Mike Estes Wins Season 17 Missouri Poker State Championship for 2nd MSPT Title; Eyes POY Title
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This past weekend, Season 17 of the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) hosted a $1,110 Main Event at Ameristar Casino St Charles. The MSPT Season 17 Missouri Poker State Championship attracted 528 runners and offered a $512,160 prize pool.
On Sunday, 59 players returned for Day 2 action, and it took nearly 10 hours of play for a winner to emerge. Mike Estes, who last July won the Season 16 Iowa Poker State Championship, ended up the victor to claim his second MSPT title and the $107,691 first-place prize.
Estes became just the second player in tour history to win two different State Championships alongside MSPT Hall of Famer Umut Ozturk.
Additionally, Estes 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.
“Feels phenomenal,” Estes stated after his win. “I’ve been working a ton on my game, filling in my leaks, and it seems to be working out. I came into the year with both Umut and Jake (Long) saying they weren’t going to chase POY this year, and I told Jess (Anderson) that I’m definitely going to chase it this year and I really needed this big finish to get me into the rankings.”
Estes now sits second on the MSPT Season 17 Player of the Year leaderboard with 3,365 points, not far behind Zilong Zhang’s 3,800 points.
“I’ve been top five in the POY standings the last 3 out of 4 years, and I’m playing more events this year than I ever have because I really want to win it and today was a big step forward towards achieving that goal,” Estes told MSPT reporter Anthony Thompson.
MSPT Ameristar St. Charles Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize | POY Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Estes | $107,691 | 1,600 |
| 2 | Horace Ingram | $67,121 | 1,400 |
| 3 | Gerald Cunniff | $48,837 | 1,300 |
| 4 | Jeff Copeland | $36,064 | 1,200 |
| 5 | Ryan Julius | $27,048 | 1,100 |
| 6 | Delvonte Gathright | $20,536 | 1,000 |
| 7 | Brandon Butler | $16,028 | 900 |
| 8 | Mark Lafata | $12,522 | 800 |
| 9 | Saad Ghanem | $9,517 | 700 |
Others to cash the tournament were Matt Koch (17th - $5,009), Chris Audrain (18th - $5,009), reigning Player of the Year Jacob Long (20th - $4,308), MSPT Hall of Famer Keith Heine (24th - $3,656), Blair Hinkle (36th - $2,705), and Kanat Ozturk (45th - $2,454).
What's Else is Coming Up?
The MSPT now heads to Running Aces Casino for the Season 17 MSPT Minnesota Poker State Championship from April 7-19, followed by an MSPT Festival at Ameristar East Chicago from April 21-26. Then, from April 28 to May 3, the MSPT will return 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 7-19 | Running Aces Casino | Minnesota | Minnesota Poker State Championship | TDB |
| April 21-26 | Ameristar East Chicago | Indiana | MSPT Festival | $300,000 |
| 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.
If you’re not familiar with the show, a new episode comes out at 8 a.m. PT every other Wednesday 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.
