Season 17 of the Major Series of Poker: The Tour is ready to hit a major milestone, with its first Major stop scheduled for the end of the month in Arizona. For the first time in tour history, the MSPT will roll into Talking Stick Resort, running from January 24 through February 1, and expectations are high for big fields and strong national interest.
The centerpiece of the stop is the $1,100 buy-in Major Diamond Poker Championship, which carries a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool. The event is one of six Gold Card tournaments on the schedule and is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated MSPT events of the season.
Main Event Structure
The Diamond Poker Championship features three starting flights. Day 1A begins on Thursday, January 29, at 10:15 a.m. local time, with late registration open until 7:15 p.m. Players start with 30,000 chips and compete in 40-minute levels.
Additional flights run at the same start time on Friday, January 30 (Day 1B), and Saturday, January 31 (Day 1C). Survivors from all three flights will combine for Day 2 on Sunday, February 1, at 11:00 a.m., where play continues until a champion is crowned.
Full Festival Feel in Arizona
Beyond the Main Event, the Talking Stick schedule offers a variety of side events, including an $800 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em, a $300 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament, and a $300 Monster Stack. A wide selection of satellites will also be available, giving players multiple ways to qualify for the headline events.
The stop is expected to attract players from across the country, including MSPT Podcast hosts Chad Holloway and Kyna England. Both plan to compete in the events and will also record an episode of the MSPT Podcast Presented by PokerNews on-site—marking the first time the show has been recorded live from an MSPT stop.
For fans of the podcast, new episodes are released every other Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. PT on the PokerNews YouTube channel, with audio versions available on all major podcast platforms.
What’s Next on the MSPT Calendar?
Following Arizona, the MSPT heads back to Las Vegas from February 4–7 for the $1,600 buy-in Poker Bowl X at The Venetian, which also boasts a $1,000,000 guarantee. The tour then travels to JACK Cleveland for the Ohio Poker State Championship, before returning to Wisconsin for the $1,000,000 guaranteed Major Club Poker Championship at Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee.
With a packed Season 17 schedule that includes multiple million-dollar guarantees and stops across the country, the Talking Stick Resort festival serves as a high-profile launching point for what promises to be one of the MSPT’s biggest years yet.
