The MSPT returned to FireKeepers Casino for the final time this season to host the Season 15 Michigan Poker State Championship, and the turnout was another mouth dropper.

The $1,110 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD Main Event was one to remember, as a total of 2,819 entries (600 from Day 1a; 1,012 from 1b; 1,207 from 1c) were tallied, which put it just behind the venue’s record field of 2,883 set last October.

After an action-packed weekend, it was MSPT newcomer Nick Murray who emerged victorious to claim his first MSPT title along with a career-best $295,494 first-place prize.

“This is a dream come true,” said the newly crowned champ after his victory, “My previous best cash before this was $8,700 so I’m feeling on top of the world.”

Murray continued, “I literally flipped a quarter to come here, and I ran it up so I couldn’t be happier.”

The Michigan native finished by saying, “To say that I came in first place out of 2,819 is honestly a lot to take in, but I’ve been working on my game for years now and it just means a lot to me to be called a champion.”

MSPT Season 15 Michigan State Poker Championship Final Table Results

*denotes ICM deal

Final Day Action

The final day came back with all 309 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with players liked MSPT champ Satish Thakur, Brad Sailor, Blake Whittington, and fellow MSPT champ Alex Cruz all falling in the first batch of eliminations.

The rush of players to the payout line continued with MSPT champ’s Jonathan Lewis, (234th Place $2,571), Chris Moon (233rd Place $2,571), Michael Berk (228th Place $2,571), and Max Havlish (218th Place $2,571) all had their final day cut much shorter than anticipated.

With players dropping like wildfire, MSPT Hall of Famer Umut Ozturk was still in the mix building a stack but ultimately walked away with his 15th cash this season in 132nd place finish for $3,789

With the march to the final table in full swing, others to fall along the way albeit with a payday, were Season 14 Michigan Poker State Champion Travis Young (125th place - $3,789), MSPT Hall of Famer Richard Alsup (120th place - $3,789), MSPT top casher DJ Buckley (78th place - $4,874), MSPT champ Hall of Famer’s Aaron Johnson (23rd place - $16,240) & Patrick Steele (15th place - $25,712), along with MSPT champ’s Danny Sepiol (13th place - $25,712), and Angela Jordison (10th place - $3,2478).

Final Table Action

Once players took their seats at the final table, it didn't take long for action to kick into gear with a three-way all in which led to MSPT Hall of Famer Rob WazWaz taking a quick exit after notching his record 20^th final table appearance on the tour.

Shortly after WazWaz’s departure, Mike Iacovone found himself on a losing end of a race against MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard who turned around and dropped Tim Capretta with a made hand of nines.

Six-handed action saw Reichard and Nicola DiTrapani holding over half of the chips in play and the two big stacks got into a monster hand which saw DiTrapani river a set of kings to take a commanding chip lead while Reichard dropped to the bottom of the counts.

Reichad was able to chip-up a little but rand his pocket nines into Murray’s pocket queens and took a sixth place exit for $86,609 as he jumped into the top spot in both the tight 2024 ICON standings as well as the Player of the Year standings.

After catching an early triple-up at the start of the final table, Dapreesch Scates wasn’t able to get much traction going afterwards and watched his stack dwindle to a fifth place finish for $108,261.

With four players remaining, it didn’t take long before an ICM chop was discussed but it got shot down by Murray as he wanted to play for the title.

After the chop was denied, short-stack Amir Kamari got his chips in good holding ace-queen only to get straightened out by David Evans to take a fourth place finish for $140,739.

Three-way action then saw chips shuffle around the table for a few levels which prompted another ICM which came to an agreement as long as they played for the title.

Once the agreement came to be, action hit a new gear as each player got their chips in the middle multiple times which eventually saw Evans make a third place departure for $212,849 while DiTrapani took a runner-up finish for $295,492.

This wraps up our coverage of yet another amazing tournament so make sure you join us next when we make our way back to Riverside, Iowa for their $1,110 Main Event at the Riverside Casino October 29th - November 3rd!