For the third and final time this season, the MSPT traveled to Riverside Casino to host an eight-Gold Card festival series, headlined by the $1,110 Main Event.
A total of 406 entries were tallied across three starting flights, generating a $392,320 prize pool.
On Sunday, 45 players returned for Day 2 action, and after roughly 10 hours of action, it was none other than MSPT Hall of Famer Umut Ozturk who rose to the occasion once again, securing his fourth career MSPT title, and third this year!
Just one short month ago, Ozturk secured his largest career score after taking down the 2026 Spade Poker Championship, in which he dedicated the victory to his late mother, and for this victory, he had another special dedication.
“This one, this one is for my wife, Alison," Ozturk stated after his latest victory. “She is the rock in our family,” Ozturk continued, “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be able to play poker as much as I do, so I’m very grateful for her and everything she does for our family.”
It was another bittersweet moment for Ozturk, as he earned his 20th final table appearance and 76th Main Event cash on the tour, extending his MSPT Career Earnings to $1,406,628 and catapulting to the top of the GOAT rankings and sending him into third place in this year’s POY race!
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with all 45 players already in the money, with seven of the top ten Player of the Year hopefuls still in the running, and things started off with a bang after Jacob Woggon’s pocket kings were cracked by Zac Campbell’s queen-jack suited, making him the first elimination of the day, while two-time MSPT Champ Mike Estes and Jessica Anderson followed him to the payout desk as part of the first batch of eliminations.
After Estes hit the deck, fellow Player of the Year front runners would hit the deck, as reigning Player of the Year Jake Long (36th Place - $2,341), two-time MSPT Champ Lee Rzentkowski (34th Place - $2,341), this seasons POY front runner Mike Wilklow (30th Place - $2,341), MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard (17th Place - $4,292), and MSPT Champ Jeff Copeland (11th Place - $6,243), all dropped from the field, setting the stage for the stacked final table.
Final Table Action
Once the players took their seats, action kicked right into gear with MSPT Champ Chris Audrain getting his short stack into the middle with a queen-jack offsuit, only to fall victim to two-time Player of the Year Ozturk’s Big Slick, making him the first final table elimination.
Shortly after, the MSPT’s top casher DJ Buckley was involved in a three-way all-in, only to finish last and take an eighth-place exit, marking his 98th Main Event cash, leaving him needing just two more to become the first player to 100 and earn his seat into the coveted MSPT Hall of Fame.
The fast-paced action would continue after Kelly Mahana was out-kicked in seventh place by Jacob Tourville, while Brett Slezak and Zac Campbell followed him to the payout desk in sixth and fifth place, respectively.
With four players remaining, Steve Dill sat at the bottom of the chip counts and found a pair of sevens to roll with, only to lose a race against Tourville’s ace-jack, sending him home with an MSPT career best fourth-place finish for $28,483.
Tourville then held a commanding chip lead with three players remaining, but he gave it up to Brett “Pops” Reichard, sending him to the bottom of the counts while Reichard shot to the top.
Unfortunately for Reichard, he lost his momentum, getting straightened out in back-to-back all-ins, sending him home with a third-place finish for $38,627, marking his 44th Main Event cash to bring his MSPT career earnings up to $576,468.
The heads-up battle started with Tourville holding a 3:1 chip lead over Ozturk, but that wouldn’t deter the Hall of Famer, as he chipped away at Tourville until he gained the chip lead, and then secured the title after the two agreed on an even ICM chop for $69,451.
This wraps up our coverage of yet another exciting trip to Riverside, but make sure to join us as we make our first-ever trip to the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood FL, for the Rock & Roll Poker Open November 17th - December 2nd, and as always, our live reporting team will be on hand providing updates for the $3,500 MSPT Championship November 27th - December 2nd, so make sure to come and follow along!