Sycuan Casino Resort

David Berger Wins MSPT Sycuan 100 GRAND STACK $1,100 Main Event for First Title!

The second stop of Season 16 took the MSPT to the beautiful Sycuan Casino Resort in San Deigo, California for the inaugural 100 GRAND STACK Festival!

The 21-trophy event series was headlined by the first ever $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD 100 GRAND STACK Main Event, and a total of 474 entries (114 from Day 1a; 114 from 1b; 50 from Day 1c 148 from 1d; and 47 from Day 1e) were tallied, generating a $458,280 prize pool.

The series hit another milestone for the tour, as over $200,580,000 has now been awarded to date and on Sunday, 50 players returned for Day 2 action with a fast-paced final day, seeing David Berger rise to the top securing his first MSPT title, along with his largest career score of $87,100!

“It feels great,” the newly crowned champ said after his victory, “I made a new year’s resolution to win a trophy I don’t already have, and it feels really good to cross that off in this first month.”

MSPT Season 16 Sycuan 100 GRAND STACK Festival$1,110 Main Event Final Table Results

*denotes ICM deal

Day 2 Action

The final day came back with all 50 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with David "Digger" Vig being the first body to drop followed by Event #3 winner Clint Wolcyn, starting a spree of eliminations.

The next batch of players that followed to the payout desk included the likes of MSPT top casher DJ Buckley, Janet Burke, 2024 Sycuan champ Noel Eicher, and Nissar Quraishi.

With players continuing to make their way to the payout line, four-time MSPT champ Daniel Bekavac was on his quest for a record trying fifth title but hit a few road bumps to take a much early exit than anticipated (33^rd Place – $2,520), while defending champ Justin Muse (29^th Place - $2,520), Adrian Lopez (28^th Place - $2,520) two-time bracelet winner Justin Lapka (26^th Place - $3,127) and 2023 Sycuan Regional champ Eddie Pilotin (21^st Place - $4,247) all followed him to the payout desk in quick succession.

The fast-paced action continued as Andrew Ostapchenko (19^th Place - $4,247), Hesam Samarghandy (17^th Place - $4,667), Peter Aran (15^th Place - $5,600), Johnny Groat (12^th Place - $7,000), and Weizheng Zhong (12^th Place - $7,000) all fell on the way to the final table.

Final Table Action

WSOP bracelet winner Brad Gafford went into the final table at the bottom of the chip counts and became the first elimination after he failed to hit live cards against Patrick Roteman while the last lady standing Anastasiia Knapp lost a big flip against Bradley Miller to eventually fall in eighth place.

Start of day chip leader Steve Hoang was in the top three when the final table started but a run of losses led to him being tripped up on the turn in a battle of the blinds against Jerric Jiang, as he made a heartbreaking seventh place exit for $14,934.

After getting a few ladder ups, Roteman finally got his chips in the middle holding a dominating Big Slick to Berger’s suited ace-eight, but a snowman on the river sent ended his run in sixth place for $19,143.

The last elimination propelled Berger to the top of the counts which eventually led to him having an elimination spree which started with 2021 Sycuan Regional champ Armando Mesina.

A classic race saw Berger’s pair of sixes hold strong to send Mesina home in fifth-place ($25,201) while he followed that by out-kicking Dillon Najor to the curb in fourth place for $33,601.

Berger’s relentless spree continued when he picked-up a pair of hit ladies that tripped-up Jerric Jiang in third place ($44,428) setting the stage for the heads-up match.

The heads-up battle saw Berger hold a 2:1 chip advantage over Miller, which prompted him to make quick ICM proposal and it wasn’t long before it was agreed upon as Miller took home $74,883 for his efforts while Berger walked away with his largest career score of $87,100 along with the title!

This wraps up our coverage for this event but Season 16 of the MSPT continues as we head to Bally’s Black Hawk next (January 23^rd - 27^th) and our reporting team will be on hand providing updates for the $300K GTD $1,110 Main Event so make sure to come back!

Bradley Miller Eliminated in 2nd Place ($74,883)

Once the heads-up match started, an ICM deal was worked out which saw Bradley Miller take home a second place finish for $74,883 while David Berger will take home $87,100 along with the title!

The MSPT Heads Back to Sin City for the Season 16 Venetian Poker Bowl February 5th - 10th!

The MSPT is making its way back to the Venetian Las Vegas February 5th - 10th for the infamous Poker Bowl IX!

The ninth edition of this year's Poker Bowl will feature a $1,600 buy-in and, boasts a massive $1,000,000 guarantee.

