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MSPT Wraps Record Canterbury Park Nearing Season End

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

The Mid-States Poker Tour has been going strong throughout 2021. Despite many tour stop cancellations in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, the MSPT was one of the first tournament series to return. It then began this year full speed ahead.

When we checked in with the MSPT about halfway through 2021, the tour was drawing big numbers as poker players were anxious to return to the tables. The schedule for the second half of the year was full with the exception of some downtime during the WSOP.

July Through October Results

The first half of the year took players from the Venetian in Las Vegas to the Venetian in Las Vegas. The first event of the year attracted 1,009 entries, and as more players began to emerge from quarantines and lockdowns, attendance grew. The June MSPT offered two Main Events, one that attracted 2,790 entries and the other with 2,011 entries.

From there, the MSPT traveled.

(July 23-25) $1,100 MSPT Riverside (Iowa State Poker Championship) in Riverside, IA

–928 entries, $898,660 prize pool ($200K GTD), Timothy Gundrum won for $170,769

(August 12-15) $1,100 MSPT Bally’s Showdown Series in Black Hawk, CO

–651 entries, $631,470 prize pool ($200K GTD), Bobby Garcia won for $89,038 (three-way even chop)

(August 20-22) $1,100 MSPT Grand Falls in Sioux Falls, SD

–532 entries, $515,540 prize pool ($200K GTD), Nicholas Smith won for $110,633

(September 3-6) $1,100 MSPT Venetian in Las Vegas, NV

–671 entries, $647,515 prize pool ($500K GTD), Cole Keenan won for $123,722

(September 16-26) $1,100 MSPT Sycuan US Poker Championship in San Diego, CA

–456 entries, $440,820 prize pool ($300K GTD), Matt Paten won for $94,782

(October 12-16) $1,100 MSPT Venetian in Las Vegas, NV

–1,741 entries, $1,680,065 prize pool ($1M GTD), Ethan Yau won for $230,379

(October 18-22) $1,600 MSPT Venetian in Las Vegas, NV

–1,341 entries, $1,910,975 prize pool ($1M GTD), Gediminas Uselis won for $325,428

(October 22-24) $1,100 MSPT Silverado-Franklin Deadwood Shootout in Deadwood, SD

–387 entries, $100K prize pool ($100K GTD), Mark Steffen won for $82,256

During the latter part of October and through much of December, the World Series of Poker played out in Las Vegas. Therefore, the next event on the schedule was at the beginning of December.

Record Set at Canterbury Park

The most recent MSPT event happened at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. The action ran December 2-12 for the Winter Poker Classic, and the $1,100 buy-in Main Event offered a $400K guarantee on the prize pool.

After three starting flights, the staff revealed the total entries as 1,042. That set a massive $1,009,240 prize pool, more than twice the guarantee.

There were 144 players who survived their initial flights to play on Day 2. They played toward the money, at which point the last 108 players received at least $2,119 for their efforts. The walk to the cashier cage included players like Blake Bohn and Ron McMillen. But only nine players made the final table, a table set when Matthew Hamilton busted in tenth place, courtesy of Kyna England.

Going into the final table, Andy Jenc held the chip lead with England in second. Matt Morfitt was in third, followed by William Phillips, Angela Jordison, Rory Linton, Cody Espeseth, Aaron Frommgen, and Jonathan Hanner. Frommgen and Hanner were the first ones to go, with Phillips close behind in seventh place. Morfitt had ousted the first two, putting him in the chip lead. England than busted Espeseth and Jordison, but Morfitt took care of Linton in fourth place and then Jenc in third.

Morfitt then took 21.65M chips into heads-up against the 4.4M of England. The latter doubled and climbed to take over. With her lead, England then put her K-T up against the all-in Q-7 of Morfitt. The A-5-2-2-6 board ended the tournament with England as the champion.

-1st place: Kyna England (Illinois) $186,709

-2nd place: Matt Morfitt (Iowa) $115,053

-3rd place: Andy Jenc (Minnesota) $85,785

-4th place: Rory Linton (Minnesota) $63,582

-5th place: Angela Jordison (Oregon) $48,444

-6th place: Cody Espeseth (Minnesota) $37,342

-7th place: William Phillips (Wisconsin) $29,268

-8th place: Jonathan Hanner (Minnesota) $22,203

-9th place: Aaron Frommgen (Wisconsin) $18,166

England is affiliated with Poker Power and has improved her own game while teaching others to play. After the pandemic, she began playing MSPT events again in 2021. She finished in third at MSPT Iowa in March and third at the WPT Venetian in July, the latter the largest score of her career for $448K. This marks her first open-field event win, nearly two years after she won a WSOP Circuit ring.

One More to Go

One more stop remains in the MSPT 2021 season, also known as Season 12. As a part of the DeepStack Extravaganza at the Venetian in Las Vegas, the MSPT will offer two starting days December 28-29 and wrap on December 30. The $1,100 buy-in puts players in the running for a prize pool guaranteed to be at least $500K.

The action will provide one last chance for players to earn points toward the MSPT Player of the Year standings. England currently sits atop the leaderboard with 4,750 points, with Cy Church in second with 3,925 points. Taylor Howard is further back with 3,708 points.

 

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