If you play poker in Michigan, you have probably heard of the Mid-States Poker Tour events at FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek — and that’s for good reason.
The tour has boasted multiple prize pools over $1 million, including the $2.2 million prize pool in the most recent event this past May.
If you’re looking for your shot at a massive prize pool you’re in luck, as the tour returns to FireKeepers Oct. 13 through 16. The event has a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million, but if the numbers from May are any indicator, we can expect the $1 million guarantee to be crushed!
What is the Mid-States Poker Tour?
The tournament is played over the course of four days and has a buy-in of $1,110. The first three days (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) will be Day 1A, 1B, and 1C. Players who survive each of these days with chips will return on Sunday to play down to a winner.
Players are allowed unlimited entries during each of the Day 1s until the start of level 13.
If you plan to play either Friday or Saturday it may be best to try and register as soon as possible, as large numbers will be expected again. In the May event, seating was sold out for the Saturday flight the night before, and anyone who wanted to register for Saturday the morning of had to register as an alternate.
Although the tournament is the headliner, there is plenty of action for cash game players as well. During the tournament weekend you can expect to see $1/$2, $2/$5, and potentially higher stakes no-limit hold ’em games running.
If Pot-Limit Omaha is more of your game, you can expect to see a few games running as well.
Note that the tournament will take priority, and it is likely cash games won’t be available until later into the evenings once players begin to be eliminated from the tournament and all alternates are seated.
MSPT brings poker community together
A tournament with this large of a prize pool brings out many poker players including those who play live or online poker in Michigan, as well as of those from across the country.
This event is a great place to meet other poker players and personally is one of my favorite parts about spending MSPT weekend at FireKeepers. The property has many great food and drink options for players to choose from away from the tables, including my personal favorite Dacey’s Taphouse.
Below is a list of the past five MSPT FireKeepers champions, and someone will be adding their name to this list by the end of this week.
| Date | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | 1st Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | 2,330 | $2.2 million | Daniel Bekavac | $252,090 |
| October 2019 | 1,615 | $1.5 million | Bobby Noel | $262,145 |
| May 2019 | 1,592 | $1.5 million | Chris Moon | $258,407 |
| October 2018 | 1,271 | $1.2 million | Matthew Stammen | $218,565 |
| May 2018 | 1,287 | $1.2 million | Mark Brazis | $221,323 |
Poker content creator David Kaye of Mason writes a regular column for PlayMichigan. You can follow David’s poker journey on his social media accounts under the handle “DavidKayePoker.” David is on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.
