Josh Reichard was victorious in the maiden Major Series of Poker The Tour (MSPT) Heart Poker Championship on Sunday (June 8).
The Wisconsin native, already a MSPT Hall of Famer, secured glory at the Venetian in Las Vegas, earning $212,939 for the win.
That sum will take Reichard’s career winnings in live tournaments over the $5 million mark, representing a landmark success.
1,051 entrants battled it out at the Venetian, as part of the venue’s DeepStack Championship Poker Series, with Josh Reichard facing tough competition along the way. At the final table, he had to see off World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Daniel Smiljkovic, as well as Jessica Vierling, who was triumphant in the World Series of Poker (WSOPC) Circuit Main Event in 2024.
The MSPT Heart Poker event was a $1,600 buy-in no-limit hold ’em tournament, with all players competing for a share of the guaranteed $1.5 million prize pot and the top 118 players emerging with at least $3,417 in earnings.
Smiljkovic could only reach the last eight, and with just seven players remaining, the eventual winner was trailing chip leader Brian Luo with one of the smallest stacks, but the table would turn.
Antonio Galiana fell in seventh place ($43,329), then Hugo Girard was caught, taking sixth place ($55,170). Artem Metalidi (fifth place for $70,924) and Min Sung Lee (fourth place for $92,049), were next to leave the table.
A three-way fight ended with the fall of former chip leader Luo being sent home with a third-place $120,597 scoop, leaving Reichard and Vierling to play it out.
Vierling could not sustain her run and lost a 60/40 to finish as the runner-up, collecting $159,480 for her efforts.
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
Nice to close one out
With the first-ever MSPT Major Heart Poker Championship trophy and a significant pay day secured, Josh Reichard shared his relief at securing another MSPT title.
He told reporters that the winning feeling: “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,” he added.
This was Reichard’s second MSPT success, to add to his 16 WSOP Circuit rings, a World Poker Tour (WPT) title, and tournament wins on the Moneymaker Tour and Heartland Poker Tour (HPT).
Image credit: @msptpoker/X
