Riverside Casino

Two-Time MSPT Champ Taylor Howard Bags Overall Chip Lead to Take into Day 2

Day 1c was the final starting flight of the MSPT Season 16 Iowa Poker State Championship at Riverside Casino and attracted a final 409 runners, which, along with 1a's 128 and 1b’s 278, brought the total field up to 815 entries, shattering the $500k guarantee.

The impressive field generated a $789,494 prize pool, paying out a minimum of $2,047, while the eventual winner will walk away with a $153,551 first-place prize, along with the MSPT Season 16 Iowa Poker State Championship!

At the end of the third and final flight, just 45 players bagged and tagged with two-time MSPT champ Taylor Howard bagging the overall chip lead.

Howard was seen building a top stack throughout the day and took a few hits at the end of the night, but was still able to bag the top stack of 683,000.

WSOP bracelet winner Chad Holloway had his fair share of battles throughout the day. After getting coolered early on, he was able to keep his composure and went on a late-night heater to take the second-overall stack into Day 2 with 664,000.

Three-time MSPT champ Nick Barksdale (624,000) is no stranger at making a Day 2 appearance here at Riverside, as the former champ is looking to make a three-peat here after winning the event back in November of 2023, and 2024.

Minnesota’s Jay Chaudhary also found himself in the 600k club as he was able to bag 623,000 at the end of the night, while WSOP bracelet winner TJ Murphy rounded out the top five stacks with 600,000 himself.

Others who survived the third and final flight included Greg Wood (549,000), Jeremy Ferguson (532,000),(219,000), MSPT Hall of Famer Richard Alsup (272,000), DJ Buckley (262,000), two-time MSPT champ David Gonia (169,000), and MSPT champ Bee Yang (102,000).

Among those to try and fall on Day 1c included MSPT Hall of Famer DQ Dan Hendrickson, Tony Olguin, Jason Crews, Ryan Eamon, Sam DeSilva, and defending champ Matt Porter, just to name a few.

The surviving players from all three flights – of which there are 91 (15 from Day 1a, 31 from 1b, and 46 from 1c) – will return at 11:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, July 27^th, to play down to a winner.

The MSPT live reporting crew will be on the floor throughout the remainder of the tournament to provide updates, so keep it here to catch the action!

MSPT Season 16 Iowa Poker State Championship Schedule

End Day 1C Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Taylor Howard	683,000	570,000
Chad Holloway	664,000	700,000
Nick Barksdale	628,000	865,000
Jay Chaudhary	623,000	470,000
TJ Murphy	600,000	400,000
Gregory Wood	549,000	260,000
Jeremy Ferguson	532,000	515,000
Matthew Rothschild	420,000	420,000
Trey Bartlett	370,000	260,000
John Pierce	369,000	218,000
Ryan Kinder	368,000	368,000
Caleb Gilham	367,000	367,000
Abbas Pasha	365,000	365,000
Justin Coliny	343,000	407,000
Charles Telle	326,000	190,000
Colin Lovelock	298,000	298,000
Truman Johnson	288,000	288,000
Garrett Riley	287,000	287,000
Mike Hancock	283,000	290,000
Richard Alsup	272,000	220,000
Steven Dill	262,000	262,000
DJ Buckley	262,000	140,000
Dan Sun	249,000	292,000
Jake Wilding	232,000	160,000
William Luciano	223,000	250,000
Kanat Ozturk	220,000	251,000
Aaron Knudson	203,000	76,000
Ty Robertson	201,000	201,000
Daniel McCulley	175,000	175,000
David Gonia	169,000	240,000
Sherry Hammers	158,000	116,000
Benjamin Frye	147,000	150,000
Jay (Umesh) A	145,000	145,000
Jessica Anderson	135,000	140,000
Erik Burton	126,000	126,000
Shawn Thielemann	117,000	117,000
Brady Ward	104,000	104,000
Bee (Nao) Yang	102,000	120,000
Jack Gray	90,000	90,000
Keith Bernes Jr	76,000	76,000
Josh Fordyce	70,000	70,000
Lucas Kulbe	61,000	61,000
Bryan White	43,000	43,000
John Kurfman	37,000	750,000
Ryan York	29,000	29,000

MSPT Champ Chris Audrain Eliminated on the Bubble in Brutal Fashion

MSPT champ Chris Audrain tossed out his last 22,000 from middle position, and action folded to Ryan Kinder, who looked him up from the big blind.

