Running Aces Casino

Day 1c of the MSPT Season 16 $1,110 Minnesota Poker State Championship at Running Aces Casino & Racetrack was the largest of the three starting flights attracting another 458 runners, and brought the total field tally up to 1,004 entries, shattering the $500k guarantee.

The massive field generated a $972,380 prize pool with a minimum payment of $2,025, while the eventual winner will walk away with a $178,392 first-place prize, along with the MSPT Season 16 Minnesota Poker State Championship title!

At the end of the third and final flight, just 51 players bagged and tagged with Varun Uppal catching some late-right steam in the final levels to put a whopping 780,000 in his bag to lead the final batch of players.

Pete Bigelow was seen building a stack early on in the day and eventually run up an impressive 597,000 stack throughout the day to sit behind Uppal while Michael Crawford (591,000), Joe Barnard (560,000), and Jason Perona and (540,000) rounded out the top five stacks of the flight.

They were joined by MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff (491,000), MSPT champ Max Havlish (276,000), fellow Hall of Famer and WSOP bracelet winner Richard Alsup (260,000), Loki Abboud (205,000), Tyler Kolness (216,000), DJ Buckley (50,000), and defending champ Sean Hinton (50,000).

Among those to try and fall on Day 1b included 2023 Minnesota Poker State champ Marc Harrell, Bruce Simmons, MSPT champ Steve Wilkie, defending champ and two-time MSPT champ Angela Jordison just to name a few.

The surviving players from all three flights – of which there are 112 (25 from Day 1a, 36 from 1b, and 51 from 1c) – will return at 11:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, April 13^th to play down to a winner.

The MSPT live reporting crew will be on the floor throughout the remainder of the tournament to provide updates, so keep it here to catch the action!

MSPT Season 16 Minnesota Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

Jason Perona raised from late position and then called the hijack’s 83,000 three-bet jam.

Opponent:
Jason Perona:

Perona was ahead holding a made hand of fives, and they held strong as the runout gave him a full house to burst the bubble.

Jason Perona - 540,000

After the elimination of Kevin Conlin, 52 players now remain meaning, the hand-for-hand process has begun.

So far, 61 players have punched their ticket into Day 2, and the final group of 51 hopefuls will look to add their names to that list tonight.

All who make it through until the end of play will return tomorrow, Sunday, April 13^th at 11:00 a.m. for Day 2, where the remaining players from all starting flights will combine and play until a winner is declared.

Daniel Kennedy raised all in for roughly 80,000 from the button and Michael Wilklow looked him up from the big blind.

Daniel Kennedy:
Michael Wilklow:

Kennedy rolled over the better made hand and saw a jack in the window on the flop to take a commanding lead.

The turn secured the pot for Kennedy, but the dealer dropped the on the river for good measure.

Daniel Kennedy - 170,000
Michael Wilklow - 140,000

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 #10: $200 Monster Stack NLH, 118 monster tamers went to the trenches and generated a $18,880 prize pool that was paid out to the top 12 players.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Alan Baker (10th Place - $396), Troy Westerlund (11th Place - $396), Alex Minnick (12th Place - $396).

When the dust settled, it was Nicholas Hoang who held the Sapdey trophy high and collected the lion's share of the prize pool!

Final Table Results

Charlie Reichard was all in preflop for roughly 50,000 from the big blind and was called by Bruce Fagan from middle position.

Charlie Reichard:
Bruce Fagan:

Reichard rolled over a dominated hand and things got worse after the flop fell pairing Fagan’s king.

The turn did keep things interesting as Reichard was still drawing live to a ten, but the needle fell on the river ending his tournament.

Bruce Fagan - 275,000
Charlie Reichard - Eliminated