In addition to the $1,100 Main Event happening here at the MSPT Sycuan Casino, there were 10 other side events that awarded trophies. One of them was Monday's Event #5: $360 Seniors, which attracted 173 runners and awarded $51,900 in prize money.
That was paid out amongst the top 20 finishers including Vernon Waite (18th - $675), Michael Khan (15th - $773), MSPT champ Ken Baime (11th - $1,074), and final table bubble girl Christine Blake (9th - $1,303).
In the end, it was Joseph Szegedy of Winnetka, California beating Andrew Bodewin in heads-up play to win the title, though the two had struck a deal that saw them lock up $7,981 and $7,438 in prize money respectively.
It appeared as if Chris Avino raised the button and Luke Nguyen three-bet to 3,200 from the big blind. Avino pushed back with a four-bet to 7,500, Nguyen five-bet to 19,200, and Avino jammed for 28,200 total. Nguyen called and the hands were turned up.
Chris Avino:
Luke Nguyen:
Avino had the superior pocket pair and he scored the double after the board ran out a safe .
In yesterday's Day 1a flight, three-time bracelet winner and MSPT champ Adam Friedman bagged a massive chip lead of 816,000, which was more than double that of Nic Getzen (322,000), his next-closest competitor.
Friedman, who has two days off before returning for Day 2 on Sunday, has been strolling through the room checking on a contingent of players from his neck of the woods in Ohio.
Player
Career Earnings
MSPT Earnings
Alan Wentz
$501,043
$3,874
Alex Balcerzak
$123,011
$0
Satoshi Tanaka
$98,202
$65,555
Karam Dhillon
$24,744
$5,215
Ideally, the quartet of players in action can follow in Friedman's footsteps, but that may be a tall order given he bagged one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, Day 1 chip leads the tour has ever seen.
Karam DhillonAlex BalcerzakAlan WentzSatoshi Tanaka
The MSPT Hall of Fame, established in 2017, is proud to recognize those individuals who have shown superior skill and achieved specific long-term accomplishments.
The criteria to earn a spot on the MSPT Hall of Fame is as follows:
Achieve a minimum of 25 MSPT Main Event Cashes and 1 MSPT Win OR 1 MSPT Player of the Year; or
Achieve a minimum of 10 MSPT Main Event Final Tables and 1 MSPT Win OR 1 MSPT Player of the Year
In addition to the $1,100 Main Event happening here at the MSPT Sycuan Casino, there were 10 other side events that awarded trophies. One of them was Event #4: $200 NLHE Ladies Event in conjunction with Poker League of Nations (PLON).
The tournament attracted 79 runners and awarded a $13,825 prize pool to the top eight finishers. One player there who cashed was PLON founder Lena Evans, who finished in third place for $1,908.
"The opportunity to host an MSPT PLON Powered Ladies Event at Sycuan in San Diego was originally suggested by PLON Executive Committee member Allen Kessler," Evans previously told PokerNews. "Allen connected me with MSPT President Bryan Mileski. Bryan and I then organized the details of our partnership together, and the first MSPT PLON event was born!"
It marked PLON's first live event back since March 2020.
In the end, Victoria Davidson-Castillo of West Covina, California bested Mary Jane Sarver in heads-up play to win the title for $4,701, the MSPT trophy, and a Tiffany bracelet. Additionally, all the finalists received a PLON backpack with gifts including apparel from Flop the World (FTW) and PLON merchandise, "The Biggest Bluff" book signed by Maria Konnikova, Solar Rain Water, Spades Sunshades sunglasses, Poker Elephant chips, and other goodies!
Since its inception in 2009, the MSPT has done a great job keeping track of player stats. As a result, 12 years on they have one of the best player databases in the industry.
On their "Leaderboards" page, the MSPT tracks such things as Career Earnings, Main Event Cashes, Main Event Final Tables, Main Event Titles, Total Cashes, Most Cashes/Final Tables in a Season, Most Final Tables All-Time, and much more.
To date, the MSPT has awarded $110,657,533 in prize money.
Here's a look at the current MSPT All-Time Money List:
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