What a great turn-out for the Michigan State Poker Championship at Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek, which has become one of the top spots on the Mid-Stakes Poker Tour. And congrats goes to Nick Murray, who won $295,494 for topping a field of 2,819 in the $1,110 headliner.
It’s his largest score by about $290,00.
“This is a dream come true. My previous best cash before this was $8,700 so I’m feeling on top of the world,” Murray told MSPT reporters after the win. “I literally flipped a quarter to come here, and I ran it up so I couldn’t be happier.”
Murray said a lot of that money will go towards finishing a years-long home renovation.
“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.”
While Murray gets his picture in articles and quoted in poker rags, it could have easily been Nicola Ditrapani, who won $295,492 for second ($2 less than the 2024 State Champion), or David Evans, who won $212,849 for third. That’s because once it got down to three-handed, the players chopped, but still agreed to play for the trophy and title.
This was Ditrapani’s largest cash by $210,00, so this next part off the sentence is pretty amazing: The finish pushed him over the $1 million in tourney cash mark, according to the Hendon Mob. His results there go back 12 years.
A chop was rejected with four players remaining. Amir Kamari, who was that guy, still cashed a healthy $140,739.
Kamari also beat his best cash by a ton ($120,000). The cash pushed him over the quarter-milly mark with most of them coming within the last three years.
Dapreesch Scates finished fifth for $108,261. His previous best of $46,356 came by winning a $1,100 turbo event at the Wynn Summer Classic in June.
Joshua Reichard, his 15 World Series of Poker Circuit rings and more than $4 million in tournament winnings, was the sixth place finisher ($86,609). You better believe the players were glad to see him go.
Seventh was Timothy Capretta, who added another $67,663 to his tournament tally that is only $8,000 short of $1 million.
Michael Iacovone, a regular on the MSPT, also scored his career-best by finishing eighth for $51,153.
Rounding out the top nine was Rajaee “Robbie” Wazwaz. The man with the mirrored last name pushed his lifetime tourney stack over the $2.6 million mark with the $40,598 he took out of Michigan.
The top 309 cashed at least $2,200. The event took place Oct. 10-13.
The next main event starts Oct. 31, at The Riverside Casino in Iowa. Satellites as low as $70 are already running for the $1,110 headliner and its $300,000 guarantee. View the complete schedule here.
