{"id":12779,"date":"2026-04-29T19:26:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T11:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/?p=12779"},"modified":"2026-04-29T19:26:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T11:26:49","slug":"mspt-ameristar-east-chicago-rzentkowski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/mspt-ameristar-east-chicago-rzentkowski\/","title":{"rendered":"Rzentkowski wins at MSPT Ameristar East Chicago; Estes extends POY lead by 1."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\"Lee
Lee Rzentkowski adds another MSPT title to his collection! The Wisconsin player defeated a field of 386 players at the Ameristar East Chicago Main Event to win the $82,955 prize, marking his second MSPT title after the 2022 MSPT Riverside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Last weekend, the 17th Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) hosted a $1,110 Main Event at Ameristar East Chicago, attracting 386 players.<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>

Of these, 43 players had already secured prize money when they entered the second day of the event on Sunday. After 10 hours of intense competition, Lee Rzentkowski from Wisconsin emerged victorious, winning his second MSPT title and **.The champion's prize was 82,955*. In October 2022, Rzentkowski defeated a field of 749 entries in the MSPT Riverside event to win.<\/span>82<\/span>,<\/span>955<\/span>\u2217<\/span><\/span>\u2217<\/span>The champion's prize money.<\/span>2022<\/span>\u5e74<\/span>10<\/span>moon,<\/span>R<\/span>ze<\/span>n<\/span>t<\/span>k<\/span>o<\/span>w<\/span>s<\/span>ki<\/span>In the past<\/span>MSPTR<\/span>i<\/span>v<\/span>ers<\/span>i<\/span>d<\/span>e<\/span>defeated in the match<\/span>749<\/span>The number of participants and the winning lineup<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>He won 145,006 in prize money and took home his first championship.<\/span><\/p>

Rzentkowski also won a ticket worth\u00a0A seat in the $3,500 MSPT Rock 'N' Roll Poker Open (RRPO). The event will be held from November 18th to December 2nd at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, with a guaranteed Main Event prize pool of ****<\/span>3<\/span>,<\/span>500<\/span>of<\/span>MSPT<\/span>championship<\/span>R<\/span>oc<\/span>k<\/span>\u2018<\/span>N<\/span>\u2019<\/span>R<\/span>o<\/span>ll<\/span>Poker Open (<\/span>RRPO<\/span>(The remaining text appears to be unrelated and possibly machine-translated. It mentions "participation slots," "the event," and "entry slots.")<\/span>11<\/span>\u6708<\/span>18<\/span>From the date<\/span>12<\/span>\u6708<\/span>2<\/span>On the day in Hollywood, Florida<\/span>S<\/span>e<\/span>min<\/span>o<\/span>l<\/span>eH<\/span>a<\/span>r<\/span>d<\/span>R<\/span>oc<\/span>k<\/span>The main event is being held with a guaranteed prize pool of up to [amount missing].<\/span>\u2217<\/span><\/span>\u2217<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>2,000,000**.<\/span><\/p>

Rzentkowski told MSPT reporter Anthony Thompson after the match: "I've been in great form lately, but I was just one step away from scoring the last two times, so it feels really good to close the gap this time."<\/span><\/p>

According to Thompson, Rzentkowski had previously reached the final table twice at Ameristar, finishing ninth and fifth respectively. His third consecutive final table appearance finally paid off.<\/span><\/p>

Rzentkowski said, "It feels really good to know that my family is always there for me. They're cheering me on from afar, but it feels great to know they're supporting me and encouraging me."<\/span><\/p>

MSPT Ameristar East Chicago Final Table Results<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>
\u00a0<\/div>
\u00a0<\/div><\/div>
Ranking<\/span><\/th>player<\/span><\/th>hometown<\/span><\/th>bonus<\/span><\/th>POY points<\/span><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/span><\/td>Lee Rzentkowski<\/span><\/td>Middleton, Wisconsin<\/span><\/td>$82,955<\/span><\/td>\u2014<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
2<\/span><\/td>Aaron Brown<\/span><\/td>Middleport, New York<\/span><\/td>$51,286<\/span><\/td>\u2014<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
3<\/span><\/td>Michael Estes<\/span><\/td>Chicago, Illinois<\/span><\/td>$37,330<\/span><\/td>\u2014<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
4<\/span><\/td>Jeff Stephens<\/span><\/td>Aurora, Illinois<\/span><\/td>$27,526<\/span><\/td>\u2014<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
5<\/span><\/td>Daniel Johnson<\/span><\/td>Chicago, Illinois<\/span><\/td>$20,739<\/span><\/td>\u2014<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
6<\/span><\/td>Del Beiler<\/span><\/td>Decatur, Illinois<\/span><\/td>$15,837<\/span><\/td>\u2014<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
7<\/span><\/td>Jinha Park<\/span><\/td>Chicago, Illinois<\/span><\/td>$12,443<\/span><\/td>\u2014<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
8<\/span><\/td>Allen Pritchett<\/span><\/td>Vicksburg, Michigan<\/span><\/td>$9,804<\/span><\/td>\u2014<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
9<\/span><\/td>Mike Estes<\/span><\/td>Coralville, Iowa<\/span><\/td>$7,164<\/span><\/td>600<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>

