Ameristar East Chicago

Photo: Shreyas Venkatasubram

There was all-in action preflop between Kirby Rogers and Shreyas Venkatasubram, with Venkatasubram holding the effective.

Shreyas Venkatasubram:
Kirby Rogers:

Venkatasubram was at risk holding two live cards, but the flop left him needing running help to stay alive.

Unfortunately for Venkatasubram, the turn left him drawing dead to the river.

Kirby Rogers - 60,000
Venkatasubram - 0

Photo: Allen Pritchett

The player under the gun opened with a raise and then called Allen Pritchett’s 22,000 three-bet jam from the hijack.

Allen Pritchett:
Opponent:

Pritchett found himself in a race, and was able to maintain the lead after the runout, securing his double up.

Allen Pritchett - 45,000

Photo: Richard Crooks

Richard Crooks raised from the hijack, and the big blind defended to see a flop.

Action was checked to Crooks, who fired out a continuation bet, and his opponent check-raised to 6,500.

Crooks called, and the dealer turned the .

This time, Crooks opponent check-called his 5,000 bet, and the completed the board on the river.

Another knock on the table then saw Crooks move his remaining 22,500 into the middle, and it did the trick as his opponent released their hand into the muck.

Richard Crooks - 47,800

For the second time this season, the MSPT made its way to East Chicago for the 2026 Indiana Poker State Championship, and players have been duking it out over the past week inside the Ameristar Casino for its 11-Gold Card Event Series!

Event #1: $300 Epic Stack NLH kicked things off, with 224 epic players taking to the trenches and creating a $54,880 prize pool for the top 24.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Edward Akers (10^th Place - $1,001), defending Indiana Poker State Champion John "Farmboy" Kurfman (14^th Place - $834), Frank Hodits (17^th Place - $723), Jennifer Mandel (21^st Place - $623), and Tan Nguyen (24^th Place - $556).

In the end, it was Jorge Galarza who walked away with the epic victory to take down the lion's share of the prize pool along with his first Gold Card to start the series!

Final Table Results

Photo: Nathan Rivera

There was all-in action preflop between Travia McGirt and Nathan Rivera, with Rivera holding the effective stack.

Nathan Rivera:
Travia McGirt:

Rivera was behind needing help, but wasn’t able to find a lucky lady on the runout, securing McGirt the knockout.

Travia McGirt - 45,600
Nathan Rivera - 0

Photo: Joseph Elpayaa

Travia McGirt raised from middle position and then called Joseph Elpayaa’s 14,400 three-bet jam from the cutoff.

Joseph Elpayaa:
Travia McGirt:

Elpayaa rolled over a dominating hand, and the flop did improve him to trip queens, but it also gave McGirt a Royal Flush draw.

Luckily for Elpayaa, he faded both the turn and river to collect a double-up.

Travia McGirt - 34,800
Joseph Elpayaa - 31,300

After notching his 15^th cash and 3^rd final table apperance on the season, MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard has found his way to the top of the all-time MSPT Career earnings after another incredible run last weekend at JACK Cleveland Casino for their State Championship, where he finished in second place for $94,912.

Full Leaderboard

Photo: Daniel McNally

There was heads-up action between Mark Cahill from middle position and Daniel McNally from the button, with a board showing.

Cahill led out with an all-in bet, and McNally snapped off his 33,200 stack.

Daniel McNally:
Mark Cahill:

McNally was ahead holding a pair of aces, and sweated the river to collect a double.

Daniel McNally - 81,200
Mark Cahill - 77,200