Pace Victory Started MSPT Season 13 in San Diego
The Mid-States Poker Tour had quite a successful Season 12 in 2021. Despite a pandemic that put a hold on live poker for a good part of 2020 and threatened almost every stop thereafter, MSPT held its own. The tour started and ended 2021 at the Venetian in Las Vegas, but it trekked to South Dakota, Iowa, California, Colorado, and Minnesota in between. There were 18 stops in total, with records set along the way and Kyna England earning the MSPT Player of the Year title at the end.
This year, MSPT kicked off the new season – Season 13 – at Sycuan Casino in San Diego, California. The Showdown Series started on January 6, with the Main Event taking over on January 13.
Crushing the Guarantee
The first of the Sycuan Main Event flights delivered 98 entries with only 11 of them surviving the day. The second flight added another 156 entries with 21 bagging chips that night. The third and final flights put 206 entries on the top, making the total 460 entries and the prize pool $444,700, well past the $300K guarantee.
A total of 61 players returned, but some of them departed without anything to show for it. When the bubble burst, the final 48 knew they would walk out with at least $2,312. Later in the day, as three tables thinned to two, players like Katerina Grishakova and Steve Wendroff busted. The ninth-place elimination of Christopher Skinner set the official final table.
From a stacked 460 player $1,100 Main Event field we are now down to The Final Table of 8 @SycuanCasino
Follow https://t.co/UzOCpvLWAd for live hand updates until we crown tonight's champion pic.twitter.com/O6uppKcGiZ
— MSPT (@msptpoker) January 17, 2022
Anthony Pitesa held a solid lead over that final table, with Gianluca Pace in a distant second, with Lena Evans close behind in third.
Short-stacked Scott Subak was the first to exit, courtesy of Pace. Pitesa busted Jason Hickey in seventh and Rich Alsup in sixth. DJ Buckley ousted Evans in fifth place, at which point the final four paused the tournament for a conversation.
Chopping Four Ways
Pitesa had the chip lead of 4.4M chips when four-handed play began, with Buckley nearby holding 3.7M, Pace with 2.27M, and Huy Nguyen on the 1.13M short stack. They agreed on an ICM chop and played on for another 10% of the prize pool and the Main Event trophy.
Pace doubled through Pitesa, after which Nguyen busted Pitesa in fourth place. Pace busted Buckley in third place and took 10.5M into heads-up play. Nguyen put his remaining stack at risk on the next hand with 10-5, but Pace had pocket threes for the win.
| Jan 13-16 | $1,110 buy-in | MSPT Sycuan Casino (San Diego) |
| Total entries: | 460 | |
| Total prize pool: | $444,700.00 | ($300K GTD) |
| Players paid: | 48 | |
| Minimum payout: | $2,312.00 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Gianluca Pace (US – CA) $74,562 |
| 2nd place: | Anthony Pitesa (US – CA) $61,194 | |
| 3rd place: | DJ Buckley (US – MN) $58,631 | |
| 4th place: | Huy Nguyen (US – CA) $41,487 | |
| 5th place: | Lena Evans (US – CA) $21,346 | |
| 6th place: | Richard Alsup (US – MN) $16,454 | |
| 7th place: | Jason Hickey (US – CA) $12,896 | |
| 8th place: | Scott Subak (US – CA) $10,673 |
Gianluca Pace from Encinitas, CA defeats an incredible 460 player $1,100 Main Event field @SycuanCasino taking home the 🏆 as MSPT's newest Champion pic.twitter.com/MAd0Akoq7n
— MSPT (@msptpoker) January 17, 2022
To Colorado and Beyond
This week, the next event is already kicking off in Black Hawk, Colorado. From there, the tour hits Las Vegas in February, but the Canterbury Park stop shows a postponed status. Here’s the rest of the season’s MSPT schedule as it stands now:
| Season 13 Stops | Dates | MSPT Main Event |
| Bally’s Black Hawk (CO) | Jan 19-30 | $1,110 Showdown Series Main Event ($400K GTD) |
| Venetian Las Vegas (NV) | Feb 10-12 | $1,100 Poker Bowl VI Main Event ($500K GTD) |
| Canterbury Park (MN) | Feb 18-20 | *postponed* |
| Grand Falls (SD) | Mar 9-13 | $360 Regional Series Main Event ($50K GTD) |
| Riverside (IA) | Mar 17-20 | $1,110 Main Event ($500K GTD) |
| Sycuan San Diego (CA) | Apr 21 – May 1 | Showdown Series Main Event ($400K GTD) |
| Firekeepers (MI) | May 12-15 | $1,100 Michigan State Championship Main Event ($1M GTD) |
| Silverado (SD) | May 20-22 | $1,100 South Dakota State Championship Main Event ($100K GTD) |
| Bally’s Black Hawk (CO) | Jul 6-17 | Showdown Series Main Event ($400K GTD) |
| Riverside (IA) | Jul 22-24 | $1,100 Iowa State Championship Main Event ($300K GTD) |
| Grand Falls (SD) | Aug 19-21 | $1,100 Main Event ($100K GTD) |
| Sycuan San Diego (CA) | Sept 15-25 | US Poker Championship ($400K GTD) |
| Firekeepers (MI) | Oct 13-16 | $1,100 Main Event ($1M GTD) |
| Silverado (SD) | Oct 21-23 | $1,100 Deadwood Shootout Main Event ($100K GTD) |
| Riverside (IA) | Oct 28-30 | $1,100 Main Event ($300K GTD) |
| Canterbury Park (MN) | Dec 1-4 | $1,100 Main Event ($500K GTD) |
The @msptpoker Showdown Series begins @ballysbhpoker tomorrow! Wednesday's events:
10AM – $80 Satellite, 1 in 6 advance to $360 Mystery Bounty
Noon – $360 Mystery Bounty, $100K GTD
7PM – $135 Thousandaire, 1 in 10 win $1,000 pic.twitter.com/tYclqVIS7L— Bally's Black Hawk Poker (@ballysbhpoker) January 18, 2022
