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MSPT Finishes Season in Vegas with England as POY

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

Not only was the Mid-States Poker Tour one of the first tours to return after pandemic-mandated casino closures, the MSPT finished its 2021 season in grand fashion.

The second-last tournament of the year was the MSPT Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. That event ran in early December with great success. Not only did the 1,042 entries create a prize pool that exceeded $1M – well beyond the $400K guarantee – it became the largest major poker tournament in the state’s history.

Better yet, rising poker star Kyna England won the title for more than $186K in prize money and the lead in the MSPT Player of the Year race.

That all led the MSPT and its players to the last stop of the year and Season 12 at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

Without Time to Spare

The MSPT Season 12 finale offered a $1K buy-in for a $500K guarantee. The Venetian hosted the tournament 28-30 as a part of its larger DeepStack Extravaganza.

Without live updates for this event, the general information came from Twitter and the Hendon Mob database. The two starting days delivered 851 entries, which pushed the prize pool up to $821,215, well beyond the guarantee. Day 2 started with 103 players, but several players left that day without making the money. Two players busted on the money bubble, so each of them received only $1,068, but the rest of the players received at least $2,135.

As payouts continued, some recognizable names who cashed included Katie Lindsay, Shannon Shorr, Ryan Laplante, Nick Pupillo, and Jordan Cristos.

The final nine then played for the win on December 30 with these results:

Dec 28-30 $1,100 buy-in MSPT Venetian 
Total entries: 851
Total prize pool: $821,215.00 ($500K GTD)
Players paid: 90
Minimum payout: $2,135.00
Final table results: 1st place: Masashi Oya (Japan) $161,780
2nd place: Jerry Payne (USA – OH) $108,154
3rd place: Kelly Kielbasa (USA – NV) $78,262
4th place: Rob WazWaz (USA – MN) $58,717
5th place: Thu Nguyen (USA – CA) $43,935
6th place: Ron West (USA – CA) $32,849
7th place: Aaron Massey (USA – IL) $24,472
8th place: Chris Paolino (USA – NH) $18,231
9th place: Mohammed Bennane (France) $13,961

 

England Earns POY

After Kyna England won the MSPT Canterbury Park just weeks ago, she noted that she was in the process of moving to Las Vegas. She had already nearly locked up the MSPT Player of the Year award already, but it wouldn’t be official until several players busted from the MSPT Venetian.

England kept her 4,750 points from the year, which she accrued with these finishes:

-January 2021: MSPT South Dakota – 25th place for $3,161

-March 2021: MSPT Iowa – 3rd place for $73,782

-May 2021: MSPT San Diego – 20th place for $5,168

-June 2021: MSPT Venetian – 22nd place for $1,331

-August 2021: MSPT Blackhawk – 15th place for $7,578

-September 2021: MSPT San Diego – 53rd place for $1,984

-December 2021: MSPT Canterbury Park – 1st place for $186,709

Prior to the Venetian event, Cy Church had 3,708 points for second place on the leaderboard, and Cy Church had 3,925 for third. The Venetian did help Howard, as his 27th place finish there awarded enough points to push him into second.

The final tally for the top five was:

Season 12 POY
1st place:  Kyna England (4,750)
2nd place: Taylor Howard (4,058)
3rd place: Cy Church (3,925)
4th place: Aaron Massey (3,250)
5th place: Jordan Cristos (3,200)

 

England tied Terence Reid and Cy Church for the most cashes in Season 12, each finishing with seven. She also tied a number of players for top-ten finishes, as eight players each had two. England didn’t win the most money in Season 12, but her $281,882 was a close fifth place as Chance Kornuth won that category with $412,068 (from his singular MSPT cash/win in 2021).

Ultimately, as the MSPT POY, England made history for women in poker and achieved a personal best in 2021.

 

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