Josh Reichard emerged victorious in the inaugural Major Series of Poker The Tour Heart Poker Championship at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, earning $212,939 for the win. The Janesville, Wisconsin native is no stranger to MSPT success, as he has already won his way into the tour’s Hall of Fame despite being just 34 years old.
This was his second MSPT title, having earned his first back in 2013. He now has more than $5 million in recorded tournament earnings, with more than $811,000 of that coming from his success on this tour. The 16-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner also has a World Poker Tour title to his name.
“Feels good, I’m in a group chat with some friends who just last week were sending pictures of like basically when they were infants saying, ‘Oh, I was this age when Josh won his last MSPT,’ so maybe it gave me a little motivation, or maybe I just ran good. Who knows, but it definitely feels nice to close one out, because it has been a while,” Reichard told MSPT reporters.
The $1,600 buy-in no-limit hold’em poker tournament drew 1,051 entries over three starting flights. The total prize pool was the guaranteed $1.5 million. The top 118 players all took home at least $3,417 in prize money.
Every player in the money returned for the penultimate day of play, and just seven remained after 11 hours of poker. Familiar faces that made a deep run in the tournament included Frank Lagodich (50th), Joe Kuether (24th), Javier Zarco (18th), Brian Hastings (13th), and Caleb Rife (10th).
Reichard was in the middle of the pack when the final day began with seven remaining. Action started slow under the bright lights of the Venetian Poker Live set before Brian Luo scored the first knockout and increased his chip lead by taking out recent World Series of Poker bracelet winner Antonio Galiana after an hour of play.
Hugo Girard was out next in sixth place, and Luo claimed another victim by sending Artem Metalidi to the rail in fifth place. Jessica Vierling notched her second knockout of the day when she eliminated Min Sung Lee in fourth. All the while Reichard stayed out of the way from the bustout hands, but he had scored a timely double and had taken over the chip lead with three players remaining.
Reichard took out the former chip leader Luo in third place, and that gave him a large 6.5:1 chip advantage at the start of heads-up play. Just one all-in pot transpired between them, and it started when Vierling called all in from the big blind for 3,435,000 preflop after Reichard put her on a decision for her tournament life.
Vierling held Q♣J♠, but she was behind the K♥9♣ tabled by Reichard. He flopped a king and held from there to send Vierling to the rail with $159,480. The 2024 WSOP Circuit Commerce main event winner now has more than $1.5 million in career cashes to her name.
Josh Reichard Wins @MSPTPoker $1,600 Heart Poker Championship for $212,939! 🏆
🔗 https://t.co/FtY8x9QHBt pic.twitter.com/tOkKC7pPqu
— Venetian Poker Room (@VenetianPoker) June 8, 2025
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize Money | POY Points |
| 1 | Josh Reichard | $212,939 | 960 |
| 2 | Jessica Vierling | $159,480 | 800 |
| 3 | Brian Luo | $120,597 | 640 |
| 4 | Min Sung Lee | $92,049 | 480 |
| 5 | Artem Metalidi | $70,924 | 400 |
| 6 | Hugo Girard | $55,170 | 320 |
| 7 | Antonio Galiana | $43,329 | 240 |
| 8 | Daniel Smiljkovic | $34,360 | 160 |
| 9 | Timothy Pai | $27,518 | 80 |
Photo credit: MSPT.
