button in SafariRzentkowski Victorious at MSPT Ameristar East Chicago; Estes Extends POY Lead
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This past weekend, Season 17 of the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) hosted an $1,110 Main Event at Ameristar East Chicago, a tournament that attracted 386 runners.
Of those, 43 returned for Sunday’s Day 2 in the money, and after 10 hours of play, it was Wisconsin’s Lee Rzentkowski coming out on top to claim his second MSPT title and a $82,955 top prize. In October 2022, Rzentkowski topped a 749-entry field to win the MSPT Riverside for $145,006 and his first title.
Rzentkowski also earned a seat in 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.
“I’ve been on a heater here lately”, Rzentkowski told MSPT reporter Anthony Thompson after his win, “Only I’ve come up short back-to-back times, so it feels really good to close this one out.”
According to Thompson, Rzentkowski was coming off back-to-back final table appearances at Ameristar, finishing in ninth and fifth place, respectively. His third final table appearance in a row proved to be the charm.
“It was really nice just knowing I had my family in my corner the whole time”, said Rzentkowski. “They were cheering for me from afar, but it feels nice knowing they had my back and were rooting for me.”
MSPT Ameristar East Chicago Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize | POY Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Rzentkowski | Middleton, WI | $82,955 |
| 2 | Aaron Brown | Middleport, NY | $51,286 |
| 3 | Michael Estes | Chicago, IL | $37,330 |
| 4 | Jeff Stephens | Aurora, IL | $27,526 |
| 5 | Daniel Johnson | Chicago, IL | $20,739 |
| 6 | Del Beiler | Decatur, IL | $15,837 |
| 7 | Jinha Park | Chicgo, IL | $12,443 |
| 8 | Allen Pritchett | Vicksburg, MI | $9,804 |
| 9 | Mike Estes | Coralville, IA | $7,164 |
By finishing the final table in ninth place, Iowa’s Mike Estes claimed 600 MSPT Season 17 Player of the Year points, which extended his lead atop the season-long leaderboard with 4,707 points. That is ahead of both Zilong Zhang (3,900 points) and Michael Wilklow (3,477 points).
Current MSPT Season 17 POY Leaderboard
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Estes | 4,707 |
| 2 | Zilong Zhang | 3,900 |
| 3 | Michael Wilklow | 3,477 |
| 4 | Lee Rzentkowski | 3,158 |
| 5 | Jacob Long | 3,051 |
| 6 | Greg Sessler | 3,050 |
| 7 | Clint Wolcyn | 2,995 |
| 8 | Carlton Taylor | 2,900 |
| 9 | Wesley Cannon | 2,896 |
| 10 | June 'Oh Geez' Kim | 2,850 |
Others to cash the tournament were Jamie Payne (12th - $6,033), Bill Brudenell (16th - $4,148), DJ Buckley (23rd - $3,054), Kevin Maahs (28th - $2,262), Cody Brinn (34th - $2,262), and Tom Koral (42nd - $2,074).
What's Else is Coming Up?
The MSPT now heads to Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Casino for a $1,000,000 GTD Main Event (along with a slew of side events).
More details on all those stops can be found at msptpoker.com.
Here’s a look at the remaining MSPT Season 17 schedule.
| Dates | Venue | State | Event | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 28-May 3 | Potawatomi Casino | Wisconsin | MSPT Festival | $1,000,000 |
| May 12-17 | FireKeepers Casino | Michigan | Michigan Poker State Championship | $1,000,000 |
| May 13-25 | Sycuan Casino | California | Showdown Series | TBD |
| June 2026 | The Venetian | Nevada | Diamond Poker Championship | TDB |
| June 2026 | The Venetian | Nevada | TBD | TDB |
| July 21-26 | Riverside Casino | Iowa | Iowa Poker State Championship | $500,000 |
| July 22-Aug. 2 | Bally’s Black Hawk Casino | Colorado | Colorado Poker State Championship | $600,000 |
| August 4-9 | Rivers Casino | Chicago, IL | - | $1,000,000 |
| August 18-23 | JACK Cleveland Casino | Cleveland, OH | MSPT Festival | $500,000 |
| September 2026 | The Venetian | Nevada | Nevada Poker State Championship | TDB |
| Sept. 22-27 | Potawatomi Casino | Wisconsin | Wisconsin Poker State Championship | $1,000,000 |
| Oct. 1-12 | Playground | Montreal, Canada | Canadian Poker Championship | $1,000,000 |
| Oct. 13-18 | FireKeepers Casino | Michigan | Major Spade Poker Championship | $1,500,000 |
| Nov. 3-8 | Riverside Casino | Iowa | MSPT Festival | $500,000 |
| Nov. 18-Dec. 2 | Seminole Hard Rock | Florida | Major Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO) | $2,000,000 |
| Dec. 1-13 | Running Aces Casino | Minnesota | Winter Poker Classic | $700,000 |
MSPT Podcast
Did you know that Chad Holloway and Kyna England host the MSPT Podcast Presented By PokerNews.
The show covers all things MSPT, including recent results, player highlights, guest interviews, and a preview of upcoming stops.
Episodes are available on the PokerNews YouTube channel. An audio version is also available on all major podcasting platforms.
Here’s a look at the latest episode:
*Images courtesy of MSPT & Tyler Abrams.
