The MSPT returned to Ameristar Casino in East Chicago for a third and final time this season, hosting a 12-Gold Card Event Series.
Our featured $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event headlined the series, attracting 514 entrants after three starting flights, and on Sunday, only 58 players returned for Day 2 action.
After roughly 12 hours of play, it was Minnesota native and MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Johnson, who navigated his way through the challenging field to come out on top to win the $92,000 top prize and his second MSPT title!
“Feels Amazing,” Johnson stated after his victory, which comes almost one month after he fell short of securing his second title at the beginning of the month to Indiana native Anthony Kastelic.
“That was painful,” Johnson stated after finishing runner-up Riverside Casino Resort, “I haven’t won a tournament since 2019.”
Johnson went on to say, “Winning one is great, but the second is validation, it's vindication, and being able to get my second one after a half decade feels amazing.”
It was a bittersweet victory for Johnson, who notched his 65th Main Event cash under his belt to bring his MSPT lifetime earnings to $798,056, and is just one victory away from joining the Legends Club!
MSPT Season 16 Ameristar East Chicago Final Table Results
| Place |
Player |
Prize |
POY |
| 1 |
Aaron Johnson |
$*92,000 |
1,400 |
| 2 |
Mike Suggs |
$*77,483 |
1,400 |
| 3 |
Xi Nguyen |
$46,485 |
1,300 |
| 4 |
Matt Miller |
$35,157 |
1,200 |
| 5 |
Lee Rzentkowski |
$26,368 |
1,100 |
| 6 |
Angel Saurez |
$20,020 |
1,000 |
| 7 |
Kojo Enu |
$15,625 |
900 |
| 8 |
Jerry Miller |
$12,207 |
800 |
| 9 |
Yoon Kim |
$9,278 |
700 |
The final day came back with 58 players already in the money, and action kicked right into gear with Greg Koutelidakis securing a double elimination of Loki Abboud and Nikolay Kirev in the first hand of the day.
At the same time, two-time MSPT champ Ken Baime and inaugural Spade Poker Champion Merritt Kuhn followed him to the payout desk as part of the first batch of eliminations.
Players then continued dropping like wildfire with back-to-back Player of the Year Umut Ozturk’s tournament coming to an end in 43rd place for an extra 75 POY points, while fellow MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard followed him to the payout desk in 38th place for the same amount of points and $2,393.
After Ozturk and Reichard’s departures, Jake Long had his eyes set on padding his top spot in the race himself, but was only able to get a few spots above the two (22nd Place - $3,760) to add an extra 200 points to his name, while George Dietz (19th Place - $4,443), Brett ‘Pops’ Reichard (11th Place - $7,324), and Chris Moore (10th Place - $7,324) just missed out on the final table.
Final Table Action
The final table started with Yoon Kim sitting at the bottom of the chip counts, and he wasn’t able to get anything started after his ace-jack offsuit lost to Angel Saurez’s ten-eight of hearts, making him the first final table elimination.
Kojo Enu came into the final table with the second shortest stack, but was able to get a pay jump after Jerry Miller moved his average chip stack in the middle from under the gun with an ace-queen, only to have Xi Nguyen wake up with a pair of cowboys on the button to send him home in eighth place.
A few hands later, Enu would see his tournament come to an end after he lost a race to soon-to-be champ Johnson, while Saurez followed him to the payout desk shortly after in sixth-place.
A few levels would then pass, and chips would shuffle around until MSPT champ Lee Rzentkowski found an unlucky pair of sevens to be flushed out the door in fifth place by Johnson, while both Matt Miller and Xi Nguyen would fall in quick succession in fourth ($35,157) & third place ($46,485) respectively, setting the stage for the heads-up battle.
The heads-up duel began with Suggs holding a slight chip lead over Johnson, prompting a quick ICM deal to be proposed and agreed upon to speed up play.
Once the two came to an agreement, chips started shuffling between them, which saw each hold the chip lead until Johnson started connecting with rivers to walk away with his second MSPT Main Event title, while Suggs finished runner-up for $77,482.
This wraps up our coverage of yet another fantastic event, and the MSPT will be making one more stop this season as we are headed back home to the tundra for the 2025 Winter Poker Classic at Running Aces Casino in Columbus, MN, December 2nd - 14th, so make sure to come back to see how the season finale unfolds!