Mike Estes from Iowa finished ninth, earning 600 MSPT Season 17 Player of the Year (POY) points, which put him in the top 10.\u00a04,707<\/strong>\u00a0His points extended his lead in the season standings. He now leads Zilong Zhang (3,900 points) and Michael Wilklow (3,477 points).<\/span><\/p>

The current MSPT Season 17 POY rankings<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>
\"Mike
Mike Estes continues to lead the MSPT Season 17 POY leaderboard. Despite finishing only ninth, he earned 600 points, extending his lead to 4,707 points and firmly holding the top spot. Zilong Zhang and Michael Wilklow are in second and third place, respectively.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\u00a0<\/div><\/div>
Ranking<\/span><\/th>player<\/span><\/th>integral<\/span><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/span><\/td>Mike Estes<\/span><\/td>4,707<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
2<\/span><\/td>Zilong Zhang<\/span><\/td>3,900<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
3<\/span><\/td>Michael Wilklow<\/span><\/td>3,477<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
4<\/span><\/td>Lee Rzentkowski<\/span><\/td>3,158<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
5<\/span><\/td>Jacob Long<\/span><\/td>3,051<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
6<\/span><\/td>Greg Sessler<\/span><\/td>3,050<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
7<\/span><\/td>Clint Wolcyn<\/span><\/td>2,995<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
8<\/span><\/td>Carlton Taylor<\/span><\/td>2,900<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
9<\/span><\/td>Wesley Cannon<\/span><\/td>2,896<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
10<\/span><\/td>June 'Oh Geez' Kim<\/span><\/td>2,850<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>

Other players who won prize money included Jamie Payne (12th place \u2013\u00a06,033), Bill Brudenell (16th \u2212<\/span>6<\/span>,<\/span>033<\/span>\uff09\u3001<\/span>B<\/span>i<\/span>llB<\/span>r<\/span>u<\/span>d<\/span>e<\/span>n<\/span>e<\/span>ll<\/span>(No.<\/span>16<\/span>\u540d<\/span>\u2212<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>4,148), DJ Buckley (23rd place \u2013\u00a03,054), Kevin Maahs (28th-<\/span>3<\/span>,<\/span>054<\/span>\uff09\u3001<\/span>Ke<\/span>v<\/span>in<\/span>M<\/span>aah<\/span>s<\/span>(No.<\/span>28<\/span>\u540d<\/span>\u2212<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>2,262), Cody Brinn (34th \u2013\u00a02,262) and TomKoral (42nd)<\/span>2<\/span>,<\/span>262<\/span>)and<\/span>T<\/span>o<\/span>m<\/span>Kor<\/span>a<\/span>l<\/span>(No.<\/span>42<\/span>\u540d<\/span>\u2212<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>2,074).<\/span><\/p>

What's next?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>

MSPT will next travel to Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee to host a guaranteed win.\u00a0$1,000,000<\/strong>\u00a0The main event (and a range of peripheral events). For more detailed information about these events, please visit msptpoker.com.<\/span><\/p>

