Umut Ozturk Wins Back-to-Back Years to Become MSPT’s First Two-Time POY Winner
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The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) launched in December 2009, and since then they’ve consistently broken records across the United States. By the end of the month, they’ll hit another major milestone by crossing the $200,000,000 mark in prize money awarded!
As 2024 came to a close, another big story occurred on the MSPT when Umut Ozturk won the Season 15 (2024) Player of the Year title. In the process, he successfully defended the same title from Season 14 (2023) and became the first-ever two-time POY winner on the MSPT. Not only will Ozturk be immortalized in MSPT history, but he was also awarded a seat in the $10,400 WPT World Championship.
He held off Josh Reichard, who was looking for a second title himself after having won it in Season 13 (2022). Ozturk had an incredible 19 cashes for $145,143 on the MSPT in 2024, including a runner-up finish in May’s MPST Sycuan Casino for $50,693. It’s only happened four times in MSPT history that a player cashed more than 12 times in a season, and Ozturk accounts for two of them.
“Winning it two years in a row feels great because of the players that were in the chase – Josh Reichard, Chris Meyers, Chris Moon, and Chris Audrain,” Ozturk told PokerNews. “Those guys are all MSPT winners and to have them in the chase made it better. I respect them as players and humans. and any list that I am on that includes those guys is a truly humbling experience.”
MPST Season 15 Final Point Standings
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Umut Ozturk | 6,825 |
| 2 | Josh Reichard | 5,425 |
| 3 | Chris Moon | 4,950 |
| 4 | Chris Meyers | 4,800 |
| 5 | Chris Audrain | 4,683 |
| 6 | Curtis Vierstraete | 4,100 |
| 7 | Michael Estes | 3,850 |
| 8 | Nicola DiTrapani | 3,725 |
| 9 | Sean Hinton | 3,533 |
| 10 | Rich Alsup | 3,450 |
Surprisingly, Ozturk, who won his into the MSPT Hall of Fame in 2023 (becoming just the 13th player to do so), didn’t intend to win POY for a second time in as many years.
“It was not a goal of mine, it just happened organically. I was almost 2,000 points behind to one of the best mid-stake players in America, Josh Reichard, but once I final tabled at MSPT Ameristar in Chicago, I knew I had a shot knowing my buddy Josh would miss the last event of the year in Columbus due to his WPT schedule at the Wynn.”
Going back-to-back was an impressive feat, but don't expect Ozturk to go for the hat trick.
“No plans on trying to win it three in a row,” Ozturk admitted. “I will be playing less in 2025 and will be coaching my son in tennis, basketball, and soccer. I want to give a special thanks to the Minnesota poker community for the support these past two years.”
MSPT Players of the Year
| Year | Season | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 15 | Umut Ozturk |
| 2023 | 14 | Umut Ozturk |
| 2022 | 13 | Josh Reichard |
| 2021 | 12 | Kyna England |
| 2019 | 11 | Mike Shin |
| 2018 | 10 | Aaron Johnson |
| 2017 | 9 | Chris Meyers |
| 2016 | 8 | Rich Alsup |
| 2015 | 7 | Mark Hodge |
| 2014 | 6 | Mike Deis |
| 2013 | 5 | Pat Steele |
| 2012 | 4 | Dan Sun |
| 2011 | 3 | Nathan Fair |
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*Images courtesy of MSPT.
