The Venetian

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 17 $1,100 Nevada Poker State Championship at the Venetian Resort is officially in the books, with 59 total entries tallied, and the talented field that entered came to play as action at the tables proved to be eventful from start to finish.

Only 14 levels were needed to hit 11% of the field, as the hard stop of seven players was reached with 10:32 remaining at 3,000/5,000/5,000, when Yang Li won a race against Brandon In in the final hand of the evening to end the night with 708,000.

Yi was able to distance himself from the rest of the pack by a wide margin, as Spencer Champlin (219,000) was the only other player to clip 200k, while WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Laplante (199,000) and three-time bracelet winner Ryan Leng (192,000) weren’t far behind.

Others who survived the first flight included Giridhar Tatavarti (176,000), Josias Santos (144,000), and two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr (138,000).

Among those to fire and fall in Thursday’s starting flight included two-time MSPT Champ Peixin Liu, Michael Rossitto, two-time bracelet winner Darren Rabinowitz, Natalie Ferguson, and Hayley Hanna, were just a few who took their shot at a bag on Day 1a only to come up short.

All who have yet to advance will have two more starting flights to jump back in the action.

Day 1b will get underway at 11:10 a.m. on Friday, while Day 1c will take place at the same time on Saturday, September 12^th.

Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 9 (approximately 5:55 p.m.) for both flights.

The surviving players from the three starting flights will then return for Day 2 at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, September 13^th at 11:00 a.m. and will play down to a winner.

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

MSPT Season 17 Nevada Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

Photo: Brandon In

Yang Li raised to 10,000 from the hijack and then called Brandon In’s 60,000 three-bet jam from the big blind.

Brandon In:
Yang Li:

It was a classic race, with the flop keeping Li in the lead.

The turn then left In needing to connect with either of his two overs on the river, but the completed the board and ended his night on the bubble.

Yang Li - 708,000
Brandon In - 0

MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard continues to lead the Season 17 Player of the Year Leaderboard

The Season 17 POY will earn a $10K Main Event seat

Full Leaderboard

Photo: Andrew Rodgers

Andrew Rodgers raised all-in for 52,000 from the cutoff, and Yang Li looked him up from the small blind.

Andrew Rodgers:
Yang Li:

Rodgers found himself in a race, only to fall way behind after the flop gave Li a top set of eights.

Running help was then needed for Rodgers to stay alive, but the fell on the turn, leaving him drawing dead to the river.

Yang Li - 304,000
Andrew Rodgers - 0

: Playground Poker Club - Kahnawake (Montreal), Canada

: October 1-12, 2026

: Canadian Poker Championship

: $1,150 Main Event / $1,000,000 GTD

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

: 18 Gold Card Tournaments

Event Schedule: https://msptpoker.com/showpdf.ashx?eventID=667msptpoker.com

It’s no surprise that the Josh Reichard currently has the #1 MSPT World Ranking

The Top 64 Players on the World Ranking Leaderboard as of November 9th will compete in an MSPT $20K Heads-Up Freeroll Championship “Winner Take All” during the 2026 MSPT Winter Poker Classic at Running Aces Casino, Hotel & Racetrack in December (bracket format).

Full Leaderboard

Photo: Ryan Laplante

Action on the table folded to the small blind, who raised all-in, and WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Laplante looked them up from the big blind.

Opponent:
Ryan Laplante:

Laplante was behind, holding two live cards, but connected with the runout for a knockout.

Ryan Laplante - 170,000