JACK Cleveland Casino

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 17 $1,110 Ohio Poker State Championship at JACK Cleveland Casino is officially in the books and was one to remember.

The first of three starting flights closed with 191 entries, putting it behind the 237 Day 1a record-breaking field posted two Februarys ago.

Just 22 players remained when chips went into bags with 9:30 remaining in Level 15 (3,000/6,000/6,000) with Cun Ke soaring to the top of the chip counts, bagging 789,000 to edge out Ryan Rebman (583,000), and Nick Barile (537,000) for the top spot.

2024 six-place finisher Michael Spagnolo (385,000) and Chris Webb (347,000) rounded out the top five stacks of the first flight while Buckey Evans-Miller (326,000), 2019 runner-up finisher Anthony Carbonel (260,000), David Huffman (222,000), and Brad Rogoff (104,000) all found a Day 2 berth.

Among those to try and fall on 1a included MSPT Champ Jon Lewis, Brian Springman, Patrick Coughlin, Eugene Calhoun, and Jameson Selvaggio, just to name a few.

Those players, as well as any newcomers, have two more starting flights to jump back in the action.

Day 1b will kick off at 12:15 p.m. local time on 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 11:15 a.m. on Sunday to play down to a winner.

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

MSPT Season 17 JACK Cleveland Ohio Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

Photo: Buckey Evans-Miller

A player from middle position raised all-in for 45,000, and Buckey Evans-Miller looked them up from the next seat over.

Opponent:
Buckey Evans-Miller:

Evans-Miller woke up with a premium hand of kings, but the flop came with a sweat, as it gave his opponent more outs with a wheel draw.

Fortunately for Evans-Miller, both the turn and river kept him in the lead, securing him the knockout to burst the bubble.

Buckey Evans-Miller - 326,000

After the elimination of Paul McLean, the hand-for-hand process has begun as 23 players remain, and only 22 of them will be making Day 2.

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

Photo: Anthony Carbone

A series of preflop raises saw the button get their 25,000 stack in the middle, and they found two callers, which included Anthony Carbone from middle position.

Heads-up action then proceeded to a flop, and two knocks on the table saw the dealer turn the .

Action was then checked again to Carbone, who fired out an uncontested 20,000 bet into the dry pot.

Opponent:
Anthony Carbone:

Carbone was ahead after pairing his jack on the flop, and the river secured him the knockout.

Anthony Carbone - 160,000

Over the past week, players have been inside JACK Cleveland Casino, duking it out for the MSPT Season 17 Ohio Poker State Championship Series!

In Event #2: $300 NLH Seniors, 288 walkers strolled to the tables and generated a $69,120 prize pool that was reserved for the top 36 seniors.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Charles Zander (10^th Place - $1,165), Marta Hilworth (14^th Place - $930), Greg Coutris (23^rd Place - $590), Michael Garrett (26^th Place - $530), and defending Ohio Poker State Champ Renmei Liu (34^th Place - $480).

Coming out the top senior was Russell Kube, who took home the $16,010 top prize and his first Gold Card!

Final Table Results

Photo: John Zimmerman

There was heads-up action between John Zimmerman from middle position and John Pavlish from the small blind, with a board showing.

With over 30,000 already in the middle, Pavlish moved all-in, and Zimmerman called off his shorter 48,000 stack.

John Zimmerman:
John Pavlish:

Zimmerman was ahead, holding a top set of tens, and he faded the river to collect a double-up.

John Zimmerman - 130,000
John Pavlish - 100,000