Created (10/16/2026 12:53:23 AM by Anthony Thompson)
Day 1a of the MSPT Season 17 Spade Poker Championship at FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan, is in the books, with the first flight tallying 525 total entries, and the large field that entered came to play as action at the tables proved to be eventful from start to finish.
Almost 16 full levels were needed to hit the hard stop of 58 players as 13:11 minutes remained (4,000/8,000/8,000) when pens hit the slips, with Wayne Smith seizing the top spot with a whopping 998,000, edging out last year’s final tablist Anthony Babic (859,000).
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Anthony Babic
California’s Chad Lipton was able to run up a healthy 699,000 stack, while defending champ Merritt Kuhn sat behind him with 667,000, and Tim Todd (631,00), was the only other to clip the 600k mark, as they rouned out the top five stack of the flight.
MSPT Hall fo Famer Kou Vang
Other players to survive included Scott Sisler (449,000), MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang (383,000), reigning Player of the Year Jake Long (356,000), two-time Player of the Year Umut Ozturk (210,000), MSPT Hall of Famer Richard Alsup (192,000), and the MSPT’s top casher DJ Buckley (179,000), just to name a few.
Two-Time MSPT Champ Lee Rzentkowski
Others who took their shot but fell on 1a include WSOP bracelet winner Keven Stammen, MSPT Hall of Famers Pat Steele, & Aaron Johnson, along with former two-time champs Bobby Noel, Lee Rzentkowski, and Ken Baime.
Two-Time MSPT Champ Ken Baim
Those players, as well as any newcomers, have two more starting flights to jump back into action.
This is a best-stack forward event: If a player qualifies for Day 2 more than once, they may only play the higher chip stack; any lower stack(s) will be removed from play at the start of Day 2 and receive the lowest Day 2 payout.
Player of the Year points will only be awarded for the higher stack. Players will only receive credit for a single MSPT Main Event cash finish.
Day 1b kicks off at Noon local time on Friday, while the third and final flight, Day 1c, takes place at the same time on Saturday.
The surviving players from each flight will then return at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday to play down to a winner.
Join us tomorrow as we bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor at FireKeepers Casino!
MSPT 2026 Spade Poker Championship Remaining Schedule
| Date |
Time |
Tournament |
Chips |
Blind Levels |
Gold Card Event |
| 16-Oct |
10:00 AM |
$265 Milestone Satellite - 1 in 5 advance to Main Event |
30,000 |
20 Minutes |
| 16-Oct |
12:00 PM |
$1,110 Spade Poker Championship NLH Day 1B (2-Day Event) |
30,000 |
40 Minutes |
5B |
| 16-Oct |
5:00 PM |
$265 Milestone Satellite - 1 in 5 advance to Main Event |
30,000 |
20 Minutes |
| 16-Oct |
8:00 PM |
$250 Nightly NLH |
20,000 |
20 Minutes |
7 |
| 17-Oct |
12:00 PM |
$1,110 Spade Poker Championship NLH Day 1C (2-Day Event) |
30,000 |
40 Minutes |
5C |
| 17-Oct |
8:00:00 PM |
$250 Nightly NLH |
20,000 |
20 Minutes |
8 |
| 18-Oct |
10:00 AM |
$1,110 Spade Poker Championship NLH Day 2 (2-Day Event) |
- |
40 Minutes |
5 |
| 18-Oct |
12:00 PM |
$400 Monster Stack NLH |
30,000 |
30 Minutes |
9 |
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