Hands of the Week: Hero Calls & Bad Beats from the MSPT Hollywood St Louis

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Aug 29, 2025 4 min read

Last weekend, the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) hosted a stop at Hollywood Casino in St. Louis. The 10-event schedule culminated in a $1,110 buy-in Main Event, a tournament that attracted 676 runners and awarded a $655,720 prize pool, more than double the $300,000 guarantee.

Here’s a look at five big hands from that tournament, many of which had a big bearing on how the tournament played out.

Long Late Regs and Gets Busy

MSPT Season 16 POY points leader Jake Long late registered the tournament on Day 1a and got busy building a stack. In Level 10 (1,000/2,000/2,000), he limped from the small blind and then called when Nhut Nguyen raised to 5,500 out of the big.

When the flop came down 7♥9♥K♣, Long check-called a bet and then checked the 8♥ turn. Nguyen bet 6,000, and Long woke up with a check-raise to 18,000. Nguyen called to see the 3♣ river, and Long moved all in for 26,000.

Nguyen called only to muck when Long tabled the 5♦6♣ for a straight to double up. Within an hour after that, Long had spun the 30,000 starting stack up to 170,000! He ended up bagging the second biggest stack among the 11 Day 1a survivors.

Long went on to finish the tournament in fourth place for $43,989 and to extend his lead atop the MSPT Season 16 Player of the Year leaderboard.

Brutal Bubble on Day 1b

In the second starting flight, there were 28 players remaining, but with only 27 of them slated to make the money, one more needed to fall for the bubble to burst.

In Level 16 (4,000/8,000/8,000), Paul Fehlig moved all in for 96,000 under the gun and action folded to Brian Sanguinet, who called out of the small blind.

Paul Fehlig: A♦K♣
Brian Sanguinet: A♦J♥

Fehlig was a huge favorite to double on the bubble, but disaster struck when the J♣2♣8♣ flop delivered Sanguinet a pair of jacks. Fehlig did pick up a club flush draw to fall back on, but unfortunately for him, both the 2♥ on the turn and 7♦ on the river bricked to send him home empty-handed.

Heine Makes Big Call to Double

On Day 1c in Level 9 (1,000/1,500/1,500), the board read 4♦3♠7♦4♥ and Jesse Green bet the size of the pot, approximately 25,000, and MSPT Hall of Famer Keith Heine thought long and hard before calling to see the Q♥ river.

Green then moved all in, and Heine, who had 44,000 back, flicked in a single chip to indicate a call.

“Good call,” Green admitted before tabling the A♣J♣ bluff. Heine then rolled over the 10♥10♦ for the double.

Ozturk Sets Up Campbell

On Day 2 with 24 players remaining, it was Level 20 (10,000/20,000/20,000) when back-to-back MSPT Player of the Year Umut Ozturk raised from middle position and then called when Zac Campbell three-bet jammed for 330,000 out of the big blind.

Zac Campbell: A♣8♦
Umut Ozturk: 8♠8♥

The 4♥8♣A♥ flop gave Ozturk middle set, but Campbell was drawing live, and his top two pair would turn into a winning full house if an ace came on either the turn or river. That didn’t happen, though, as the J♥ bricked the turn followed by the 5♥ on the river. With that, Campebll was out the door in 24th place for $4,777.

Bad Beat Sends Kenny Out in Third

With just three players remaining, it was Level 30 (100,000/200,000/200,000) when Jeff Kenny moved all in from the button for 1,425,000 and Jared Mohesky called from the big blind.

Jeff Kenny: A♦K♣
Jared Mohesky: A♣5♠

Kenny was a huge favorite to double and remained in the lead on the Q♦3♠Q♥ flop. The J♣ turn brought him one step closer to a big double, but disaster struck when the 5♦ spiked on the river to pair Mohesky. Kenny’s shot at the title was drowned on the river, and he had to settle for third place and $59,136 in prize money.

What’s Coming Up?

The Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) will head to Cleveland, Ohio, from August 26 through September 1 for a six-event festival at JACK Cleveland that’ll include a $1,110 buy-in, $750K GTD Main Event.

That tournament will feature a trio of starting flights, starting with Day 1a at 3:15 p.m. local time on Thursday, August 28. Day 1b will follow at 12:15 p.m. on Friday, August 29, and Day 1c at the same time on Saturday, August 30. The surviving players from all three flights will then combine to play to a winner on Day 2 at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday.

In addition to a full offering of satellites, there are five side events, including Event #1: $400 Tag Team NLH at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, August 26. At 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday, August 27, there will be Event #2: $300 Seniors (50+), which is a part of the MSPT Senior Tour. Then, at 6:15 p.m., Event #3: $300 Monster Stack will take place.

Here’s a look at the remaining MSPT Season 16 schedule.

_{*Images courtesy of MSPT photographer Tyler Abrams.}

PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, host of both the PokerNews Podcast & MPST Podcast Presented By PokerNews, and 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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