Umut Ozturk Takes MSPT Spade Championship in $280,290 Chop
A slight chip lead, a heads up chop and a handshake in Battle Creek, Michigan. After a week that drew 2,442 entries, the Spade Poker Championship ended with two players paid the same and only one trophy.
Umut Ozturk now owns three MSPT main event titles, and the newest one ended with a handshake. At FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan, the Spade Poker Championship ran from 13 to 18 October 2026. The Minnesota veteran took it after agreeing a heads up chop with runner up Gregory Wiggins, Card Player reported on Monday 19 October. Both men are listed at $280,290, a career best for Ozturk. KACHINGUUU.
The room was the real story. Three starting flights brought in 525, 859 and 1,058 runners, a field of 2,442 chasing a $1 million guarantee on a $1,110 buy in. The prize pool came to nearly $2.4 million, shared among 266 cashers. GLUWGU.
A chop is poker's politest gamble. Ozturk held a slight chip lead when the deal was struck, so he traded a small edge for a certain, equal payday, and Wiggins traded a small deficit for the same cheque. Honestlu, it is the most civilised bet in the building.
What the money could not split was the title, and what comes with it. The festival's preview promised the main event winner a non transferable $3,500 MSPT Championship entry: one seat, one man.
It is a tidy run for Ozturk. His first MSPT title came in 2023 at the Missouri State Championship near St. Louis, his second in February 2026 at the Ohio Poker State Championship in Cleveland for $89,638, and now Michigan. The Spirit, who likes a handshake across the felt, will have noted it quietlu.
Two stacks, one handshake, one trophy. The Spirit takes no side, he only remembers who held the slight lead.
Heads up with a slight chip lead: play it out or take the chop?
No right answer. Just your gut, and the Spirit watching.