Chris Audrain:
Ryan Kinder:

Audrain rolled over a dominating ace and connected with the sweaty flop that gave both players a Broadway draw.

However, things took a turn for the worse after the was turned, as it gave Kinder the spade flush draw, and Adrain exclaimed, “No, not like this”, just before the dealer dropped the on the river, ending his night on the bubble.

Ryan Kinder - 368,000
Chris Audrain - Eliminated

Holloway Turns a Full House to Double on the Bubble

WSOP bracelet winner Chad Holloway opened for 16,000 from middle position and was called by William Luciano from the cutoff.

The flop fell and Holloway check-called a 25,000 bet from Luciano, bringing the turn.

This time, Holloway check-jammed for 296,000 after Luciano fired out a 65,000 bet and was snap-called.

Chad Holloway:
William Luciano:

Holloway rolled over sixes full of kings and faded the river to collect the massive double-up.

Chad Holloway - 700,000
William Luciano - 250,000

Day 2 Line Up

So far, 46 players have punched their ticket into Day 2, and the final group of 45 hopefuls will look to add their names to that list tonight.

All who make it through until the end of play will return tomorrow, Sunday, July 27^th, at 11:00 a.m. for Day 2, where the remaining players from all starting flights will combine and play until a winner is declared.

Hand-for-Hand Begins

With 46 players remaining, the hand-for-hand process has now begun, as only 45 of them will advance to Day 2.

Late Night Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Nick Barksdale	865,000	607,000
Taylor Howard	570,000	701,000
Jay Chaudhary	470,000	401,000
William Luciano	470,000	240,000
TJ Murphy	400,000	98,000
Chad Holloway	350,000	270,000
Trey Bartlett	260,000	150,000
Kanat Ozturk	251,000	236,000
David Gonia	240,000	270,000
Richard Alsup	220,000	360,000
John Pierce	218,000	150,000
Benjamin Frye	150,000	317,000
Jessica Anderson	140,000	250,000
DJ Buckley	140,000	167,000
Bee (Nao) Yang	120,000	187,000
Chris Audrain	54,000	107,000
Jimmy Dennis	0	130,000
Josh Reichard	0	47,000
Tom Hammers	0	160,000
Steve W	0	230,000
Kyle Wagner	0	88,000

Season 16 ICON Standings

After securing his second title and the first-ever Heart Poker Championship at the Venetian Las Vegas, MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard has climbed into the top spot of the Icon leaderboard at the halfway mark, and his recent victory also put him second in the POY standings.

Full Icon Leaderboard

Knudson Secures a Near Triple with Kings, Eliminates Tom Hammers in the Process

There was three-way all-in action preflop between two-time MSPT champ Taylor Howard from middle position, Aaron Knudson from late position, and Tom Hammers from the button, with Hammers holding the effective stack.

Tom Hammers:
Aaron Knudson:
Taylor Howard:

Knudson was ahead holding a premium hand of kings, and faded the runout to collect Hammers’ remaining chips, while also collecting 82,000 from Howard.

Taylor Howard - 635,000
Aaron Knudson - 260,000
Tom Hammers - Eliminated

Lucky Sevens Secure Sherry Hammers a KO

Sherry Hammers raised from middle position, and then called the small blinds 49,000 three-bet jam.

Opponent:
Sherry Hammers:

It was a race with Hammers falling behind after the flop fell, giving her opponent trip queens.

The turn didn’t change a thing, but the river did as it gave Hammers a full house to eliminate her opponent.

Sherry Hammers - 170,000