The Venetian

Valentyn Shabelnyk Leads Final 25 Players After Day 1C of the MSPT Season 17 $1,100 Nevada Poker State Championship

Day 1c of the MSPT Season 17 $1,100 Nevada Poker State Championship at the Venetian Resort attracted another 222 entries, bringing the total field up to 402 entries.

At the end of the third and final flight, just 25 players bagged and tagged, with Valentyn Shabelnyk finding the overall top stack with 734,000, leading the pack into Day 2.

Others to bag big included James Kasin (620,000), Tracey Hill (585,000), Sye Hickey (572,000), and Andrew Rodgers (452,000) as they rounded out the top five stacks of this flight.

They were joined by WSOP bracelet winner Gary Bolden (430,000), two-time MSPT Champ Peixin Liu (332,000), Kelly Mahana (242,000), MSPT Champ Veerab Zakarian (197,000), and Ricky Landais (124,000).

Among those not as lucky at the felt included Season 12 Player of the Year Kyna England, Matt Affleck, WSOP bracelet winner Jean “Prince” Gaspard, two-time WSOP bracelet winner John Riordan, and fellow bracelet winner Kathy Liebert.

The surviving players from all three flights – of which there are 46 (7 from Day 1a, 14 from 1b, and 24 from 1c) – will return for Day 2 at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, Sunday, September 13^th, and will play until seven players remain.

MSPT Season 17 Nevada Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

Congratulations to everyone who made Day 2, we will be back tomorrow for full coverage right here on MSPTPoker.com from the Venetian Las Vegas!

End Day 1C Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Valentyn Shabelnyk	734,000	441,000
James Kasin	620,000	475,000
Tracey Hill	585,000	456,000
Sye Hickey	572,000	432,000
Andrew Rodgers	452,000	514,000
Gary Bolden	430,000	218,000
Peixin Liu	332,000	259,000
Christopher Heltemes	304,000	241,000
Dan Olsen	290,000	250,000
Yoon Cheon	275,000	275,000
Kelly Mahana	242,000	262,000
Robyn Alvis	232,000	272,000
Veerab Zakarian	197,000	267,000
Quang Ngo	174,000	204,000
Hunter Payne	152,000	191,000
Caleb Piderit	143,000	87,000
Tamas Lendvai	127,000	189,000
Ricky Landais	124,000	108,000
Corey Hochman	117,000	304,000
Damon Johnson	117,000	121,000
Preshaylen Pillay	117,000	157,000
Greg Secord	111,000	167,000
Barry Shulman	77,000	97,000
Robert Natividad	61,000	89,000
Justin Young	42,000	201,000

Samuel Laskowitz Bubbles Day 1C

Photo: Samuel Laskowitz

Samuel Laskowitz was all-in for his last 3,000 from the big blind, and a 25,000 raise saw three players take to a flop.

Action was then checked to Sye Hickey, who fired out an uncontested continuation bet, leaving the two players heads-up.

Samuel Laskowitz:
Sye Hickey:

Laskowitz was behind needing help, but running completed the board on the turn and river, ending his night on the bubble.

Sye Hickey - 572,000
Samuel Laskowitz - Eliminated

Hand-for-Hand Begins

After the elimination of Eugenio Cordero, just 26 players remain, meaning the hand-for-hand process has begun, as only 25 of them will be making it to tomorrow’s Day 2.

Fentisov Felted by Young

Photo: Viacheslav Fentisov

Viacheslav Fentisov moved his remaining 36,000 chips into the middle from under the gun, and action quickly folded to Justin Young, who looked him up from the big blind.

Viacheslav Fentisov:
Justin Young:

Fentisov was ahead holding a suited queen, but a jack appeared in the window on the flop, giving Young the lead.

The turn then left Fentisov needing to find a lucky lady on the river, but the completed the board and ended his tournament.

Justin Young - 250,000
Viacheslav Fentisov - Eliminated

$3,500 MSPT Championship Main Event Seat Winners So Far!

These 23 Players have already earned a $3,500 Seat to the $2M GTD RRPO MSPT Championship Main Event

Matthew Wantman

Kevin Meyers

Zilong Zhang

Vincent Moscati

June 'Oh Geez' Kim

Alex Foxen

Umut Ozturk

Jorden Helstern

Aaron Johnson

Wesley Cannon

Michael Estes

Yuchen "Carson" Chen

Lee Rzentkowski

Hamid Izadi

Sai Mudduluru

Peter Walsworth

Adam Walton

Josh Reichard

Andrew "Hunter" Willis

Mo Nuwwarah

Paul Lampl

Kirby Rogers

Jake Long

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL POKER OPEN (RRPO)

MSPT Championship (MAJOR)

: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - Hollywood, FL

: Nov. 18 - Dec. 2, 2026

: $3,500 Main Event (1.5X POY) / $2M GTD (Nov. 27 - Dec. 2)

: MSPT will be ADDING a $3,500 RRPO MSPT Championship Seat to every Main Event 1st Place in 2026

Full Spread

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Andrew Rodgers	514,000	303,000
James Kasin	475,000	282,000
Tracey Hill	456,000	161,000
Valentyn Shabelnyk	441,000	200,000
Sye Hickey	432,000	100,000
Corey Hochman	304,000	380,000
Yoon Cheon	275,000	187,000
Robyn Alvis	272,000	233,000
Veerab Zakarian	267,000	124,000
Kelly Mahana	262,000	237,000
Peixin Liu	259,000	124,000
Dan Olsen	250,000	85,000
Christopher Heltemes	241,000	69,000
Gary Bolden	218,000	220,000
Quang Ngo	204,000	83,000
Justin Young	201,000	240,000
Hunter Payne	191,000	127,000
Tamas Lendvai	189,000	251,000
Greg Secord	167,000	100,000
Samuel Laskowitz	158,000	43,000
Preshaylen Pillay	157,000	148,000
Damon Johnson	121,000	71,000
Eugenio Cordero	110,000	183,000
Ricky Landais	108,000	127,000
Barry Shulman	97,000	150,000
Robert Natividad	89,000	125,000
Caleb Piderit	87,000	187,000
Viacheslav Fentisov	56,000	217,000
DJ Buckley	0	193,000
Kai Yang (NV)	0	282,000

Collopy Loses Race to Liu

Photo: Jim Collopy

Three-time bracelet winner Jim Collopy moved out his 28,000 stack from early position, and two-time MSPT Champ Peixin Liu looked him up from the big blind.

Jim Collopy:
Peixin Liu:

Collopy was racing for his tournament life and gained some traction after the flop came paired, bringing possible counterfeit options.

The turn then added more outs to Collopy’s arsenal, but the river was a brick, ending his tournament.

Peixin Liu - 200,000
Jim Collopy - Eliminated

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

Recent Drop Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Thomas Cheney	0	75,000
James Collopy	0	48,000
Dan Gannon	0	189,000
Salim Majlaton	0	158,000
Evan Sandberg	0	76,000