Running Aces Casino

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 16 $1,110 Minnesota State Poker Championship at Running Aces Casino & Racetrack has come to a close after seeing 219 entrants kick things off.

A full day of action was played to completion with the hard stop of 25 players being reached with 0:40 remaining in Level 15 (3,000/6,000/6,000).

The final level was full of eliminations which saw chip leader three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto’s 300k stack balloon to 912,000 to end the night, leading the first batch of players by a wide margin into Day 2.

Matt Dodd was able to hold onto his steam throughout the day bagging a respectable 584,000, edging out Ezequiel Gonzalez (478,000), Tanner Pray (465,000), and Dennis Stevermer (318,000) as they round out the top five stacks of the flight.

Event #4 Winner Jake Long secured the final elimination of the night to bag 317,000 while two-time MSPT champ Ben Marsh (296,000), five-time MSPT champ Blake Bohn (261,000), back-to-back Player of the Year Umut Ozturk (254,000), Jesse Green (82,000), and fellow MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard (61,000) all found a Day 2 berth.

Among those to try and fall on Day 1a included Yume Carr, Event #3 winner Anthony Kippels, Jesse Scholtes, Robert Schoonover, Ramon Ziadeh and Preston Kesselring, just to name a few.

Those players, as well as any newcomers, have two more starting flights to jump back into action. Day 1b will kick off at 2:00 p.m. local time Friday, while the third and final flight, Day 1c, will take place at noon on Saturday.

The surviving players from each flight will then return at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday to play down to a winner.

Join us tomorrow as we continue to bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor at Running Aces Casino & Racetrack!

MSPT Season 16 Minnesota Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

The player under the gun was all in for 123,000 and was called by Event #4 winner Jake Long from the button.

Opponent:
Jake Long:

It was a classic flip with Long calling the correct end as the runout burst the bubble ending play for the night.

Jake Long - 317,000

There was all in action after a flop between Mario Arribas from the small blind and three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto from the big blind with Arribas holding the effective stack.

Mario Arribas:
Carl Carodenuto:

Carodenuto rolled over a big blind special and the turn followed by the river sent Arribas packing.

Carl Carodenuto - 700,000
Mario Arribas - 0

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Three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto raised and then called Zephaniah Baer’s three-bet jam.

Zephaniah Baer:
Carl Carodenuto:

It was a race with the flop keeping Baer out in front while giving him a gut shot straight draw.

The turn, however, came the giving both players a flush draw with Carodenuto holding the better end and unfortunately for Baer, the completed the board on the river and ended his night.

Carl Carodenuto - 288,000
Zephaniah Baer - 0

Over the past week, players have been inside the newly renovated Running Aces Casino & Racetrack in Colombus MN, duking it out for the MSPT Season 16 Minnesota Poker State Championship!

In Event #8: $400 Monster Stack NLH, 338 hunters went to the trenches over a two-day span and created a $111,730 prize pool that paid out the top 38 players.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Matt Dodd (14th Place - $1,477), two-time MSPT champ Tim Thorp (18th Place - $1,258), Vic Peppe (20th Place - $1,149), Jake Long (23rd Place - $875), Leo Fussy (24th Place - $875), and MSPT Hall of Famer Mark Hodge (38th Place - $766).

When the dust settled, Minnesota native Mark Lick was the last man standing, taking home the $25,169 top prize, along with the Sapdey trophy!

Final Table Results

James Lawrence opened under the gun and found three callers that took to a flop.

Action was checked to Lawrence who moved his 53,000 stack in the middle and was called by the cutoff before Dodd check-jammed for 250,000.

The move led to two quick folds while Lawrence and Dodd tabled their hands.

James Lawrence:
Matt Dodd:

Dodd was ahead holding a set of fours, and the paired the board on the turn leaving Lawrence drawing dead to the river.

Matt Dodd - 400,000
James Lawrence - 0