Following the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, many live poker tournaments took a bow in 2020. Mid-majors events were the most affected, with the Heartland Poker Tour quitting the race. However, the Mid-States Poker Tour operators did everything possible to sail through, and the tournament is thriving even now.
Barely six months after casinos and poker rooms were closed in March, the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) operators held a one-of-a-kind, safe tournament alongside one of its partners. Unfortunately, the contest went down at Grand Falls Casino in Lowa.
Initially, the operator had planned a guaranteed prize pool of $150,000. However, high numbers of entries created a larger prize pool of $500,960.
This contest was followed by another coronavirus surge in the U.S. that led to the halting of poker action. But, MSPT returned with two Main Events at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
The first Main Event had a projected prize pool of $200,000 but attracted 1,123 players, increasing the prize pool to $1,089,310. The other match had a $400,000 prize money but increased to $1,771,771 with 1,239 entries. This marked the beginning of poker’s return at MSPT.
How MSPT Rolled Out In the First Half of 2021
The MSPT kicked off this year with a full schedule. It started strong with an event in Las Vegas. The tour then moved to South Dakota, Nevada, Iowa, California, and then back to South Dakota.
The first contest at the Venetian attracted 1009 entries with a prize pool of $978,730, with the winner, James Carroll, getting $180,850. The second event in South Dakota had a guaranteed prize of $471,860.
It had 488 players, each buying-in with $1100. Chad Bjorkman won the highest award of $101,450.
Other major events include Poker Bowl V in Las Vegas, which attracted 908 entries, MSPT riverside casino in Lowa with 862 players, and MSPT Sycuan Casino in San Diego with 676 entries.
The latest (June) events happened in Venetian. It featured two Main Event matches, each with a bigger prize pool than pre-pandemic games.
The first match had a guaranteed prize pool of $1.5 million which increased to $2,692,350. It featured four starting days with 2790 entries. Jonathan Tamayo, Aaron Massey are some of the players who participated, with Harlen Miller winning with $367,801.
The second Main Event had a buy-in of $1600 and a prize pool of $2 million, which rose to $2,865,675 after 2011 entries. Final table wins surpassed 1 million, with players such as Eric Baldwin, Peter Braglia, and long-time poker pro Chance Kornuth scooping the championship.
More Stops Coming Up
The mid-states poker tour is scheduled to continue. The tournament’s operator has already released a schedule for the remaining part of the year. However, it’s likely more stops will be added if pandemic-related illness remains low and more people get vaccinated. Upcoming events include:
- July 23-25: happening at Riverside Casino in Lowa. The prize pool is set at $200,000.
- August 4-15: The Blackhawk Showdown Series at Golden Gates Casino in Colorado with a prize pool of $200,000.
- August 20-22: happening at Grand Falls Casino in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000.
- September 16-27: $300,000 US Poker Championship at Sycuan Casino in California.
- October 22-24: $100,000 Deadwood at Silverado Casino in South Dakota
- December 2-5: $500,000 prize pool at Canterbury Part in Minnesota
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