Running Aces Casino

Three-Time MSPT Champ Carl Carodenuto Leads 25 Survivors After Day 1A of the MSPT Season 16 Minnesota Poker State Championship!

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 16 $1,110 Minnesota State Poker Championship at Running Aces Casino & Racetrack has come to a close after seeing 219 entrants kick things off.

A full day of action was played to completion with the hard stop of 25 players being reached with 0:40 remaining in Level 15 (3,000/6,000/6,000).

The final level was full of eliminations which saw chip leader three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto’s 300k stack balloon to 912,000 to end the night, leading the first batch of players by a wide margin into Day 2.

Matt Dodd was able to hold onto his steam throughout the day bagging a respectable 584,000, edging out Ezequiel Gonzalez (478,000), Tanner Pray (465,000), and Dennis Stevermer (318,000) as they round out the top five stacks of the flight.

Event #4 Winner Jake Long secured the final elimination of the night to bag 317,000 while two-time MSPT champ Ben Marsh (296,000), five-time MSPT champ Blake Bohn (261,000), back-to-back Player of the Year Umut Ozturk (254,000), Jesse Green (82,000), and fellow MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard (61,000) all found a Day 2 berth.

Among those to try and fall on Day 1a included Yume Carr, Event #3 winner Anthony Kippels, Jesse Scholtes, Robert Schoonover, Ramon Ziadeh and Preston Kesselring, 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 2:00 p.m. local time Friday, while the third and final flight, Day 1c, will take place at noon 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 Running Aces Casino & Racetrack!

MSPT Season 16 Minnesota Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

End Day 1A Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Carl Carodenuto	912,000	700,000
Matthew Dodd	584,000	400,000
Ezequiel Gonzalez	478,000	245,000
Tanner Pray	465,000	290,000
Dennis Stevermer	318,000	265,000
Jacob Long	317,000	175,000
Tria Vue	300,000	250,000
Ben Marsh	296,000	200,000
Malik Zaman	294,000	130,000
Blake Bohn	261,000	147,000
Umut Ozturk	254,000	177,000
Rob Maier	237,000	233,000
Jon Hanner	212,000	235,000
Mike Fennell	211,000	200,000
Bee (Nao) Yang	205,000	225,000
Rory Linton	183,000	160,000
Christopher Francis	172,000	145,000
Brendan Baker	166,000	87,000
Joseph Larson (MN)	147,000	181,000
Takahiro Mizutani	133,000	87,000
Thai Dinh	127,000	165,000
Kaden Becker	114,000	100,000
Jesse Green	82,000	180,000
Josh Reichard	61,000	55,000
Kimberly Naylor	43,000	87,000

Jake Long Burst the Bubble, Play Has Ended

The player under the gun was all in for 123,000 and was called by Event #4 winner Jake Long from the button.

Opponent:
Jake Long:

It was a classic flip with Long calling the correct end as the runout burst the bubble ending play for the night.

Jake Long - 317,000

Another One Bites the Dust, Arribas Straightened Out by Carodenuto

There was all in action after a flop between Mario Arribas from the small blind and three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto from the big blind with Arribas holding the effective stack.

Mario Arribas:
Carl Carodenuto:

Carodenuto rolled over a big blind special and the turn followed by the river sent Arribas packing.

Carl Carodenuto - 700,000
Mario Arribas - 0

No Longer in the Tournament..

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Mario Arribas	0	190,000
Leo Fussy	0	193,000
William Perpich	0	125,000
Anthony Scarborough	0	98,000
Jason Seitz	0	78,700

Season 16 Michigan Poker State Championship Set for May 15th - 18th!

One of the largest $1Ks in the country

$1M GTD Michigan Poker State Championship

: FireKeepers Casino - Battle Creek, MI

: May 15-18, 2025

: $1,110 / $1,000,000 GTD

: https://msptpoker.com/.../book-today-for-the-2025...

msptpoker.com

Carodenuto Rivers Better Flush to Eliminate Baer

Three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto raised and then called Zephaniah Baer’s three-bet jam.

Zephaniah Baer:
Carl Carodenuto:

It was a race with the flop keeping Baer out in front while giving him a gut shot straight draw.

The turn, however, came the giving both players a flush draw with Carodenuto holding the better end and unfortunately for Baer, the completed the board on the river and ended his night.

Carl Carodenuto - 288,000
Zephaniah Baer - 0

Chip Counts & Empty Seats

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Tanner Pray	290,000	142,000
Carl Carodenuto	288,000	250,000
Dennis Stevermer	265,000	205,000
Aaron Massey	249,000	160,000
Ezequiel Gonzalez	245,000	329,000
Mario Arribas	190,000	40,000
Umut Ozturk	177,000	135,000
Marc Harrell	166,000	208,000
Thai Dinh	165,000	136,500
Blake Bohn	147,000	120,000
Malik Zaman	130,000	156,500
Anthony Scarborough	98,000	160,000
Ryan French-Charles	0	45,000
Yi (KitKat) Klassen	0	53,000
Darshan Pathak	0	132,000

Mark Lick Secures First Regional Title!

Over the past week, players have been inside the newly renovated Running Aces Casino & Racetrack in Colombus MN, duking it out for the MSPT Season 16 Minnesota Poker State Championship!

In Event #8: $400 Monster Stack NLH, 338 hunters went to the trenches over a two-day span and created a $111,730 prize pool that paid out the top 38 players.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Matt Dodd (14th Place - $1,477), two-time MSPT champ Tim Thorp (18th Place - $1,258), Vic Peppe (20th Place - $1,149), Jake Long (23rd Place - $875), Leo Fussy (24th Place - $875), and MSPT Hall of Famer Mark Hodge (38th Place - $766).

When the dust settled, Minnesota native Mark Lick was the last man standing, taking home the $25,169 top prize, along with the Sapdey trophy!

Final Table Results

Dodd Sets Up Lawrence for a KO

James Lawrence opened under the gun and found three callers that took to a flop.

Action was checked to Lawrence who moved his 53,000 stack in the middle and was called by the cutoff before Dodd check-jammed for 250,000.

The move led to two quick folds while Lawrence and Dodd tabled their hands.

James Lawrence:
Matt Dodd:

Dodd was ahead holding a set of fours, and the paired the board on the turn leaving Lawrence drawing dead to the river.

Matt Dodd - 400,000
James Lawrence - 0