Nick Murray Wins MSPT Championship

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.

Nick Murray wins the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) main event held at Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan, which also served as the Michigan State Poker Championship. With major bragging rights on the line, Murray emerged as the champion, taking home an impressive $295,494. This was by far the largest win for the Belmont, Michigan resident, whose previous top cash was in the four-figure range.

“This is a dream come true, my previous best cash before this was $8,700 so I’m feeling on top of the world,” said Murray to reporters after the win. He continued, “I literally flipped a quarter to come here, and I ran it up so I couldn’t be happier.”

Reflecting on his victory, Murray added, “Coming in first out of 2,819 players is a lot to process, but I’ve worked hard on my game for years. Being called a champion means so much to me.”

Final Table Action:

Once the final table was set, the action quickly heated up. A three-way all-in resulted in MSPT Hall of Famer Rob WazWaz exiting early, marking his record 20th final table appearance on the tour.

Shortly after WazWaz’s departure, Mike Iacovone lost a key race to fellow Hall of Famer Josh Reichard, who then eliminated Tim Capretta with a hand of pocket nines.

With six players remaining, Reichard and Nicola DiTrapani controlled over half of the chips in play. The two big stacks clashed in a pivotal hand, with DiTrapani rivering a set of kings to seize a commanding lead, leaving Reichard at the bottom of the chip counts. Though Reichard briefly rallied, he eventually ran his pocket nines into Murray’s pocket queens and exited in sixth place with $86,609, propelling him to the top of both the 2024 ICON standings and Player of the Year race.

Dapreesch Scates, who had caught an early triple-up, saw his momentum stall and finished in fifth place for $108,261.

When four players remained, discussions of an ICM (Independent Chip Model) chop surfaced but were quickly shut down by Murray, who wanted to play for the title. Shortly after, Amir Kamari got his chips in with ace-queen but was outdrawn by David Evans, finishing in fourth for $140,739.

As the final three players continued battling, another ICM chop was agreed upon, with the title still in play. The action ramped up, and Evans was the next to exit in third place for $212,849. In the heads-up showdown, DiTrapani finished as runner-up, earning $295,492, while Murray secured the victory and the title.