Created (5/4/2025 9:59:45 PM by Anthony Thompson)
For the second time this season, the MSPT traveled west to the beautiful Sycuan Casino Resort in San Deigo, California, for the 100 GRAND STACK Series!
The 19-trophy event series was headlined by the $1,110 buy-in, $300K GTD 100 GRAND STACK Series Main Event, and a total of 417 entries (82 from Day 1a; 154 from 1b; and 181 from Day 1c) were tallied, generating a $402,990 prize pool.
Sunday saw the final 47 players return for Day 2 action in hopes of claiming the title for themself and after a ten-hour day, it was bracelet winner Brad Gafford who was able to rise to the occasion, securing his first MSPT title, along with a $87,693 first-place prize.
“It has been a really good year for me so far,” Gafford said after his victory, “Being from here, it’s cool to win this one because it's kind of like the hometown kid taking it home.”
Being a San Diego native, Gafford has made it a priority to play the MSPT’s at Sycuan as over the past three years, as he has made three final table appearances with placing seventh then ninth in his last two outings and now, has secured his first MSPT title.”
“It’s definitely another notch on the poker resume for sure,” Gafford continued to add, “I got the bracelet out of the way early and now, I’m just going down the check list.”
MSPT Season 16 Sycuan 100 GRAND STACK Series $1,110 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place |
Player |
Prize |
POY |
| 1 |
Brad Gafford |
$87,693 |
1,500 |
| 2 |
Paul Ewen |
$54,208 |
1,300 |
| 3 |
Jon Larkin |
$39,462 |
1,200 |
| 4 |
Matt Salsberg |
$29,098 |
1,100 |
| 5 |
Kellan Kemp |
$21,923 |
1,000 |
| 6 |
Rich Spirra |
$16,741 |
900 |
| 7 |
Savo Mandrapa |
$13,154 |
800 |
| 8 |
Astivan Batoo |
$10,364 |
700 |
| 9 |
Andrew Merrick |
$7,574 |
600 |
Day 2 Action
The final day came back with all 47 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with Kevin Meyers being the first body to drop followed by MSPT top casher DJ Buckley, and then Stephen Taylor, starting a spree of eliminations.
Stephen Taylor
The next batch of players that followed to the payout desk included the likes of Rip Fritzer (34th Place - $2,392), Jonathan “Cosmo” McGowan (33rd Place - $2,392), Robert Fortuno (31st Place - $2,392), and Joshua Royal (29th Place - $2,392).
2021 Regional Champ Armando Mesina
The fast-paced action continued as 2021 Regional champ Armando Mesina (21st Place - $3,747), last year’s runner-up Peter Cross (16th Place - $4,385), Kelly Mahana (15th Place - $5,182), January’s Regional champ Mo Pourmandi (11th Place - $6,378), and Loyal Sprague (10th Place - $6,378) all fell on the way to the final table.
Last Year’s Runner Up Peter Cross
Final Table Action
Andrew Merrick started the final table at the bottom of the chip counts and became the first elimination after he jammed ace-jack suited into Paul Ewen’s pair of aces while Astivan Batoo failed to crack Jon Larkin’s pocket tens and fell in eighth place.
MSPT champ Savo Mandrapa
There was only one former champ in the field to start the day and that was last January’s winner Savo Mandrapa who was on his quest to secure his second Sycuan title and got his chips in good holding a pair of jacks only to have Ewen flop a set of eights as he made a heartbreaking seventh place exit for $13,154.
After getting a few ladder ups, Rich Spirra finally got his chips in the middle in a battle of the blinds against Ewen, only to come up short to take a sixth place for $16,471.
Kellan Kemp
Kellan Kemp was next on the chopping block after he failed to hit two big draws against Matt Salsberg to take a fifth-place exit for $21,923.
Unfortunately for the Hollywood producer, he would be next to fall after his pocket nines came up short against Larkin’s king-seven suited, as he made a fourth place departure for $29,098.
Matt Salsberg
Salsberg’s exit marked his third final table appearance at Sycuan since 2023 and brought his MSPT career earnings to $123,941.
After eliminating Salsberg, Larkin was still left at the bottom of the chip counts and ended following Salsberg to the payout desk in third place ($39,462) after losing a battle of the blinds to Gafford.
Jon Larkin
The heads-up battle started with each player holding similar stack sizes, and the chips shuffled around with both players catching double-ups until Gafford tripped-up Ewen, sending him home in second place for $54,208 while Gafford secured his first MSPT title, along with $87,693.
This wraps up our coverage for this event but Season 16 of the MSPT continues as we head to FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan for the Michigan Poker State Championship May 15th - 18th and our reporting team will be on hand providing updates so make sure to come back!!