Created (10/17/2026 1:32:08 AM by Anthony Thompson)
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Another full day of action ended at the MSPT 2026 Spade Poker Championship at FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan, after a hard stop at the start of Level 17.
The second of three flights drew a massive 859 entries, bringing the two-day total thus far to 1,384 and blasting past the $1,000,000 GTD with one flight remaining.
Of those 859 entries, only 95 players remained when chips went into bags as Brent Vaalburg (792,000) found himself with a slight edge over Alexander Doroshko (789,000), and MSPT Hall of Famer Chris Moon (744,00) for the top stack of the flight.
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Nick Rigby
Rounding out the top five stacks of the flight were Nicholas Rigby (692,000), Joseph Saltanovitz (689,0000), Jesse Lautner (688,000), Dustin Bowling (656,000), and two-time Player of the Year Umut Ozturk (638,000).
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Two-Time Player of the Year Umut Ozturk
Other who survived the second flight included Brett “Pops” Reichard (501,000), MSPT Champ’s Jeff Copeland (493,000), Kirby Rogers(484,000), Lee Rzentkowski (438,000), Bobby Noel (424,000), Dan Sepiol (399,000), and Jason Zarlenga (338,000) as they are just a few more of the players to add their names to the Day 2 roster, along with the 58 to have already advanced from Day 1a.
MSPT Champ Matt Davis
Much like Day 1a, the final level of the night saw an onslaught of casualties, with players such as MSPT Champ’s Matt Davis, Wes Cannon, and Travis Young 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 Champ Travis Young
The final starting flight will get underway tomorrow at Noon local time, and it will be the last chance for players to punch their ticket into Sunday's Day 2.
Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 12 (approximately 9:30 p.m.).
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.
Tune in to see who makes it through to Day 2.
MSPT 2026 Spade Poker Championship Remaining Schedule
| Date |
Time |
Tournament |
Chips |
Blind Levels |
Gold Card Event |
| 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 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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