Zilong Zhang MSPT Golden State Poker Championship After Friend Talks Him Into Playing

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Jan 19, 2026 3 min read

Season 17 of the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) continued over the weekend with the inaugural Golden State Poker Championship at Sycuan Casino in San Diego, California.

The $1,110 Main Event drew 265 runners, and on Sunday the surviving 30 players from a trio of starting flights returned to play to a winner. After a relatively quick day, it was California native Zilong Zhang coming out on top after a three-way ICM deal to claim the title and $54,334 in prize money plus a $3,500 seat into November’s MSPT Championship Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO).

“It feels really great,” Zhang told MSPT reporter Anthony Thompson after the win. “Starting off 2026 with a victory is always good, and I’m glad my friend Nan Chen told me to come here, as he won the side event, and now I won the Main Event. I couldn’t be happier”.

MSPT Golden State Poker Championship Final Table Results

_{*Denotes three-way deal.}

For Matt Salsberg, it was his sixth final table appearance at Sycuan in the past three years. The television writer and producer fell in fifth place after getting it in on a nine-high flop with top pair, but his ten kicker was no good against the king kicker of Robert Fortuno. The former WPT Player of the Year had to settle for $17,415 in prize money for his deep run.

Others to cash the tournament were Mary Anne Madruga (10th - $5,224), Scott Downey (14th - $4,354), Michael Starek (19th - $3,193), Scott Aulds (24th - $2,670), Nan Chen (27th - $2,438), and Mark Bloomberg (30th - $2,438).

2026 MSPT Golden State Poker Championship Side Event Winners

The stop at Sycuan Casino comprised 19 Gold Card events, which included Event #2: $400 Mini Main Event, a tournament that attracted 330 runners. Local crusher Scott Aulds came out on top to win it for $23,334 and his third Gold Card. After a 24th-place finish in the MSPT Main Event, Aulds jumped into another tournament and took down Event #15: $200 Nightly NLH for $2,232 and his fourth Gold Card, which ties him second all-time with Josh Reichard and fellow Sycuan grinder Michael Starek.

Aulds was actually a guest on the most recent episode of the MSPT Podcast Presented By PokerNews in which he talked about winning the Mini Main Event.

What's Coming Up?

The MSPT kicked off its stop at Bally’s Black Hawk Casino in Colorado on January 14 with the latest Showdown Series, which will run through January 25.

That stop will be followed by the first major of the season – the $1,000,000 GTD Diamond Poker Championship at Arizona’s Talking Stick Resort from Jan. 24-Feb. 1.

Right after, the MSPT will return to the Venetian Las Vegas Feb. 4-7 for the $1,600 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD Poker Bowl X.

Here’s a look at the current MSPT Season 17 schedule. More details can be found at msptpoker.com.

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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