Jacob Long ended a long wait for his first Mid-States Poker Tour Main Event title by winning the Season 17 Ameristar Poker Open in St. Louis over the weekend.
The $1,110 tournament drew 486 entries and created a $469,920 prize pool. Long collected $97,282, the largest tournament score of his career excluding the $250,000 bounty he won at the WSOP this summer.
Long adds a Main Event title to his record
Long entered the event as the reigning MSPT Player of the Year after one of the closest races in the tour’s history. He earned $314,604 during Season 16 and collected a tour-leading eight MSPT Gold Cards, but none of those wins came in a Main Event.
He had previously reached two MSPT Main Event final tables. Long finished second to Mike Estes in the 2025 MSPT Iowa Poker State Championship for $94,499, then placed fourth in the MSPT Hollywood St. Louis less than a month later for $43,989.
“Feels great,” Long told MSPT reporter Anthony Thompson after the victory. “I feel like it's been a long time coming. I mean, I didn’t have many chips to start the day, but I’ve had some really decent runs here in St. Louis, and I started getting cards at the right time. I got a good suck-out against Charlie [Reichard] and especially during heads-up, so it just feels good to take it down.”
Long also thanked the wider MSPT team, naming Josh, Umut, DJ, Jerry and Bryan, as well as his wife and supporters at home.
Long earns ninth Gold Card
Alongside the prize money, Long received his record-extending ninth Gold Card and a seat in the $3,500 buy-in, $2 million guaranteed MSPT Championship Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open. The championship is scheduled for November 18 to December 2 at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida.
Other players who cashed included Sam Devers, 13th for $5,632; Umut Ozturk, 21st for $4,036; Josh Reichard, 25th for $2,910; Jeff Copeland, 32nd for $2,534; Gerald Cunniff, 42nd for $2,300; Angela Jordison, 45th for $2,300; and DJ Buckley, 46th for $2,112.
Buckley’s result was his record-extending 93rd MSPT Main Event cash. The tour’s next stop is the Season 17 Nevada Poker State Championship at Venetian Las Vegas from September 10-13.
Source: PokerNews
