Potawatomi Casino

Day 1a of the MSPT 2026 Wisconsin Poker State Championship has come to an end at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, with the opening flight tallying 293 entries to kick things off.

With action needing to play down to 11% of the field, almost full 16 levels were required to hit that mark, with the hard stop being reached with 17:40 remaining at 4,000/8,000/8,000.

When chips finally went into bags, it was Michael Smith who found himself atop the chip counts, leading the 33 advancing players after putting a respectable 771,000 on his slip to end the night, edging out Jay Payne (632,000) and MSPT champ Craig Trost (607,000) as they were the only others to clip the 600k mark.

Rounding out the top five stacks after the first flight was Rinaldo Teodoro (595,000) & WSOP bracelet winenr Will Givens (578,000), who secured the final elimination on the night, while Imran Sajwani (571,000), and MSPT Champ Wes Cannon (548,000) passed the half-milly marker for Day 2.

Others who found a Day 2 berth included two-time MSPT champ Jeremy Dresch (454,000), 2023 Michigan Poker State Champion Travis Young (383,000), WSOP bracelet winner Mike Wilklow (375,000), Loren Rice (331,000), and fellow bracelet winner Chad Holloway (88,000).

Among those to try and fall on Day 1a included Dejuante Alexander, Shane Thorne, Maxwell Sheridan, Kevin Andriamahefa, and Steven Dembiec, just to name a few.

Those players, as well as any newcomers, have two more starting flights to jump back into action.

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.

Day 1b will kick off at noon local time on Friday, while the third and final flight, Day 1c, will take place at the same time on Saturday.

The surviving players from each flight will then return at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday to play down to a winner.

Join us tomorrow as we continue to bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino!

MSPT Season 17 Wisconsin Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

Stay tuned for all updates on this event only on MSPTPoker.com.

Action on the table folded to Luyt Tran in the small blind, and WSOP bracelet winner Will Givens looked at him and said, “You wanna run it?”

Tran responded with an all-in bet, and Givens replied, “Hold up,” looked at his hand and snap-called from the big blind.

Luyt Tran:
Will Givens:

It was a cooler situation for Tran, as Givens rolled over the better hand, and the runout ended his night on the bubble.

Will Givens - 578,000
Luyt Tran - 0

Photo: Randy Hurst

WSOP bracelet winner Will Givens opened under the gun for 17,000 and Randy Hurst tossed out his 16,000 stack from the hijack.

Both Jay Payne and Luyt Tran called from the blinds, checking down the board with Givens.

Hurst showed after seeing each of opponents didn’t hold a pair, and collected a much-needed quadruple-up.

Randy Hurst - 70,000

Photo: Tim Kelly

Action on the table folded to Tim Kelly, who raised all-in for 71,000 from the button, and two-time MSPT Champ Jeremy Dresch looked him up from the big blind.

Tim Kelly:
Jeremy Dresch:

Kelly was ahead holding an ace, and that was all he needed, as the runout secured his double on the bubble.

Jeremy Dresch - 375,000
Tim Kelly - 150,000

Last year’s MSPT Spade Poker Championship attracted 2,773 runners, and it was Merritt Kuhn of St. Louis, MO, who secured $339,115

DON’T MISS THIS ONE

: FireKeepers Casino - Battle Creek, MI

: October 13-18, 2026

: Spade Poker Championship (MAJOR)

: $1,110 Main Event / $1,000,000 GTD

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

: 9 Gold Card Tournaments

: Coming Soon

Event Schedule: https://msptpoker.com/showpdf.ashx?eventID=518

Photo: Matt Shepsky

WSOP bracelet winner Matt Shepsky raised all-in from middle position and Dan Schill went over the top from the hijack, giving him isolation.

Matt Shepsky:
Dan Schill:

Shepsky rolled over a dominatede hand, and wasn’t able to find a lucky lady on the sweaty runout, as his night came to an end, starting the hand-for-hand process with 34 players remaining.

Dan Schill - 200,000
Matt Shepsky - 0

Photo: Matt Schurter

With one player already all-in, there was heads-up action between Luyt Tran from under the gun and Matt Schruter from the small blind, with a board showing.

Schurter checked to Tran, who went all-in, and Schurtyer snapped-off his 47,000 stack.

Opponent:
Matt Schurter:
Luyt Tran:

Schurter turned a lucky seven to take a commanding lead, and the river secured him the pot.

Matt Schurter - 230,000
Luyt Tran - 130,000

Photo: Stefan Durkot

Stefan Durkot raised all-in from middle position and action on the table folded to Carmen Laporte, who looked him up from the big blind.

Stefan Durkot:
Carmen Laporte:

Durkot was ahead holding an ace, and the flop kept him in the lead.

The then double-paired the board on the turn and just when Durkot was looking good to score a double, the came crashing down on the river and ende dhis night.

Carmen Laporte - 300,000
Stefan Durkot - 0