First-Ever Champion Crowned in MSPT Spade Poker Championship
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The Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) wrapped up the first-ever MSPT Spade Poker Championship at Firekeepers Casino in Michigan for a series that ran Oct. 9-12.
The $1,110 buy-in MSPT Spade Poker Championship offered a $1.5 million guarantee and crushed that with 2,773 entries for a prize pool of $2,688,310. Merritt Kuhn was the last player standing as the Missourian reached a deal with Florida's Raymond Mancini to take home $268,049.
PokerNews was on-site in Michigan, providing video and social media coverage of the series at FireKeepers Casino.
2025 MSPT Spade Poker Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize | POY Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merritt Kuhn | $339,115* | 2,700 |
| 2 | Raymond Mancini | $268,049* | 2,700 |
| 3 | Brian Jones | $172,720 | 2,550 |
| 4 | Michael McFadden | $134,711 | 2,400 |
| 5 | Roger Khoury | $102,343 | 2,250 |
| 6 | Robert Mitchell | $80,853 | 2,100 |
| 7 | Ben Luber | $61,782 | 1,950 |
| 8 | Tony Tran | $47,679 | 1,800 |
| 9 | Anthony Babic | $39,218 | 1,650 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
"Feels Amazing"
Kuhn had $116,586 in Hendon Mob earnings headed into the championship event and more than quadrupled his previous best live cash of $84,267.
“Feels really nice to win one of these finally,” Kuhn told MSPT after the victory. “I’ve been trying for a while now but haven’t had too much luck with no deep runs, so to be able to take this one down that had such a large starting field, feels amazing.”
The first-ever Spade Poker Championship drew all the usual MSPT crushers, including tour Hall of Famers Umut Ozturk (the reigning back-to-back Player of the Year), Aaron Johnson, Chris Moon, Rob WazWaz, Rodger Johnson, Josh Reichard and Gerald Cunniff, who fared the best of the bunch with a 16th-place finish worth $23,101.
Other notable players in the field included WSOP fan favorite Nicholas Rigby, Chicago grinder Jennifer Lin and Aaron Massey.
According to MSPT live updates, Anthony Babic and Tony Tran were the first to go at the final table, followed closely by Ben Luber and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Robert Mitchell.
The eventual champion then caught a run of cards to knock out four straight players. His hot streak culminated with flopping two pair against Mancini's top pair and having his hand hold up to earn the top prize and inaugural Spade Poker Championship trophy.
Kuhn wasn't the only player to win a trophy at Firekeepers Casino. The series kicked off with embattled George Janssen winning Event #1: $400 Ultimate Stack for $18,556.
After that, Marty Masar III topped a field of 338 runners in Event #2: $300 Monster Stack NLH to win $15,000, while the Event #4: $250 Monster Stack NLH and Event #5: $400 Monster Stack NLH titles respectively went to William Webb ($8,932) and Jacob Long ($21,020).
Next up on the MSPT trail is a stop at The Playground in Montreal that will include the $1 million guaranteed Canadian Poker Championship taking place Oct. 15-19.
Take a look at MSPT Spade Poker Championship side event winners in the table below.
2025 MSPT Spade Poker Championship Winners
| Event | Entries | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: $400 Ultimate Stack | 213 | George Janssen | $18,556* |
| Event #2: $300 Monster Stack NLH | 338 | Marty Masar III | $15,000* |
| Event #3: $1,110 Spade Poker Championship | 2,773 | Merritt Kuhn | $339,115* |
| Event #4: $250 Monster Stack NLH | 187 | William Webb | $8,932* |
| Event #5: $400 Monster Stack NLH | 256 | Jacob Long | $21,020 |
*Denotes final table deal
*Photos courtesy MSPT
