The Venetian

Miguel Lopez Wins Inaugural MSPT $1,100 Nevada Poker State Championship!

The MSPT returned to the beautiful Venetian Resort in Las Vegas for the fourth time this season, and second as the MAJOR Series of Poker - The Tour, to host the inaugural Nevada Poker State Championship!

A total of 522 entries were tallied after three starting flights, and on Sunday, just 59 players returned to action for the final day, in hopes of securing the top prize from the $503,730 prize pool.

When the dust finally settled, it was start-of-day chip leader Miguel Lopez who seized the moment, earning a career score in his first-ever MSPT to capture the 2025 Nevada Poker State Championship trophy!

MSPT $1,100 Nevada Poker State Championship Final Table Results

Day 2 Action

The final day came back with all 59 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with Ben Palmer losing a race to MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard in the first hand of the day, while Eric Lin followed him to the payout cage shortly after in the first batch of eliminations.

After Lin hit the deck, a flurry of “payouts” could be heard throughout the room, as handfuls of players were walking to the payout table which included the likes of Irene Carey (47^th Place – $2,526), Stanley Lee (45^th Place – $2,526), WSOP bracelet winner Billy Kopp (42^nd Place - $2,798), Melanie Pittard (37^th Place - $2,798), and MSPT Champ David Berger (33^rd Place - $3,144) all hit the deck before the three table redraw.

The final three tables were stacked with crushers, with the Player of the Year Race hanging in the balance, as the top three players were still in contention until MSPT Hall of Famer Reichard’s tournament ended in 27^th place ($3,144), and back-to-back Player of the Year Umut Ozturk (18^th Place – $4,846) & Jake Long (17^th Place – $4,846) fell shortly after, setting the stage for the final table.

Final Table Action

Once the final table was set, short-stack Sami Bechahed was able to find a latter-up after Taylor Black’s pocket kings were cracked by WSOP bracelet winner Darren Rabinowitz’s Big Slick, as they were the first two final table eliminations.

The fast-paced action continued with Steven Zazaian being involved in a three-way all-in preflop with a made hand of jacks, and he improved to a set on the flop, only to be turned and rivered to take a seventh-place exit.

Anthony Danna came into the final day with just 98,000, but was able to maneuver his way all the way to the final table until he was tripped up in sixth place by Rabinowitz.

From that point, three-time bracelet winner David Jackson was in survival mode, hovering at the bottom of the chip counts, and flopped an open-ended staright flush draw with a pair to roll with, only to run into Mikhail Sniatovskii’s pair of kings to end his run in fifth-place.

The knockout sent Sniatovskii to the top of the chip counts with only Lopez holding more chips than him, but as fate would have it, an aces vs kings hand would occur against the two, with Sniatovskii’s and his two cowboys taking a fourth-place finish for $35,803.

After Sniatovskii’s departure, Mohamed Serry was left in desperate need of chips and was able to find one double-up before ultimately taking a third-place finish for $47,552.

The heads-up match between Lopez and Rabinowitz started with Lopez holding over ninety percent of the chips in play, but Rabinowitz was able to put up a fight after securing an early double, only to still end up taking a runner-up finish for $63,904, while Lopez walked away with the inaugural championship and his first career MSPT title.

This concludes our coverage for the inaugural Nevada Poker State Championship, but the MSPT is headed back to the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee, WI, to host the Wisconsin Poker State Championship, September 30^th - October 5^th, and the MSPT team will be on hand providing updates for the $1,000,000 GTD $1,110 Main Event, so make sure to come back and tune in!

Darren Rabinowitz Eliminated in 2nd Place ($63,904)

WSOP bracelet winner Darren Rabinowitz raised and Miguel Lopez defended to see a flop.

Lopez check-raised to 1,000,000 after Rabinowitz fired out a 300,000 continuation bet, and then called his three-bet jam.

