【rummy gold 4】

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Table Of Contents

• MSPT Iowa Poker State Championship Final Table Results
• Jake Long Takes Over POY Lead
• MSPT Season 16 Player of the Year Standings

This past weekend, the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) was at Riverside Casino just south of Iowa City for the Season 16 MSPT Iowa Poker State Championship, an $1,110 buy-in tournament that attracted 815 runners and awarded a $789,494 prize pool.

After three starting flights and a 14-hour Day 2 finale, it was Mike Estes earning a long-overdue MSPT title and a career-high $153,551 in prize money.

“Phenomenal, best I’ve felt in eight years,” Estes told MSPT reporter Anthony Thompson after the victory. “I literally played for eight years (until 2020) without ever cashing a single tournament … So during COVID, I really started diving into what I was doing wrong and how I could improve.”

Estes then played his first MSPT in 2021 and made seven final tables before claiming victory at a final table that included MSPT Hall of Famer Rob Wazwaz and PokerNews Podcast host Chad Holloway.

MSPT Iowa Poker State Championship Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Mike Estes	$153,551
2	Jake Long	$94,499
3	Chad Holloway	$69,610
4	Michael Krentzer	$51,971
5	Steve Dill	$39,372
6	Jeff Kenny	$29,923
7	Justin Coliny	$22,836
8	Rob Wazwaz	$18,111
9	Nick Barksdale	$14,174

Day 2 saw 91 players return in the money. Among those to cash were reigning MSPT Player of the Year Umut Ozturk (61st - $2,362), MSPT Hall of Famer Rich Alsup (53rd - $2,520), Day 1 chip leader Taylor Howard (19th - $6,615), and final table bubble boy DJ Buckley (10th - $11,024).

With three players remaining, our very own Holloway moved all in from the small blind for 4.4 million in Level 32 (200,000/300,000/300,000) with the A♣J♣, and Jake Long called from the big holding the A♥3♥. Holloway got it in good and held on the 4♠7♥7♦flop, but the running 2♥turn and K♥river gave Long a flush to enter heads-up play nearly even in chips with Estes.

Even so, the final two didn’t take long to get it in when Estes jammed holding the A♠5♥and Long woke up with the 9♥9♦. The J♠Q♦4♠flop wasn’t particularly interesting, but the 9♠turn was as Long improved to a set, but Estes picked up a spade flush draw. Well, it was the latter’s time to hit a runner-runner flush as the 3♠spiked on the river! Long was left with peanuts and went bust in the very next hand.

Jake Long Takes Over POY Lead

The MSPT Season 16 Player of the Year race has been a back-and-forth affair. Nebraska’s Jake Long wound up finishing the tournament in second place for $94,499 and 1,600 POY points, which vaulted him to the top of the current leaderboard ahead of players like Anthony Scarborough, Umut Ozturk, and Josh Reichard.

There are still plenty of events remaining on the MSPT schedule for 2025, so Long will no doubt need to keep racking up scores if he hopes to stave off the competition.

MSPT Season 16 Player of the Year Standings

Place	Player	Points
1	Jacob Long	4,791
2	Anthony Scarborough	4,417
3	Umut Ozturk	3,767
4	DJ Buckley	3,758
5	Josh Reichard	3,750
6	Ryan Eamon	3,700
7	Carl Carodenuto	3,000
8	Timothy Thorp	2,942
9	Michael Estes	2,775
10	Rob WazWaz	2,750

_{*Images courtesy of MSPT photographer Tyler Abrams.}

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