Ameristar Casino St. Charles

Photo: Donald Havener

Four players limped in to see a flop, and action was checked to Donald Havener, who fired out a 1,200 bet from the big blind.

Havener only found one call from the player under the gun, and the two went heads-up to the turn.

A 2,000 bet was then tossed into the middle by Havener, and he called a 5,000 raise to see the complete the board on the river.

Havener then kept his foot on the gas, leading out with an uncontested 3,000 bet to win the pot.

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

Wanting to get some for yourself?

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

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 17 $1,110 Missouri Poker State Championship is off and running, with registration and re-entry remaining open through the break after Level 12 (approximately 10:40 PM).

Day 1b of the MSPT Season 17 $1,110 Missouri Poker State Championship is set to get underway at 2:00 p.m. local time here at the Ameristar Casino and is the second of three starting flights.

Yesterday's starting flight drew 43 total entries with five players punching their way into Sunday's Day 2 when the hard stop was reached with 38:15 remaining in Level 15 (3,000/6,000/6,000).

Last night's fireworks saw MSPT Champ Charlie Dawson bag the chip lead with 458,000, edging out Season 16 Player of the Year Jake Long (401,000) for the top stack thus far.

Others who survived the first flight included Mark Lafata, who put 247,000 in his bag to end the night, while David Short (77,000) and Matthew Spiker (71,000).

Day 1B Schedule

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

Levels increase every 40 minutes during each starting flight, and players receive a 10-minute break after 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.

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, March 28^th, starting at 2:00 p.m.

Once the day has concluded, all remaining players will bag up for the night and combine with Day 1a players for Day 2 action on Sunday, March 29^th, at 11:00 a.m. local time, and will play until a winner is crowned.

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!

MSPT Season 17 Missouri Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

Stay tuned right here at MSPTpoker.com for live updates throughout the entire tournament