The following is the remaining schedule for MSPT Season 17.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/div><\/div>
\u00a0<\/div><\/div>
date<\/span><\/th>site<\/span><\/th>City\/State<\/span><\/th>Event Name<\/span><\/th>Guaranteed bonus<\/span><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
April 28-May 3<\/span><\/td>Potawatomi Casino<\/span><\/td>Wisconsin<\/span><\/td>MSPT Series<\/span><\/td>$1,000,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
May 12-17<\/span><\/td>FireKeepers Casino<\/span><\/td>Michigan<\/span><\/td>Michigan Poker State Championship<\/span><\/td>$1,000,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
May 13-25<\/span><\/td>Sycuan Casino<\/span><\/td>California<\/span><\/td>Showdown Series<\/span><\/td>Pending<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
June 2026<\/span><\/td>The Venetian<\/span><\/td>Nevada<\/span><\/td>Diamond Poker Tournament<\/span><\/td>Pending<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
June 2026<\/span><\/td>The Venetian<\/span><\/td>Nevada<\/span><\/td>Pending<\/span><\/td>Pending<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
July 21-26<\/span><\/td>Riverside Casino<\/span><\/td>Iowa<\/span><\/td>Iowa Poker State Championship<\/span><\/td>$500,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
July 22-August 2<\/span><\/td>Bally's Black Hawk Casino<\/span><\/td>Colorado<\/span><\/td>Colorado State Poker Championship<\/span><\/td>$600,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
August 4-9<\/span><\/td>Rivers Casino<\/span><\/td>Chicago, Illinois<\/span><\/td>\u2013<\/span><\/td>$1,000,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
August 18-23<\/span><\/td>JACK Cleveland Casino<\/span><\/td>Cleveland, Ohio<\/span><\/td>MSPT Series<\/span><\/td>$500,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
September 2026<\/span><\/td>The Venetian<\/span><\/td>Nevada<\/span><\/td>Nevada Poker State Championship<\/span><\/td>Pending<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
September 22-27<\/span><\/td>Potawatomi Casino<\/span><\/td>Wisconsin<\/span><\/td>Wisconsin State Poker Championship<\/span><\/td>$1,000,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
October 1-12<\/span><\/td>Playground<\/span><\/td>Montreal, Canada<\/span><\/td>Canadian Poker Tournament<\/span><\/td>$1,000,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
October 13-18<\/span><\/td>FireKeepers Casino<\/span><\/td>Michigan<\/span><\/td>Major Spade Poker Tournament<\/span><\/td>$1,500,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
November 3-8<\/span><\/td>Riverside Casino<\/span><\/td>Iowa<\/span><\/td>MSPT Series<\/span><\/td>$500,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
November 18th - December 2nd<\/span><\/td>Seminole Hard Rock<\/span><\/td>Florida<\/span><\/td>Major Rock 'N' Roll Poker Open (RRPO)<\/span><\/td>$2,000,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
December 1-13<\/span><\/td>Running Aces Casino<\/span><\/td>Minnesota<\/span><\/td>Winter Poker Classic<\/span><\/td>$700,000<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>

MSPT Podcast<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>

Did you know that Chad Holloway and Kyna England host the MSPT podcast presented by PokerNews?<\/span><\/p>

The program covers all aspects of MSPT, including recent tournament results, player highlights, guest interviews, and previews of upcoming tournaments.<\/span><\/p>

The program can be watched on PokerNews' YouTube channel. An audio version is also available on all major podcast platforms.<\/span><\/p>

In Facebook<\/strong>\u00a0Follow Hunter Poker.<\/a>
\u00a0In\u00a0Youtube<\/strong>\u00a0Follow Hunter Poker.<\/a>
\u00a0On Instagram<\/a>\u00a0Follow Hunter Poker.<\/span><\/p>

Want to transform your strategy from "knowing how to use it" to "making stable profits"?<\/h3>

If you have already mastered the basics, the following practical strategies will truly impact your profitability:<\/span><\/p>

How to play Texas Hold'em after the flop? A complete guide to PFR heads-up pot C-bet and turn strategies.<\/a>
Texas Hold'em Defense Tutorial: How can a Pre-Flop Caller (PFC) counter a C-bet? Complete Practical Strategy Analysis<\/a>
Texas Hold'em Double Barrel Strategy: When is the second shot most profitable?<\/a>
Texas Hold'em Bluff Strategy: When to Bluff? A Complete Semi-Bluff Guide<\/a>
Texas Hold'em Delay C-bet Strategy: When Should You Delay Your Attack?<\/a>
Texas Hold'em Check-Raise Strategy: The Core Skills of Offensive Defense<\/a>
Texas Hold'em Multi-Player Pot Strategies: Correct Playing Techniques and Avoidance Guidelines for Pots with 3 or More Players<\/a>
Texas Hold'em 3-bet pot strategy: How to simplify decision-making and control SPR after the flop?<\/a>
Texas Hold'em Pot, Effective Stack, and SPR Judgment: A Complete Strategy Tutorial on Pot and Effective Stack<\/a>
Texas Hold'em Range Tutorial: How to use Range to judge your opponents and make decisions?<\/a><\/p>

Hunter Poker offers comprehensive strategy tutorials and hand analysis to help players upgrade from "reading cards" to "reading ranges" and "making decisions," truly achieving long-term profitability.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Robl's stunning fold in the latest episode of High Stakes Poker has reignited the poker community's debate about the "best high-stakes fold of all time." This article compares two classic second-best folds by Robl and Doug Polk, analyzing which one is more impressive.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[326],"tags":[1341,2559,2558,1342,1343,2565,342,2560,792,2564,2561,769,1014,2563,2562],"class_list":["post-12779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-326","tag-2026-","tag-ameristar-east-chicago","tag-lee-rzentkowski","tag-mike-estes","tag-mspt","tag-mspt-","tag-pokernews","tag-poy-","tag-792","tag-2564","tag-2561","tag-769","tag-1014","tag--17-","tag-2562"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12779"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12788,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12779\/revisions\/12788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunter.poker\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}