Grand Falls Casino

MSPT Champ Mo Nuwwarah Leads the First Batch of 19 After Day 1A

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 17 Grand Falls $1,110 Main Event is in the books, with the first flight tallying 167 runners.

Plenty of players made their way to Grand Falls Casino, creating a room full of MSPT Champs and Hall of Famers.

With chips flying and players dropping throughout the day, play tightened in the later levels, as only 11% of the field found a Day 2 berth, and that mark was reached with 10:00 remaining in Level 16 (4,000/8,000/8,000).

Once players put pens to slips, it was none other than MSPT Champ Mo Nuwwarah who ended up leading the pack of 19 with a whopping 776,000.

Nuwwarah started building his lead during the hand-for-hand with ruthless aggression, and then capped that off by securing the final elimination of defending Champ Siphonh Trant to end the night.

Fuh Nguyen was able to find the second spot on the leaderboard after sitting atop the counts for the majority of the later levels and ended with a respectable 535,000.

A familiar local Josh Thomas was able to hold his own throughout the day as well, finishing the day with 456,000, while MSPT Champ Michael Estes (441,000) and fellow Champ Ryan Skluzak (382,000) rounded out the top five stacks.

Others that advanced included last August’s sixth-place finisher Jon Hanner (325,000), Terence Reid (266,000), John Cap (254,000), MSPT Champ Anthony Scarborough (179,000), and DJ Buckley (106,000).

Among those to try and fall on Day 1a included Kevin Berthelsen, Graham Benyon, Brad Pausch, Daryl Oppelt, and Justin Heilman, to name a few.

All who did not bag will have one more flight to try to do so, which will be held tomorrow, Saturday, March 14^th, at 2:00 p.m. local time.

As usual, the live reporting team will be back at it then, so be sure to come back and see who else adds their name to Sunday's Day 2 roster.

MSPT Season 17 Grand Falls Remaining Schedule

End Day 1A Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Mo Nuwwarah	776,000	260,000
Fuh Nguyen	535,000	470,000
Joshua Thomas	456,000	333,000
Michael Estes (IA)	441,000	454,000
Ryan Skluzak	382,000	330,000
Jon Hanner	325,000	285,000
Arthur Arndt	321,000	230,000
Raymond Rife	282,000	200,000
Terence Reid	266,000	301,000
John Cap	254,000	370,000
Paul Park	200,000	100,000
Anthony Scarborough	179,000	200,000
Brian Wika	143,000	130,000
Qin Chen	129,000	100,000
DJ Buckley	106,000	81,000
Jon Maras	69,000	100,000
Eric Grave	61,000	30,000
Robert Kent	50,000	30,000
Mark Bloomberg	37,000	120,000

Defending Champ Siphonh Tran Bubbles Day 1A

Photo: Siphonh Tran

Defending Champ Siphonh Tran moved his 50,000 stack in the middle from under the gun, and found two callers, which included fellow MSPT Champ Mo Nuwwarah from the big blind.

The board was checked to showdown, and Nuwwarah tabled the best hand holding to send Tran’s out on the bubble, ending play for the evening.

Mo Nuwwarah - 776,000
Siphonh Tran - 0

Buckley Attracts the ladies to Double on the Bubble

Photo: DJ Buckley

DJ Buckley raised all-in for 47,000 from under the gun and was called by Jon Maras from the big blind.

DJ Buckley:
Jon Maras:

Buckley was ahead, holding a strong pair of ladies, and improved after the flop fell, giving him top set.

The dealer then brought a sweat after they turned the , creating possible chop-outs if another diamond were to fall on the river, but the completed the board and secured Buckley his double-up.

DJ Buckley - 100,000
Jon Maras - 90,000

Bloomberg Fades Scary Board to Stay Alive

Photo: Mark Bloomberg

Mark Bloomberg raised all-in from the button, and Josh Thomas looked him up from the big blind.

Mark Bloomberg:
Josh Thomas:

Bloomberg was ahead holding Big Slick, but the flop came with a sweat, as it gave Thomas a club flush draw.

The turn was a good card for Bloomberg, as it gave him top pair to take a commanding lead, and he faded the river to collect a much-needed double.

Josh Thomas - 275,000
Mark Bloomberg - 80,000

Tran Quadruples on the Bubble

Photo: Siphonh Tran

MSPT Champ Siphonh Tran was all-in preflop for 26,000 from the cutoff and found three callers.

The board was checked to the river, where fellow MSPT Champ Mo Nuwwarah fired out a 24,000 bet into the dry pot, pushing out the other two players.

Nuwwarah rolled over , but it was no good, as Tran tabled to collect a quadruple-up.

Siphonh Tran - 110,000

Mahana Runs into Nguyen's Aces, Hand-for-Hand Begins

Photo: Fuh Nguyen

Fuh Nguyen raised from middle position and then called a three-bet Kelly Mahana made from the small blind.

Once the flop hit the felt, Mahana led out with a 50,000 bet, only to have Nguyen raise to 105,000.

Mahana then moved his remaining stack into the middle and was snap-called by Nguyen.

Kelly Mahana:
Fuh Nguyen:

It was a cooler situation for Mahana, as his flopped top pair of kings was trailing Nguyen’s pair of aces, and the turn, followed by the river, ended his night.

Shortly after that hand, WSOP bracelet winner Mike Wilklow was eliminated, leaving 20 players remaining, starting the hand-for-hand process.

Fuh Nguyen - 470,000
Mike Wilklow - 0
Kelly Mahana - 0

Late Night Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Fuh Nguyen	470,000	250,000
Michael Estes (IA)	454,000	368,000
John Cap	370,000	332,000
Joshua Thomas	333,000	275,000
Terence Reid	301,000	418,000
Jon Hanner	285,000	228,000
Mo Nuwwarah	260,000	177,000
DJ Buckley	81,000	70,000
Siphonh Tran	56,000	40,000
Michael Wilklow	0	140,000
Luke Blindert	0	70,000
Kelly Mahana	0	238,000

The MSPT Heads to Ameristar East Chicago April 21st - 26th!

: Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago - East Chicago

: April 21-26, 2026

: $1,110 / $300K GTD Main Event

: $3,500 MSPT Championship Seat ADDED to Main Event 1st Place

: 11 Gold Card Events

: https://msptpoker.com/.../reserve-today-for-the-mspt...

Event Schedule: https://msptpoker.com/showpdf.aspx?eventID=647msptpoker.com

Cannon Jams into Thomas' Ladies

Photo: Wes Cannon

Wes Cannon raised all-in from the small blind, and Josh Thomas looked him up from the big blind.

Wes Cannon:
Josh Thomas:

Thomas woke up with a pair of ladies in the big blind, and the sweaty runout sent Cannon to the rail.

John Thomas - 275,000
Wes Cannon - 0