Potawatomi Casino

Day 1a of the MSPT $1,110 Main Event has come to an end at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, with the opening flight tallying 255 entries to kick things off.

With action needing to play down to 11% of the field, with 16 levels required to hit that mark, with the hard stop being reached with 1:58 remaining at 4,000/8,000/8,000.

When chips finally went into bags, it was Harry Demlang who found himself atop the chip counts, leading the 29 advancing players after putting a whopping 913,000 on his slip to end the night, bagging nearly double that of MSPT Champ Travis Young (514,000), who secured the final elimination of the night to clip the half-milly mark.

Rounding out the top five stacks after the first flight were two-time MSPT Champ Lee Rzentkowski (429,000) Michael Du Charme (418,000), and Songjie Zhou (389,000).

They were joined by David McGowan (368,000), WSOP bracelet winner’s Brad Jansen (264,000), Brian Altman (252,000), Mike Wilklow (154,000), and MSPT Champ Dan Goepel (43,000), as they all found a Day 2 berth after the first flight.

Among those to try and fall on Day 1a included Dave Kenniston, Allen Pritchett, Dan Meyers, Nathan Rivera, and James Gregg, just to name a few.

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

Day 1b will kick off at noon 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 11:00 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 at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino!

MSPT Season 17 Potawatomi Festival Remaining Schedule

Stay tuned for all updates on this event only on MSPTPoker.com.

Photo: Jamie Payne

Jamie Payne raised all-in for 100,000 from middle position, and action folded to MSPT Champ Travis Young, who called from the big blind.

Jamie Payne:
Travis Young:

Payne rolled over a dominated hand, but the runout ended his night on the bubble.

Travis Young - 514,000
Jamie Payne - 0

After a 7th place finish last month at Riverside Casino & Golf Resort for $17,923 and three more cashes at Running Aces Casino & Racetrack last month, Hall of Famer Kou Vang holds the top spot on the all-time MSPT Earnings Leaderboard, having amassed 1,057,758

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

With 30 players remaining, the hand-for-hand process has begun, as only 29 will make it to Day 2.

Photo: Brad Jansen

The hijack raised, only to have Season 16 Player of the Year Jake Long three-bet jam from the button, and WSOP bracelet winner Brad Jansen call off his 22,000 stack from the big blind.

Action then folded back to the initial raiser, who called to put both players at risk, and all three hands were tabled.

Brad Jansen:
Jake Long:
Hijack:

Jansen was ahead, holding a strong suited ace, and the runout secured him a triple-up, while Long lost his remaining stack, ending his night a few spots shy of the bubble.

Brad Jansen - 66,000
Jake Long - 0

: 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

Photo: Daniel Johnson

There was all-in action preflop between Daniel Johnson and the hijack, with Johnson holding 66,000 effective.

Daniel Johnson:
Opponent:

It was a classic, with the flop pairing Johnson’s king, giving him the lead.

The turn was a safe card for Johnson, and the river secured his double-up.

Daniel Johnson - 135,000