The MSPT returned to FireKeepers Casino for the final time this season to host the first-ever MSPT Spade Poker Championship, and the turnout was another mouth dropper.
The $1,110 buy-in, $1,500,000 GTD Main Event was one to remember, as a total of 2,773 entries were tallied, generating an impressive $2,688,310 prize pool.
After an action-packed weekend, it was recent MSPT grinder Merritt Kuhn who emerged victorious to claim his first MSPT MAJOR title along with a career-best $339,115 first-place prize.
“Feels really nice to win one of these finally,” Kuhn stated after his victory, “I’ve been trying for a while now but haven’t had too much luck with no deep runs, so to be able to take this one down that had such a large starting field, feels amazing.”
While it may have taken Kuhn a while to finally get the deep run he was looking for, his persistence paid off, as he took down one of the largest tournaments in the Midwest for a career score, and the first-ever MSPT MAJOR Spade Championship!
Final Day Action
The final day came back with all 307 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with players like WSOP bracelet winner Katie Kopp, two-time MSPT champ Greg Himmelbrand, Nicholas Rigby, and back-to-back Player of the Year Umut Ozturk all falling in the first batch of eliminations.
The rush of players to the payout line continued with fellow MSPT Hall of Famers Aaron Johnson, (255th Place $2,418), Chris Moon (179th Place $2,686), Rob WazWaz (166th Place $2,571), and Rodger Johnson (120th Place $3,358), all had their final day cut much shorter than anticipated.
With the march to the final table in full swing, others to fall along the way albeit with a payday, were Season seven FireKeepers champ Aaron Massey (89th Place - $4,566), MSPT champ Bee Yang (60th Place - $6,581), three-time MSPT champ Nick Barksdale (48th Place - $7,521), two-time MSPT champ Chris Meyers (46th place - $7,521), along with MSPT Hall of Famer’s Josh Reichard (39th Place - $8,999), and Gerald Cunniff (16th Place - $23,101).
Final Table Action
Once players took their seats at the final table, it didn't take long for action to kick into gear with short-stack Anthony Babic taking off for a race against Brian Jones only to come up short to become the first final table elimination.
Once Babic hit the deck, Tony Tran would fall to the same fate after he lost a race to Raymond Mancini, while Ben Luber and WSOP bracelet winner Robert Mitchell fell in quick succession shortly after.
The fast-paced action would continue, as soon-to-be champ Kuhn would catch a run of cards that would see him eliminate Roger Khoury in fifth place ($102,343), Michael McFadden in fourth place ($134,711), Jones in third place ($172,720), and Mancini in second place for $268,029, en route to claiming the inagural Spade Poker Championship trophy!
This wraps up our coverage of yet another amazing tournament, so make sure you join us next when we cross the U.S. border for the first time in tour history, as we are headed to The PlayGround in Montreal, for the $1,000,000 GTD Canadian Poker Championship, October 15th - 19th, and as always, our live reporting team will be on hand providing updates so make sure to come back and tune in!