.
On Sunday, 40 players returned for Day 2 action, and after the dust settled, it was El Cajon native Justin Muse who rose to the top securing his first MSPT title, along with his largest career score of $72,130!
Muse came into the final day just outside the top ten chip counts and was able to defeat Bret Eberhart heads-ups-up to keep the title here on his home turf.
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with all 40 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with two-time bracelet winner Erick Lindgren being kicked-out the door by John Donnelly, starting a spree of eliminations.
The first batch that followed Lindgren to the payout desk included the likes of Igli Pirgv, Derek Stark, and Minnesota’s Sherry Hammers.
With players continuing to make their way to the payout line MSPT champ Josh Reichard and three-time champ Matt Kirby continued to maneuver their way through the remining field in hopes of adding another MSPT title to their Hall of Fame resume’s.
While each of them never really got much traction during the day, both would make a deep run with Kerby bowing out in 19th place for $3,492, while Reichard caught a few pay jumps before making a 14th place exit for $4,829.
With that, Reichard jumped ahead of fellow Hall of Famer and MSPT champ Rob WazWaz in the tight 2024 ICON standings, while also climbing into fourth place in the Player of the Year race.
Final Table Action
The fast-paced action continued as only a few hands were needed to send the last lady standing Thuy Kawano home in ninth place, making her the first final table elimination.
After making the final table here last time in May, Tim Acker was on a quest to best his seventh-place finish and got it in good holding Big Slick to Chris Takata’s ace-queen.
Unfortunately for Acker, Takata had lady luck on his side to secure him the pot while Acker made an earlier exit than he had hoped in eight place.
After delivering Acker his critical blow, Takata found himself in a battle of the blind's situation against Eberhart only to be set up in seventh place for $12,259.
LA’s Luke Nguyen came into the final table midway through the pack and that's where he made his exit after his made hand of three’s came up short against Sinan Shathaya’s pocket sevens.
After taking out Nguyen, Shathaya thought he was starting to catch some final table steam until he ran his Big Slick into Eberhart’s pocket aces and made a in fifth place exit for $20,432.
Four-handed action saw Eberhart hold roughly half the chips in play, and he managed to accumulate some more after he won a race against Ron Scott, sending him home in fourth place for $27,119.
With Eberhart continuing to add chips, Muse was able to close the distance between them after his pocket tens held against Sammy Weisman ($36,778) setting the stage for the heads-up match.
The heads-up battle started with Eberhart holding a slight advantage over Muse, and the two agreed upon a chop but would still duke it out for the coveted trophy.
After agreement, Muse went on a tear winning almost every heads-up pot until Eberhart finally secured a double, turning the tide back in his favor.
From that point, chips continued to shuffle back-and-forth until Muse got paid holding a straight and then made quick work of Eberhart as he finished runner-up for $59,629 while Muse secured his first career title at his home casino for $79,630.
This wraps up our coverage of another eventful tournament, so make sure you join us when we make our way to FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan for their $1,110 Main Event October 10th - 13th!!