Anthony Kastelic won his first Major Series of Poker: The Tour title at Riverside Casino in Iowa on Nov. 2, securing $115,559 as the champion. This was the largest score yet for the resident of nearby Indiana, but it was not his first live tournament title. That came when he won a World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring at that tour’s stop in Chicagoland back in March. His career earnings are now approaching $400,000.
“Feels a bit surreal, kind of dreamy, I had a couple of fortunate spots when there were two tables left, but you can’t win without a little luck. Besides that, I thought I played really well today and made really good decisions,” said Kastelic after the win.
“I needed this win for my confidence. I won my first live event earlier this year for $87,000, and ended up making four more final tables, but wasn’t able to close out any of those. This MSPT win has also been dodging me. I made my first final table on the tour back in 2019 and went into the final table with the chip lead, but I blew it and ended up finishing in fourth place. I needed that experience, though, not only to make me better, but to also take this game more seriously, and I have.”
The $1,110 buy-in no-limit hold’em poker tournament drew a field of 571 entries across three starting flights. The total prize pool of $552,370 easily eclipsed the $300,000 guarantee. The top 64 all scored at least $2,091 for their efforts. Notables that made a run deep in the money included Craig Trost (26th), Rich Alsup (25th), MSPT champ Nick Barskdale (22nd), back-to-back player of the year Umut Ozturk (21st), Jake Long (18th), DJ Buckley (18th), MSPT winner Steve Federspiel (16th), and defending champion of this event Mike Estes (15th).
Final Table Action
When cards got into the air at the final table, Kastelic found himself in the middle of the pack. Greg Sessler was the first to fall in ninth ($10,455), and next up in the line to the rail was Justin Coliny (8th – $13,207), with Kastelic scoring the knockout.
It took a bit before Bruce Fagan was out in seventh ($17,059), and MSPT champ Jeff Copeland was eliminated next in sixth ($22,011). WSOPC gold-ring winner Bohdan Slyvinskyi soon followed (5th – $29,165). Kastelic scored another elimination by sending MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang home in fourth ($38,520).
Yet another previous MSPT champ made it deep in this event in Max Havlish. Tour Hall of Famer Aaron Johnson ultimately took him out, and that put the chips almost even for the final two players for the start of heads-up play.
A little before midnight, Kastelic raised to 500,000 preflop and Johnson called. The first three cards off the deck were 10♦4♠2♣. Johnson checked and Kastelic bet 400,000. That was met with a check-raise to 1.1 million. Kastelic called and the turn then brought the 6♠.
Johnson checked again. Kastelic bet 1.1 million and was shoved on for just 200,000 more. Kastelic called with the 5♣3♣ for a turned six-high straight. Johnson was drawing dead with 10♠9♦. The river delivered the A♣, giving Kastelic the pot and the title. Johnson earned $70,993 for the runner-up finish, bringing his career earnings to nearly $2.4 million.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Anthony Kastelic | $115,559 | 840 |
| 2 | Aaron Johnson | $70,993 | 700 |
| 3 | Max Havlish | $51,726 | 560 |
| 4 | Kou Vang | $38,520 | 420 |
| 5 | Bohdan Slyvinskyi | $29,165 | 350 |
| 6 | Jeffrey Copeland | $22,011 | 280 |
| 7 | Bruce Fagan | $17,059 | 210 |
| 8 | Justin Coliny | $13,207 | 140 |
| 9 | Greg Sessler | $10,455 | 70 |
Photo Credit: MSPT.
