Created (1/30/2026 11:30:37 PM by Anthony Thompson)
Another full day of action was played to its conclusion at the inaugural $1,100 Diamond Poker Championship MAJOR Event at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, after a hard stop was reached at the end of Level 16.
The second of three flights drew a massive 1,106 entries, bringing the two-day total thus far to 1,823 and blasting past the $1,000,000 GTD with one flight remaining.
Of those 1,106 entries, only 122 players remained when chips went into bags as Brett McCollum topped the milly mark to lead the bunch with a massive 1,313,000.
Thu Nguyen
Dardon is the only player to clip the milly mark after two flights, while Thu Nguyen (976,000), Hector Rodriguez (920,000), Rita Youna (906,000), and Robby McClintock (905,000) all bagged over 900k to round out the top five stacks of the night.
MSPT Champ Antonio Vargas
Several other familiar players will also join the five mentioned above. MSPT champ Antonio Vargas (652,000), fellow champ Michael Estes (524,000), Jennifer Armijo (411,000), John Ciccarelli (390,000), MSPT champ Dan Goepel (270,000), WSOP bracelet winner Chad Holloway (246,000), Hayley Hanna (241,000), and Season 12 Player of the Year Kyna England (189,000) are just a few more of the players to add their names to the Day 2 roster, along with the 79 to have already advanced from Day 1a.
Season 12 Player of the Year Kyna England
Much like Day 1a, the final level of the night saw an onslaught of casualties, with players such as MSPT champ’s Zilong Zhang, James Anderson, and Aaron Massey among those to be eliminated before play concluded for the night with chips flying all across the remaining tables in the final level of play that led to a lot of players riding roller coasters with their stack sizes before becoming official for the evening.
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MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Massey
The final starting flight begins tomorrow at 10:15 a.m. local time and will be the last chance for players to punch their ticket to Sunday's Day 2.
Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 12 (approximately 7:15 p.m.)
Make sure to tune in to see who makes it through to Day 2.
MSPT Season 17 Diamond Poker Championship Remaining Schedule
| Date |
Time |
Tournament |
Chips |
Blind Levels |
Gold Card Event |
| 31-Jan |
10:15 AM |
$1,100 Diamond Poker Championship NLH Day 1C (2-Day Event) |
30,000 |
40 Minutes |
4C |
| 1-Feb |
10:15 AM |
$1,100 Diamond Poker Championship NLH Day 2 (2-Day Event) |
- |
40 Minutes |
4 |
| 1-Feb |
1:00 PM |
$300 Monster Stack NLH |
30,000 |
30 Minutes |
6 |