For the second time this season, the MSPT traveled to Iowa's Grand Falls Casino for a final five-Gold Card Festival, headlined by the $1,110 Main Event.

A turnout of 254 entries was recorded over two days, with 29 players finding their way into Sunday's Day 2 with their eyes set on the title.

The final day saw seven former champs return to the felt, with four of them being Hall of Famers, and after roughly nine hours of play, it was South Dakota native Rick Leonard, who denied last year's champion Siphonh Tran in a heads-up duel to secure a career payday of $59,004 and his first MSPT title!

“Feels amazing,” Leonard said after his win. “This has been the one that has been avoiding me,” Leonard stated, “I’ve played in a number of these throughout the years, but this is my first Main Event cash, so this is a pretty big deal, especially being fortunate enough to take it down.”

Leonard entered the final day second in chips and steadily built his stack until he had all the chips, checking off what he called a “bucket list” win.

The victory also secured Leonard a seat into the $3,500 MSPT Championship Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO), which will be held at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, Nov. 18 – Dec. 2, boasting a $2,000,000 GTD Main Event!

MSPT Season 17 Grand Falls Main Event Final Table Results

Day 2 Action

The final day began with 29 players already in the money, so action kicked into gear as Duane Anderson became the first player to be sent home, while James Girouard, and MSPT Hall of Famer ”DQ” Dan Hendrickson followed him to the payout desk as part of the first batch of eliminations.

Players then started to fall by the wayside, as reigning Player of the Year Jake Long (23^rd Place - $2,216), Kevin Berthelsen (19^th Place - $2,649), Dennis Stevermer (16^th Place - $3,107), two-time MSPT Champ Mo Nuwwarah (15^th Place - $3,613), and “Wild” Bill Romer (12^th Place - $5,815) all fell to set up the final table.

Final Table Action

The final table saw three of the seven former champs left in contention in hopes of securing a second title, with Joe Matheson sitting at the bottom of the chip counts, but he watched Sriram Sitaraman get hooked by Rick Leonard to become the first final table elimination.

A few short hands later, Jackson Skjerseth was the next to fall after MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff out-kicked him in eighth place, while Matheson got a few pay jumps before losing a flip to Season 17 Player of the Year leader Mike Wilklow to be eliminated in seventh place.

The fast-paced action continued with Event #2 winner William Thompson losing with Big Slick to Tran’s pair of deuces for a sixth-place exit, while the last lady standing, Dana Muse, felt Tran’s wrath as well, as he sent her way to the payout desk in fifth place for $14,450.

With four players remaining, Wilklow sat second in chips, but fell on the wrong side of a cooler against Leonard, as his run ended in fourth place for $26,532, adding another 800 POY points to pad his first-place standings.

After Wilklow hit the deck, Hall of Famer and former champ Cunniff got tripped up by last year’s champ Siphonh Tran to take a third-place finish for $26,485, marking his 45^th Main Event cash.

The heads-up battle started with Leonard holding a slight chip advantage over Tran, but the two would go back and forth between doubles until Leonard cracked Tran’s pair of jacks, which ultimately led him to take a runner-up finish for $36,485, while Leonard secured his first MSPT title, along with a career payday of $59,004.

This wraps up our coverage of yet another ramazing tournament, so make sure you join us next when we make our way across the state to Riverside, Iowa, to Riverside Casino for their $1,110 Main Event, and as always, our reporting team will be on hand providing updates, so make sure to come back!!