Sycuan Casino Resort

Kenny Hirose Bags Overall Chip Lead After 22 Players Survive Day 1C

Day 1c of the MSPT Season 16 Sycuan 100 GRAND STACK Series $1,110 Main Event is in the books after drawing 195 entries, the biggest field of all three starting flights, bringing the overall field up to 431.

At the end of the third and final flight, just 22 players bagged and tagged with Kenny Hirose sitting atop the counts with 2,230,000 stack, good enough for the overall chip lead.

The final level of the evening saw an onslaught of casualties which included Jacob Long, MSPT Hall of famer Josh Reichard and Tara Dunn.

Following behind Hirose was Allen Moheimani, who put 1,750,000 in his bag to end the night, while Nan Chen (1,460,000), Jonathan Frisch (1,155,000), & MSPT Hall of Famer Gerald Cunniff (985,000), rounded out the top five stacks of the flight.

They were joined by Brett Parise (950,000), MSPT champ’s Justin Lynch (935,000) & John ‘Farmboy’ Kurfman (905,000), Hal Kilgore (795,000), and fellow MSPT champ Anthony Scarborough(395,000).

Among those to try and fall on Day 1c included 2024 Sycuan Champ Justin Muse, Eddie Pilotin, DJ Buckley, Minnesota Poker Hall of Famer Tony Hartmann, and top Gold Card collector Michael Starek, just to name a few.

The surviving players from all three flights – of which there are 49 (11 from Day 1a, 16 from 1b, and 21 from 1c) – will return at 11:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, September 7^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 Sycuan 100 GRAND STACK Series Remaining Schedule

End Day 1C Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Kenny Hirose	2,230,000	1,900,000
Allen Moheimani	1,750,000	1,600,000
Nan Chen	1,460,000	1,300,000
Jonathan Frisch	1,155,000	370,000
Gerald Cunniff	985,000	560,000
Brett Parise	950,000	1,000,000
Justin Lynch	935,000	380,000
Jake Dollinger	925,000	750,000
Steven Wendroff	915,000	700,000
John 'Farmboy' Kurfman	905,000	1,010,000
Peter Brown	900,000	715,000
William Meeks	895,000	700,000
Tolga Gesli	860,000	540,000
Giovanni Bucciero	835,000	600,000
Hal Kilgore	795,000	700,000
Timoteo Callejo	645,000	505,000
Austin Lake	570,000	667,000
Prakhar Jain	490,000	680,000
Brian Orrico	460,000	600,000
Bradley Miller	400,000	361,000
Anthony Scarborough	395,000	365,000
Carlos Saucedo	160,000	300,000

MSPT Champ Justin Lynch Gets Redemption, Rivers Broadway to Eliminate Taylor Bell on the Bubble

Taylor Bell open-jammed 120,000 under the gun, and MSPT champ Justin Lynch looked him up from the button.

Taylor Bell:
Justin Lynch:

Bell was racing for his tournament life, with not much changing after the flop hit the felt.

The turn, however, brought a sweat as it gave Lynch a ton of outs, and the that fell on the river was on f them, as it gave him the nuts to eliminate Bell on the bubble.

Justin Lynch - 935,000
Taylor Bell - Eliminated

Hand-for-Hand Begins

With 23 players remaining, the hand-for-hand process has started, as only 22 of them will be making it to Day 2.

Day 2 Line Up

So far, 27 players have punched their ticket into Day 2, and the final group of 22 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, September 7^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.

Pearson Dropped in Double Elimination by Parise

Brett Parise raised from late position only to have the cutoff toss out their 155,000 stack into the middle.

Action folded to Nathathai Pearson (pictured above), who called off her 70,000 stack from the small blind, and Parise called to put them both at risk.

Nathathai Pearson:
Cutoff:
Brett Parise:

Parise held the worst hand, but saw a four in the window on the flop to take the lead, while Pearson picked up a Broadway draw.

The dealer then turned the , giving Pearson more outs, but the completed the board on the river and secured Parise the double elimination.

Brett Parise - 1,000,000
Nathathai Pearson - Eliminated

Kozono Doubles Just to Fall Shortly After

James Kozono (pictured above) tossed out his last 65,000 from the button, and Steven Wendroff looked him up from the big blind.

James Kozono:
Steven Wendroff:

Kozono rolled over a dominating hand, and the runout gave him a flush to stay alive, but his short stack wouldn’t last long as he was eliminated a few hands later.

Steven Wendroff - 100,000
James Kozono - Eliminated

Michael Starek Ships Opening Regional Event for Career Score!

For the third and final time this season, the MSPT is back at Sycuan Casino & Resort in San Diego, CA, for the 100 GRAND STACK Series!

Kicking off the 24-Gold Card event series was the $400 NLH 100 GRAND STACK Regional, which tallied an impressive 409 entrants through four starting flights.

A $135,515 prize pool was generated and divided out between the 46 Day 2 players who had their eyes set on the title.

Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Amy Devaudreuil (10^th Place - $2,156), MSPT champs Jeff Copeland (17^th Place - $1,483) & Derrick Yamada (19^th Place - $1,267), Eddie Pilotin (27^th Place - $943), and Steve Buell (31^st Place - $809).

After a long day on the felt, it was none other than Michael Starek who navigated his way to the finish line to capture a career score of $29,650 first-place prize along with the 100 GRAND STACK Regional title!

Final Table Results

Late Night Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Allen Moheimani	1,600,000	1,770,000
Nan Chen	1,300,000	860,000
John 'Farmboy' Kurfman	1,010,000	420,000
Brett Parise	1,000,000	1,340,000
Peter Brown	715,000	450,000
Hal Kilgore	700,000	280,000
Prakhar Jain	680,000	615,000
Gerald Cunniff	560,000	305,000
Timoteo Callejo	505,000	740,000
Nathathai Pearson	405,000	620,000
Justin Lynch	380,000	220,000
Jonathan McGowan	0	255,000
Jacob Long	0	255,000
Josh Reichard	0	185,000
James Kozono	0	100,000
Tara Dunn	0	340,000
Gabriel Habbaba	0	340,000
Michael Hindi	0	570,000

Wisconsin Poker State Championship Set for Sept 30 - Oct 5!

Gerald Heath was the last to earn the Wisconsin Poker State Championship title in 2019IT IS BACK

$1,000,000 GTD Main Event & 11 Gold Cards to be awarded

: Potawatomi Hotel & Casino - Milwaukee, WI

: Sept. 30 - Oct. 5, 2025

: 2025 Wisconsin Poker State Championship

: $1M GTD Main Event

: 11 Gold Card Events

: msptpoker.com/Magazine/book-…

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