Lopez Defeats Rabinowitz to Win 2025 MSPT Nevada Poker State Championship
Table Of Contents
The Major Series of Poker (MSPT): The Tour wrapped up the $1,100 buy-in 2025 Nevada Poker State Championship over the weekend at Venetian Las Vegas. The tournament drew 522 runners over a trio of starting flights, and on Sunday, 59 players returned to battle down to a winner.
Miguel Lopez began the day with the chip lead, and he managed to ride it all the way to victory to claim his first-ever title and $86,899 in prize money. He did so by defeating well-known poker pro Darren Rabinowitz in heads-up play.
According to updates from the event, Lopez began their match with 90 percent of the chips in play, but Rabinowitz scored an early double and put up a strong fight. Unfortunately for him, a comeback was not in the cards as he flopped top pair of kings only to run into the top two pair of Lopez.
MSPT Nevada Poker State Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize | POY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miguel Lopez | $86,899 | 1,600 |
| 2 | Darren Rabinowitz | $63,904 | 1,400 |
| 3 | Mohamed Serry | $47,552 | 1,300 |
| 4 | Mikhail Sniatovskii | $35,803 | 1,200 |
| 5 | David Jackson | $27,280 | 1,100 |
| 6 | Anthony Danna | $21,038 | 1,000 |
| 7 | Steven Zazaian | $16,424 | 900 |
| 8 | Sami Bechahed | $12,981 | 800 |
| 9 | Taylor Black | $10,389 | 700 |
POY Implications
Two other players to cash the tournament were Umut Ozturk and Jake Long, who came into the stop sat first and second respectively on the MSPT Season 16 Player of the Year leaderboard. The former finished in 18th place for $4,846 while the latter did one spot better, taking 17th for $5,750. However, both players received 400 POY points, so things stayed relatively the same in regard to the current POY race.
Similarly, Josh Reichard was in third on the leaderboard and added 150 points thanks to finishing the tournament in 27th place for $3,144.
Others to cash the tournament were Nick Pupillo (12th - $6,913), Jesse Yaginuma (13th - $6,913), Terry Fleischer (26th - $3,583), Irene Carey (47th - $2,526), David Larson (48th - $2,526), and Ben Palmer (59th - $2,313).
MSPT Heading to Milwaukee
From September 30 through October 5, the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) will be at Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Casino for the 2025 MSPT Wisconsin Poker State Championship. The series is comprised of 11 Gold Card events culminating with an $1,110 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD Main Event.
That tournament will start players with 100,000 in chips and play 40-minute levels. Day 1a will take place at Noon on Thursday, October 2, with late registration open until 9:10 p.m. Days 1b and 1c will take place at the same time on Friday, October 3, and Saturday, October 4, respectively, before the surviving players from all three flights return on Sunday, October 5, to play down to a winner.
Other events on the schedule include the $400 buy-in, $200K GTD Event #1: 100 Grand Stack NLH, a $400 buy-in Seniors (50+) Monster Stack NLH, and a $200 Last Chance Monster Stack NLH.
Here’s a look at the full schedule:
The MSPT was last at Potawatomi January 30-February 2, which marked its return to the venue for the first time since the pandemic. The tournament attracted a massive 1,697 entries, surpassing the venue’s previous record of 1,658 runners set back in 2017. Timothy Thorp is the current reigning champ after defeating Umut Ozturk in heads-up play to claim a $244,362 top prize.
*Images courtesy of MSPT photographer Tyler Abrams.
