This weekend’s $1,100 buy-in, $200K GTD MSPT Grand Falls Main Event, which will be live reported by PokerNews, marks the second stop of the tour’s 12th season. The tournament comes on the heels of a memorable MSPT Venetian opener, which not only attracted a massive field but also saw a new inductee win their way into the exclusive MSPT Hall of Fame.
Minnesota’s Jason Seitz, 45, made the money on Day 2 of the MSPT Venetian $1,100 Main Event finishing in 32nd place for $5,677. It marked his 25th-career MSPT Main Event cash, which meant in coordination with his Season 2 win at the MSPT Running Aces, Seitz became just the seventh player to win their way into the MSPT Hall of Fame.
Seitz joined the likes of Blake Bohn, Patrick Steele, Mark Hodge, Aaron Johnson, Richard Alsup, and Kou Vang as the only players to achieve the remarkable feat.
The MSPT Hall of Fame, established in 2017, is proud to recognize those individuals who have shown superior skill and achieved specific long-term accomplishments.
The criteria to earn a spot on the MSPT Hall of Fame is as follows:
- Achieve a minimum of 25 MSPT Main Event Cashes and 1 MSPT Win OR 1 MSPT Player of the Year; or
- Achieve a minimum of 10 MSPT Main Event Final Tables and 1 MSPT Win OR 1 MSPT Player of the Year
A former poker dealer at Minnesota’s Canterbury Park and tournament director at Running Aces, Seitz has $171,277 in career MSPT earnings. The family man – he and his wife, April, are expecting their fourth child in April – actually learned the game while serving as a dealer back in 2000.
“I played my first MSPT in 2011 and won the event and ever since I was hooked. I play it every year.”
“I played a lot of limit poker my first seven years,” Seitz said. “That made an easy transition to no-limit poker. Nowadays, I play a lot of mixed cash games either $10-$20 or $40-$80 mix. Luckily, I’m able to travel for the MSPT. I played my first MSPT in 2011 and won the event and ever since I was hooked. I play it every year.”
While winning his way into the MSPT Hall of Fame is an honor he cherishes, it’s actually his second most-proud poker accomplishment.
“My proudest poker accomplishment was winning the Poker Night in America at Canterbury Park for $101,755. It is my only six-figure score.”
As for the MSPT, making the Hall of Fame was on Seitz’s radar.
“I was aware and it was my 2020 poker goal to get into the MSPT Hall of Fame,” Seitz told PokerNews. “With the pandemic, there were only a few chances. Luckily, I cashed my last three MSPTs to become eligible. So now for 2021, I plan on staying home more with a new baby on the way. I’ll still play MSPT in the Midwest and probably play a few WSOP events this summer if it happens.”
For more on Seitz follow him on Twitter @Seitzjason.
To see which players are close to achieving HOF status, refer to the comprehensive MSPT Stats page.