The MSPT returned to the Hollywood Casino in St. Louis, Missouri, for the second and final time this season, hosting a nine-Gold Card event series which was headlined by its $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event.
A total of 676 entries were tallied through three starting flights, generating a $655,720 prize pool, and on Sunday, 76 players returned for Day 2 action in hopes of claiming the title.
After roughly 12 hours of action, only one was able to claim the top spot, and that was Columbia, Missouri native Robert Noce, who walked away the victor to win a career-best $131,258 top prize, along with his first MSPT title!
“It feels great”, Noce said after his victory, “I’m still taking it in, but this was only the second tournament I got to play in this year, and I tripled by Hendon Mob totally, so that feels awesome”.
Noce, an attorney, said this was his first-ever MSPT, and he was able to walk away as the new Hollywood Casino MSPT Champion!
Day 2 Action
With the 76 players already in the money, action kicked right into gear with Zach Kincade finding an early double with a pair of cowboys to start his day, while Mark Van Keirsbilck and Ryan Rogers were the first two eliminations of the day.
Shortly after, MSPT champ Jason Mendoza woke up with a pair of ladies to send William Henricks to the rail, with two-time MSPT champ Angela Jordison, 2024 St. Louis champ Jeff Copeland, and MSPT Hall of Famer Rob WazWaz following him to the payout desk shortly after.
The fast-paced action kept rolling, and players like Brett ‘Pops’ Reichard (38th Place - $2,547), MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard (31st Place - $3,006), MSPT champ’s Lee Rzentkowski (27th Place - $3,924), John 'Farmboy' Kurfman (19th Place - $5,629), and Jason Mendoza (15th Place - $7,990) all fell by the wayside setting up the stacked final table.
Final Table action
Jared Mohesky started the final table at the top of the counts and added to his stack after he dodged a sweaty board to make Ethan Jaggie the first final table elimination.
After that action hand, Mohesky would find himself in two more all-in against soon-to-be champ Noce to fall to the bottom of the counts, while Noce dropped Brian Craig in eighth place to extend his chip lead.
Once Craig hit the deck, MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff lost back-to-back all-ins to take a seventh-place exit, while final table short-stack Dino Galic found his last step on the payout ladder after he lost a race to Season 16 points leader Jake Long.
After Long’s knockout, back-to-back Player of the Year Umut Ozturk lost a few hands to drop to the bottom of the chip counts, and was able to find a few double-ups before ultimately taking a fifth-place exit for $33,563.
It was another impressive feat for Ozturk, as it marked his 16th final table appearance on the tour dating back to 2018, and fourth this season, putting him just one behind the record set in Season 14.
After Ozturk was eliminated, Long wasn’t too far behind him after he lost a race to Noce to take a fourth place for $43,989. Long’s impressive run extended his lead in this season's POY race and marked his second final table appearance in just one month.
Three-handed action saw Noce holding a commanding chip lead, but Mohesky was able to cut into it after he rivered a three outer to eliminate Jeff Kenny in third place for $59,136, marking his second final table appearance in just one month as well.
Even with cutting into the chip lead, Mohesky wasn’t able to catch any traction and went for it all on the final hand, only to come up short with a runner-up finish for $80,775, while Noce secured his first MSPT trophy and career payday good for $131,258!
This wraps up our coverage of this event, but the MSPT is headed back to JACK Cleveland Casino August 26th - September 1st for their GOLD Card Festival series, and the MSPT team will be on hand providing updates for the $750K GTD $1,110 Main Event, so make sure to come back and tune in!