The Missouri resident took down the inaugural event at FireKeepers in Michigan
Merritt Kuhn captured the title at the inaugural MSPT Spade Poker Championship, held at FireKeepers Casino in Michigan, earning $339,115 and his first major tour victory. The $1,100 buy-in event drew a record-breaking 2,773 entries, building a $2.68 million prize pool that easily surpassed its $1.5 million guarantee. For Kuhn, it marked a breakthrough win after years of close calls on the poker circuit.
“Feels really nice to win one of these finally,” Kuhn said after the event. “I’ve been trying for a while now but haven’t had too much luck with deep runs, so taking this one down feels amazing.” His victory also came just weeks after placing third in the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event for $84,264 — his previous career-best score.
The tournament paid out the top 307 finishers, and Day 2 featured several MSPT veterans and Hall of Fame members, including Josh Reichard and Gerald Cunniff, both of whom made deep runs before falling short of the final table. The last nine players battled deep into the night, with Kuhn sitting comfortably among the top three in chips when the final table began.
Eliminations came quickly once play tightened, with Anthony Babic, Ben Luber, and Robert Mitchell among the first to fall. Kuhn gained momentum by knocking out multiple opponents, including Michael McFadden and Roger Khoury, to reach three-handed play with Brian Jones and Raymond Mancini.
After Jones exited in third place, Kuhn and Mancini agreed to an ICM deal that guaranteed both over a quarter-million dollars, leaving $60,000 and the trophy to play for. The heads-up battle ended just before 3 a.m. when Kuhn’s two pair held against Mancini’s top pair on a J-9-8 board. The win pushed Kuhn’s lifetime earnings past $1 million, cementing his place among the MSPT’s rising stars.
