Riverside Casino

Photo: Matt Porter

A player from early position raised to 1,200, only to call a 4,200 three-bet MSPT Champ Matt Porter made from the big blind.

Once the flop hit the felt, Porter led out with a 2,500 continuation bet, and his opponent called to see the turn.

Both players then checked their options, and then did the same after the completed the board on the river.

Porter rolled over for a rivered top pair, and it was good as his opponent tossed their hand into the muck.

Matt Porter - 41,700

For the second time this season, the MSPT has returned to Riverside Casino & Golf Resort in Riverside, IA, for the 2026 Iowa Poker State Championship!

Kicking off the seven-Gold Card event series was Event #1: $250 No-Limit Hold'em Ultimate Stack, which saw 150 ultimate players take to the tables and created a $30,000 prize pool that was reserved for the top 15 players.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Adam Kamsey (10^th Place - $615), Elmer Beckler (11^th Place - $615), Ryan Peed (12^th Place - $615), Terrance Bowman (13^th Place - $510), Ed Burke (14^th Place - $510), and Gale Habinck (15^th Place - $510).

When the dust settled, it was Jason Bender who walked away with the ultimate victory to take home the top prize, along with the second Gold Card!

Final Table Results

Photo: Scott Vetter

”Wild” Bill Romer opened with a raise from the hijack and was called by Tim Votava from the cutoff before Scott Vetter fired out a 2,300 three-bet from the big blind.

Both Romer and Votava called, checking down the runout.

Vetter quickly tabled , thinking it was no good, but to his surprise, it was, as both Romer and Votava tossed their hands into the muck, giving him the pot.

Have you been seeing the hot new MSPT Tilted Compass merch out on the felt lately?

Want to get some for yourself?

Come check out all the new gear for sale right in front of the Poker Room entrance area!

: Bally's Black Hawk Casino - Black Hawk, CO

: July 22 - August 2, 2026

: Colorado Poker State Championship

: $1,110 Main Event / $500K GTD

$3,500 MSPT CHAMPIONSHIP SEAT ADDED TO MAIN EVENT 1ST PLACE

: 17 Gold Card Tournaments

Event Schedule: https://msptpoker.com/showpdf.aspx?eventID=516

Day 1b of the MSPT Season 17 $1,110 Iowa Poker State Championship at Riverside Casino is off and running, with registration and unlimited re-entry remaining open through the break after Level 12 (approximately 10:40 p.m.).

Day 1b of the MSPT Season 17 Iowa Poker State Championship at Riverside Casino is set to get underway at 2:00 p.m. local time, and is the second of three starting flights.

A strong showing is expected today after Day 1a drew 69 total entries with eight players punching their way into Sunday's Day 2.

Yesterday’s starting flight saw last year’s fourth-place finisher Michael Kreutzer go on a late-night heater to bag the chip lead thus far, putting a healthy stack of 690,000 into his bag at the end of the night, and another group of players will try to challenge that mark today.

Bagging second was Jeff Kenny (330,000), who shared last year’s final table with Kreutzer, while Zac Campbell (330,000) was the only other player to clip 300k

Defending Champ Mike Estes had his fair share of ups and downs last 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.

Day 1B Schedule

The second starting flight will be identical to its first, as each player will start with a 30,000 starting stack, and blinds will begin at 100/200/200.

Levels will increase every 40 minutes throughout each starting flight, and players receive a 10-minute break after the completion of every three levels (two hours of play).

Every player is allowed unlimited re-entry per starting flight with registration remaining open until the start of Level 13 (approximately 10:40 p.m.)

All Day 1 flights will play until 11% of the field, rounded up, remains, meaning all players who advance to Day 2 will be in the money.

This is a best-stack forward event: If a player qualifies for Day 2 more than once, they may only play the higher chip stack; any lower stack(s) will be removed from play at the start of Day 2 and receive the lowest Day 2 payout.

Player of the Year points will only be awarded for the higher stack. Players will only receive credit for a single MSPT Main Event cash finish.

Those unable to find a bag at the end of today will have one final opportunity tomorrow, Saturday, July 25^th, for Day 1c starting at 2:00 p.m.

Once the day is completed, all remaining players will bag up for the night and combine with the eight surviving Day 1a players for Day 2 action on Sunday, July 26^th at 11:00 a.m. local time.

A new addition to this season is that each Main Event winner will be awarded a $3,500 seat into the ROCK ‘N’ ROLL POKER OPEN MSPT Championship at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL, while the top 64 World Ranked MSPT Players as of December 2, 2026 will compete in a HEADS UP FREEROLL tournament at the 2026 MSPT Winter Poker Classic at Running Aces Poker Tournaments for $20,000!

Race for Player of the Year

The midway point of Season 17 is here, and the race for Player of the Year is currently a nail-biter. Sitting atop the tight leaderboard is WSOP bracelet winner Mike Wilklow, who had two back-to-back final table appearances to start the season and added his fifth and sixth cash of the year last week at the Venetian to climb atop the leaderboard with 5,669 points.

Sitting closely behind Wilklow is defending Iowa Poker State Champion Mike Estes, who, got the bulk of his points after claiming his second State Championship earlier this year in Missouri, and now has eight cashes on the season after finding a Day 2 berth in yesterday’s starting flight as his second-place spot sits in front of fellow two-time MSPT Champ Lee Rzentkowski, Season 16 Player of the Year Jake Long, and MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang, who are just a final table appearance away from claiming the top spot for themselves.

MSPT Season 17 Iowa Poker State Championship Schedule

Stay tuned here for live updates throughout the entire tournament!