MSPT to Kickoff Season 17 with New Years Poker Open at Venetian Las Vegas
The first major tournament of the new year is slated to take place at the Venetian Las Vegas as a part of their DeepStack Extravaganza Poker Series, which runs December 24, 2025—January 19, 2026.
Season 17 of the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) will kick off with the$1,600 buy-in, $500K GTD New Year's Poker Open from January 1-4, 2026.
The tournament will start players with 40,000 in chips and play 40-minute levels. Day 1A will begin at 11:10 a.m. local time on Thursday, January 1 (late reg closes at 5:55 p.m.) with Days 1B and 1C taking place at the same time on Friday, January 2, and Saturday, January ,3 respectively. The surviving players from all three flights will then return at 11 a.m. on Sunday, January 4, to play down to a winner.
Season 16 kicked off in the same manner back in January, albeit with a $1,100 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event. That tournament attracted 431 runners and saw local Bonanza High School math teacher Carson Richards come out on top to claim a $76,054 first-place prize along with his first MSPT title.
Here’s a look at the schedule surrounding the first MSPT of 2026.
The first $200 Milestone Satellites into the MSPT Main Event will take place on Tuesday, December 30, at 4:10 p.m. (late reg open until 6:25 p.m.). Three more will be held at the same time in the three days that follow.
Also, for those who might be in town a little early, players will have the opportunity to compete against reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. That’s because at 6:10 p.m. (late reg open until 9:25 p.m.) on Monday, December 29, the monthly $200 NLH Grinder’s Bounty will take place. Mizrachi will be in attendance with a $250 bounty on his head.
For more on the MSPT, check out the latest episode of the MSPT Podcast Presented By PokerNews:
*Images courtesy of MSPT photographer Tyler Abrams.
