Riverside Casino

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 17 Iowa Poker State Championship at Riverside Casino is officially in the books with 69 total entries tallied during the first flight.

With action needing to play down to 11% of the field, 15 levels were required, as there was 18:35 remaining on the clock once the hard stop was reached, with last year’s fourth-place finisher Michael Kreutzer securing the final elimination of the night, putting 690,000 in his bag to lead the eight advancing players.

Bagging behind Kreutzer was last year’s sixth-place finisher, Jeff Kenny, as he was able to catch some late-night steam to put 335,000 in his bag to end the night, while Zac Campbell (330,000) was the only other player to clip 300k.

Defending Champ Mike Estes took a few bad beats at the end of the night, but was still able to find a 269,000 stack to take into Day 2, while MSPT Champ Brian Landon (164,000), Dalton Jones (123,000), Tim Kelly (94,000), and Shawn Quinn (66,000) were the only others to survive the first flight.

Among those to try and fall on Day 1a included Season 14 Iowa Poker State Champ Ben Pettinger, Ranae Warren, Mark Lafata, Ramon Ziadeh, and MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff, among others.

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 the same time on Saturday.

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

MSPT Season 17 Iowa Poker State Championship Schedule

Join us tomorrow as we continue to bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor of Riverside Casino!

Photo: Brian Landon

MSPT Champ Brian Landon was all-in for his last 61,000 from the small blind after a flop, and defending Champ Mike Estes looked him up from the big blind.

Brian Landon:
Mike Estes:

Both players flopped top pair with Landon having kicker issues, but luckily for him, the dealer turned the and then followed with the on the river, securing his double on the bubble.

The very next hand, Michael Kreutzer was able to pick up a dominating against to burst the bubble, ending play for the night.

Michael Kreutzer - 690,000
Mike Estes - 269,000
Brian Landon - 164,000

Photo: Tim Kelly

Tim Kelly open-jammed 47,000 from under the gun, and defending Champ Mike Estes looked him up from middle position.

Tim Kelly:
Mike Estes:

Kelly was ahead holding the better made-hand, and the runout secured his double on the bubble.

Mike Estes - 320,000
Tim Kelly - 105,000

: Ameristar Casino East Chicago, IN

: August 25-30, 2026

: Indiana Poker State Championship

: $1,110 Main Event / $300,000 GTD
$3,500 MSPT CHAMPIONSHIP SEAT ADDED TO MAIN EVENT 1ST PLACE

: 11 Gold Card Tournaments

: https://msptpoker.com/.../reserve-today-for-the-mspt...

Event Schedule: https://msptpoker.com/showpdf.aspx?eventID=733

Photo: Taylor Howard

MSPT Champ Mo Nuwwarah opened for 9,000 from the cutoff, only to have two-time MSPT Champ Taylor Howard toss out his 20,000 stack from the small blind, and fellow two-time Champ Josh Reichard go over the top for 51,000 from the big blind.

With action back on Nuwwarah, he thought long and hard about putting both opponents at risk, but ultimately decided to let his hand go into the muck, leaving the two heads-up.

Taylor Howard:
Josh Reichard:

Howard rolled over the better pair, and the clean runout secured his double-up.

Taylor Howard - 49,000
Josh Reichard - 30,000

Photo: Josh Reichard

MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard raised all-in from early position, and MSPT Champ Mo Nuwwarah looked him up from the small blind.

Josh Reichard:
Mo Nuwwarah:

It was a classic with an ace appearing right away in the window on the flop, giving Reichard the lead.

The then fell on the turn, keeping Reichard in the lead, while the river secured him a double.

Mo Nuwwarah - 120,000
Josh Reichard 56,000