Darren Rabinowitz:
Miguel Lopez:

Lopez was able to take the lead after flopping top two-pair, and the turn followed by the river secured him the victory, while sending Rabinowitz home in second place.

Miguel Lopez - 15,660,000
Darren Rabinowitz - Eliminated

Join Us for the First Ever MSPT Canadian Poker Championship!

Don’t miss the 1st ever MSPT Canadian Poker Championship at Playground featuring a $1M GTD Main Event & 14 Gold Card events

: Playground Poker Club - Kahnawake (Montreal, Canada)

: October 9-19, 2025

: Canadian Poker Championship (MAJOR = 1.5X POY Multiplier)

: $1 MILLION GTD Main Event / $1,150 buy-in

: $150K GTD Mega Stack / $300 buy-in

: 14 Gold Card Events

Plan your run: https://www.playground.ca/.../mspt-canadian-poker...

msptpoker.com

Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Miguel Lopez	10,100,000	10,830,000
Darren Rabinowitz	5,575,000	4,830,000

Umut Ozturk Sits Atop Both POY & ICON Standings

Last Season, MSPT Hall of Famer Umut Ozturk became the first player in tour history to win the Player of the Year award in back-to-back seasons, while also winning the inaugural ICON of the Year award as well.

This season, Ozturk finds himself once again on top of both the POY & ICON leaderboards with just six events remaining this season.

Lucky Seven Keeps Rabinowitz's Hopes Alive

Miguel Lopez raised and then called WSOP bracelet winner Darren Rabinowitz’s 2,145,000 three-bet jam.

Darren Rabinowitz:
Miguel Lopez:

Rabinowitz rolled over a dominated hand until a seven appeared in the window on the flop, giving him the lead.

The then paired the board on the turn, keeping things interesting, but the completed the board on the river and secured Rabinowitz his double.

Miguel Lopez - 10,830,000
Darren Rabinowitz - 4,830,000

Mohamed Serry Eliminated in 3rd Place ($47,552)

Miguel Lopez raised the button and then called Mohamed Serry’s three-bet jam from the big blind.

Mohamed Serry:
Miguel Lopez:

Serry was ahead until the flop fell, giving Lopez top pair.

The turn left Serry needing a king on the river to stay alive, but the river didn’t do the trick, ending his run.

Miguel Lopez - 12,660,000
Darren Rabinowitz - 3,000,000
Mohamed Serry - Eliminated

Mikhail Sniatovskii Eliminated in 4th Place ($35,803)

Mohamed Serry opened for 900,000 from the button, only to have Mikhail Sniatovskii fire out a 1,800,000 three-bet from the small blind, and Miguel Lopez four-bet jam from the big blind.

With action back on Serry, he frustratedly tossed his hand into the muck, while Sniatovskii went deep into the tank before deciding to risk his remaining 2,500,000 stack.

Mikhail Sniatovskii:
Miguel Lopez:

It was a brutal cooler for Sniatovskii, as the only player who had him covered rolled over the only hand that beat him, and the runout sent him on his way.

Miguel Lopez - 11,800,000
Mohamed Serry - 545,000
Mikhail Sniatovskii - Eliminated

David Jackson Eliminated in 5th Place ($27,280)

Mikhail Sniatovskii raised to 250,000 from the small blind, and three-time bracelet winner David Jackson defended his big blind to see a flop.

Sniatovskii led out with a 200,000 continuation bet and then snap-called Jackson’s 1,000,000 all-in raise.

David Jackson:
Mikhail Sniatovskii:

Sniatovskii was ahead holding a made hand of kings, and faded the turn and river to eliminate Jackson.

Mikhail Sniatovskii - 3,800,000
David Jackson - Eliminated

Take a Look Through the Day 2 Photo Gallery!

Playing Day 2 of the inaugural MSPT Nevada Poker State Championship at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas?

Have family or friends in action?

Click here to have a look through our NEW photo gallery tab to see if you can find their photo, courtesy of the official MSPT event photographer, Tyler Abrams.