Running Aces Casino

Day 1c of the MSPT Season 17 $1,110 Minnesota Poker State Championship at Running Aces Casino & Racetrack was the largest of the three starting flights, attracting another 399 runners, and brought the total field tally up to 882 entries, shattering the $500k guarantee.

The massive field generated a $854,040 prize pool with a min-cash paying of $2,181, while the eventual winner will walk away with a $163,564 first-place prize, along with the MSPT Season 17 Minnesota Poker State Championship title!

At the end of the third and final flight, just 43 players bagged and tagged with local Vic Peppe catching some late-right steam in the final levels to put a whopping 666,000 in his bag to lead the final batch of players.

Three-time MSPT Champ Carl Carodenuto had himself a rollercoaster of a day, which eventually ended up with him running up an impressive 637,000 stack, good enough for the third-overall stack, while Michael Williams (637,000), two-time MSPT Champ David Gonia (495,000), and Danny Busian (540,000) rounded out the top five stacks of the flight.

They were joined by MSPT Hall of Famer Blake Bohn (441,000), MSPT champ Curtis Vierstraete (368,000), fellow champ Zilong Zhang (355,000), two-time MSPT Champ Mark Sandness (337,000), WSOP bracelet winner TJ Murphy (315,000), Season 15 Minnesota Poker State Champ Sean Hinton (126,000), and fellow bracelet winner John Reading (96,000).

Among those to try and fall on Day 1b included MSPT Hall of Famer Mark Hodge, Nghia "3 Putts" Le two-time MSPT Champ Angela Jordison, Matt Alexander, and defending champ Bee Yang just to name a few.

The surviving players from all three flights – of which there are 96 (19 from Day 1a, 34 from 1b, and 43 from 1c) – will return at 11:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, April 19^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 17 Minnesota Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

Photo: Mark Sandness

There was three-way all-in action preflop between MSPT Champ Mo Nuwwarah, two-time MSPT Champ Mark Snandenss, and Jeremy Calverley, with Sandness putting both players at risk.

Jeremy Calverley:
Mo Nuwwarah:
Mark Sandness:

Sandness was ahead, holding a pair of tens, and took a commanding lead after another appeared in the window on the flop.

The turn then sealed the fates for Nuwwarah and Calverley, as the river sent them both packing, burtsing the bubble and ending play for the night.

Mark Sandness - 337,000
Mo Nuwwarah - Eliminated
Jeremy Calverley - Eliminated

So far, 54 players have punched their ticket into Day 2, and the final group of 44 hopefuls will look to add their names to that list tonight.

All who make it through to the end of play will return tomorrow, Sunday, April 19^th, at 11:00 a.m. for Day 2, with 24:45 remaining in Level 14 (3,000/5,000/5,000), and the remaining players from all starting flights will combine and play until a winner is declared.

For the first time this season, the MSPT made its way back home to the tundra, and over the past week, players have been inside Running Aces Casino & Racetrack for the Season 17 Minnesota Poker State Championship!

In Event #5: $400 Mini Main NLH, a whopping 1,099 entries were tallied after two starting flights, generating a $366,665 prize pool, which paid out the top 123 players.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Rodney Colson (11^th Place - $5,075), Mike Wilklow (14^th Place - $3,988), two-time MSPT Champ Mike Estes (26^th Place - $1,149), DJ Buckley (38^th Place - $1,233), Season 15 Minnesota Poker State Champ Sean Hinton (63^rd Place - $1,015), and MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang (110^th Place - $689).

When the dust settled, Minnesota native Basim Habib was the last man standing, taking home the $58,227 top prize, along with his first Gold Card!

Final Table Results

MSPT Champ Mo Nuwwarah raised to 16,000 from the cutoff, and Jeremy Calverley defended his big blind to see a flop.

Calverley then check-called Nuwwarah’s 13,000 continuation bet, and all the chips went into the middle after the fell on the turn, with Calverley holding 60,000 effective.

Jeremy Calverley:
Mo Nuwwarah:

Calverley already had the pot secured after seeing he had Nuwwarah drawing dead, and the river secured his double-up.

Jeremy Calverley - 180,000
Mo Nuwwarah - 55,000

ARE YOU IN THE MSPT FOR $20KDON’T WAIT

The TOP 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

Players will be seeded by rankOnly Top get in

Full List: https://msptpoker.com/statistics/WorldRanking.aspx

: FireKeepers Casino Hotel - Battle Creek, MI

: May 12-17, 2026

: $1,110 / $1,000,000 GTD Main Event (May 14-17)
: $3,500 MSPT Championship Seat ADDED to Main Event 1st Place

: 9 Gold Card Events

: https://msptpoker.com/.../book-today-for-the-1m-gtd~1610...

Event Schedule: https://msptpoker.com/showpdf.aspx?eventID=517msptpoker.com