The Venetian

Yang Li Bags Top Stack After Day 1A of the MSPT Season 17 $1,100 Nevada Poker State Championship

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 17 $1,100 Nevada Poker State Championship at the Venetian Resort is officially in the books, with 59 total entries tallied, and the talented field that entered came to play as action at the tables proved to be eventful from start to finish.

Only 14 levels were needed to hit 11% of the field, as the hard stop of seven players was reached with 10:32 remaining at 3,000/5,000/5,000, when Yang Li won a race against Brandon In in the final hand of the evening to end the night with 708,000.

Yi was able to distance himself from the rest of the pack by a wide margin, as Spencer Champlin (219,000) was the only other player to clip 200k, while WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Laplante (199,000) and three-time bracelet winner Ryan Leng (192,000) weren’t far behind.

Others who survived the first flight included Giridhar Tatavarti (176,000), Josias Santos (144,000), and two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr (138,000).

Among those to fire and fall in Thursday’s starting flight included two-time MSPT Champ Peixin Liu, Michael Rossitto, two-time bracelet winner Darren Rabinowitz, Natalie Ferguson, and Hayley Hanna, were just a few who took their shot at a bag on Day 1a only to come up short.

All who have yet to advance will have two more starting flights to jump back in the action.

Day 1b will get underway at 11:10 a.m. on Friday, while Day 1c will take place at the same time on Saturday, September 12^th.

Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 9 (approximately 5:55 p.m.) for both flights.

The surviving players from the three starting flights will then return for Day 2 at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, September 13^th at 11:00 a.m. and will play down to a winner.

Join us tomorrow as we continue to bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor!

MSPT Season 17 Nevada Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

End Day 1A Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Yang Li	708,000	545,000
Spencer Champlin	219,000	225,000
Ryan Laplante	199,000	160,000
Ryan Leng	192,000	141,000
Giridhar Tatavarti	176,000	149,000
Josias Santos	144,000	131,000
Shannon Shorr	138,000	130,000

Brandon In Loses Race to Bubble Day 1A

Photo: Brandon In

Yang Li raised to 10,000 from the hijack and then called Brandon In’s 60,000 three-bet jam from the big blind.

Brandon In:
Yang Li:

It was a classic race, with the flop keeping Li in the lead.

The turn then left In needing to connect with either of his two overs on the river, but the completed the board and ended his night on the bubble.

Yang Li - 708,000
Brandon In - 0

Race for Season 17 Player of the Year

MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard continues to lead the Season 17 Player of the Year Leaderboard

The Season 17 POY will earn a $10K Main Event seat

Full Leaderboard

Chip Movers

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Yang Li	410,000	304,000
Spencer Champlin	225,000	250,000
Peixin Liu	184,000	88,000
Ryan Laplante	160,000	118,000
Giridhar Tatavarti	149,000	246,000
Ryan Leng	141,000	182,000
Josias Santos	131,000	227,000
Shannon Shorr	130,000	125,000
Brandon In	117,000	60,000

Yi Fills Up to Drop Rodgers

Photo: Andrew Rodgers

Andrew Rodgers raised all-in for 52,000 from the cutoff, and Yang Li looked him up from the small blind.

Andrew Rodgers:
Yang Li:

Rodgers found himself in a race, only to fall way behind after the flop gave Li a top set of eights.

Running help was then needed for Rodgers to stay alive, but the fell on the turn, leaving him drawing dead to the river.

Yang Li - 304,000
Andrew Rodgers - 0

Don't Miss the Second-Ever Canadian Poker Championship at Playground in Montreal, Canada, October 1-12❗

: Playground Poker Club - Kahnawake (Montreal), Canada

: October 1-12, 2026

: Canadian Poker Championship

: $1,150 Main Event / $1,000,000 GTD

$3,500 MSPT CHAMPIONSHIP SEAT ADDED TO MAIN EVENT 1ST PLACE

: 18 Gold Card Tournaments

Event Schedule: https://msptpoker.com/showpdf.ashx?eventID=667msptpoker.com

Full Spread

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Yang Li	270,000	100,000
Giridhar Tatavarti	246,000	135,000
Peixin Liu	229,000	263,000
Josias Santos	227,000	131,000
Ryan Leng	182,000	190,000
Shannon Shorr	125,000	128,500
Ryan Laplante	118,000	85,000
John Riordan	104,000	60,000
Spencer Champlin	102,000	91,000
Kainoa Nguyen	64,000	127,000
Brandon In	60,000	100,000
Andrew Rodgers	52,000	85,500

MSPT World Rankings!

It’s no surprise that the Josh Reichard currently has the #1 MSPT World Ranking

The Top 64 Players on the World Ranking Leaderboard as of November 9th will compete in an MSPT $20K Heads-Up Freeroll Championship “Winner Take All” during the 2026 MSPT Winter Poker Classic at Running Aces Casino, Hotel & Racetrack in December (bracket format).

Full Leaderboard

Laplante Wins Battle of the Blinds

Photo: Ryan Laplante

Action on the table folded to the small blind, who raised all-in, and WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Laplante looked them up from the big blind.

Opponent:
Ryan Laplante:

Laplante was behind, holding two live cards, but connected with the runout for a knockout.

Ryan Laplante - 170,000