The Mid-States Poker Tour has been busier than ever. Since its return after the pandemic closures, the MSPT has been crisscrossing the United States to provide mid-stakes poker tournaments to the masses.
The stops in Colorado, Iowa, and South Dakota can’t compare to the massive fields and prize pools from the summer Las Vegas events, but the MSPT options mean quite a lot to the players in those parts of the country. Vegas isn’t an option for everyone, so the MSPT brings the action to them.
In the middle of it all, when the MSPT did return to Las Vegas, PokerGO commentator Jeff Platt won that Main Event as the poker community cheered. The success about which he usually interviews others was finally his own.
Across the Northern Midwest
The Mid-States Poker Tour finished the first half of 2022 with its MSPT Venetian in Las Vegas. It was a series that ran alongside the World Series of Poker down the Strip, and it featured two Main Events. The first one was a $1,600 buy-in with a $2M guarantee, and the 1,644 entries sent the prize pool to past $2.3M. The second one was a $1,100 buy-in with a $1.5M guarantee. That brought in 2,154 entries and pushed the prize pool past the $2M mark.
Then, it was time to take the poker to the people who weren’t in Vegas. That meant trips to Black Hawk, Colorado, the Iowa State Poker Championship, and to Grand Falls, South Dakota.
Only one of those stops didn’t make its guarantee. That was, ironically, the MSPT Venetian – the same stop that had created such massive prize pools during the summer.
That MSPT Venetian was also the one that found a famous poker person in its Main Event winner’s circle. Jeff Platt, commentator for PokerGO and CBS Sports for the WSOP, played his heart out in the Main Event and won it. The person known for celebrating other players’ wins and interviewing them about poker accomplishments finally found himself at the center of that winner’s photo. And he couldn’t have been happier.
Currently, the MSPT is catering to players at Sycuan Casino in Southern California. It all centers around the United States Poker Championship.
From there, the action will head to Firekeepers Casino for the Michigan State Poker Championship, complete with a $1M guarantee on the Main Event. Then, it’s back to South Dakota and Iowa before heading back to Las Vegas for back-to-back events in Las Vegas.
Since 2017, the MSPT has had its own Hall of Fame. It recognizes the efforts of players who regularly play MSPT events and perform well over that long term.
To earn a spot in the MSPT HOF, players must collect at least 25 Main Event cashes on the tour, as well as one victory in a Main Event or a MSPT Player of the Year title. The other option is to make at least ten Main Event final tables, along with a win or POY designation.
Players like Blake Bohn and Rob WazWaz were already in the Hall of Fame before 2022. This year, two new players received the honor.
-Matt Kirby of Minnesota: 26 cashes, 6 final tables, $363,149 in career MSPT earnings-Josh Reichard of Wisconsin: 26 cashes, 6 final tables, $304,345 in career MSPT earnings