Each player will start with 30,000 in chips and blinds will increase every 40 minutes. Late registration for each flight will remain open until approximately 5:55 p.m. local time.

The tournament will hold three starting flights with Day 1a getting started bright and early at 11:10 a.m. on Wednesday, February 5th.

Day 1b will then follow on Thursday, February 6th, with Day 1c being held on Friday, February 7th, with both having 11:10 a.m. start times.

The surviving players from the three starting flights will then return for Day 2 at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 8th, and will play until seven players remain.

The final seven will then have a days rest to enjoy Superbowl Sunday and will return to action on Monday, February 10th at Noon, to play down to a winner which will be live-streamed in the brand new streaming studio!

Past MSPT Venetian Poker Bowl winners include Zack Fuentes ($117,060), James Romero ($171,167), Ron West ($168,488), Johnny Oshana ($130,000), Brian Wilson (143,929), Kfir Nahum (108,410), Jordan Young (117,381), Sean Berman ($42,305 + Bounties), and "Scary" Terry Fleischer ($98,101).

Who will be next to add their names to the list of aforementioned Poker Bowl champions?

Come be a part of history at The Venetian Poker Room as they will unveil their brand-new streaming studio produced and distributed by PokerGO!

Jerric Jaing Eliminated in 3rd Place ($44,428)

Jerric Jaing was all in preflop from the big blind and David Berger looked him up from the button.

Jerric Jaing:
David Berger:

Jaing was behind looking for some help and found some after a jack appeared in the window on the flop to give him more outs.

Unfortunately for him, his dreams were shattered after the was turned improving Beger to a set of ladies while the needle river ended his run in third place for $44,428.

David Berger - 31,250,000
Bradley Miller - 16,150,000
Jerric Jiang - Eliminated

Dillon Najor Eliminated in 4th Place ($33,601)

Dillon Najor was all in from the cutoff and David Berger looked him up from the button.

Dillon Najor:
David Berger:

Najor rolled over a dominated ace and didn’t find any help from the runout as his tournament ended in fourth place for $33,601.

David Berger - 21,350,000
Dillon Najor - Eliminated

Armando Mesina Eliminated in 5th Place ($25,201)

There was all in action preflop between 2021 Sycuan Regional champ Armando Mesina from under the gun and David Berger from the small blind with Mesina’s 8,000,000 stack at risk.

Armando Mesina:
David Berger:

It was another flip with Mesina’s Big Slick proving to be unreliable as even with the help of the paired flop, the turn and river bricked out ending his run in fifth place for $25,201.

David Berger - 19,000,0000
Armando Mesina - Eliminated

Patrick Roteman Eliminated in 6th Place ($19,134)

David Berger raised all-in under the gun and Patrick Roteman called off his shorter stack from the hijack.

Patrick Roteman:
David Berger:

“Oh, nice hand,” Berger said to Roteman just before adding, “I’m going to use my one time this hand,” with a flop fell paired.

“I swear, if this ends in a chop,” a soft spoken Roteman said while the turn was quickly followed by river to end his tournament.

David Berger - 12,500,000
Patrick Roteman - Eliminated

Gary Crite Turbo's His Way to a Victory

For the second stop of the 16th season, the MSPT traveled to Sycuan Casino & Resort in San Diego, CA to host the inaugural 100 GRAND STACK Festival!

In Event #15: $200 NLH Ultimate Stack Turbo, a 21-player field took to the felt and when the dust settled, it was Gary Crite who shipped the 100 GRAND STACK Festival trophy!

Results

Steve Hoang Eliminated in 7th Place ($14,934)

Action folded to Jerric Jaing who raised all in from the small blind and Steve Hoang called off his shorter stack from the big blind.

Steve Hoang:
Jerric Jaing:

Hoang was ahead and things stayed the same after the flop paired both players.

The turn was a good card for Hoang as it took away outs from Jaing but it wouldn’t matter as the dealer dropped the on the river to end the start of day chip leaders' day.

Jerric Jaing - 13,500,000
Steve Hoang - Eliminated

Anastasiia Knapp Eliminated in 8th Place ($11,667)

Anastasiia Knapp was all in preflop from under the gun and Bradley Miller called off his shorter 1,575,000 stack from middle position.

Anastasiia Knapp:
Bradley Miller:

It was a classic race with Miller finding a way to take the lead on the river once the board ran out securing his double-up.

Knapp was left short after the hand and was able to find a double before ultimately taking an eighth place exit for $11,667

Bradley Miller - 3,200,000
Anastasiia Knapp - Eliminated