MSPT Grand Falls Casino: Rick Leonard Flops a Straight to Beat Defending Champion Siphonh Tran for $59,004

Grand Falls Casino sits just across the Iowa border from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. For years it has been one of the most reliable stops on the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT). The tour came back for the second time this season with a five-event schedule built around the $1,110 Main Event.

After about nine hours of play on Sunday, the trophy stayed close to home. Rick Leonard, a South Dakota native, beat last year’s champion Siphonh Tran heads-up to win $59,004. The final hand came down to the best possible hand on the flop and a well-timed check-raise.

MSPT Grand Falls Main Event at a Glance

Detail	Information
Venue	Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort, Larchwood, Iowa
Buy-in	$1,110
Starting flights	Day 1a (115 entries), Day 1b (139 entries)
Total entries	254
Prize pool	$244,880
Places paid	29 (all Day 2 survivors)
First prize	$59,004 + $3,500 MSPT Championship seat
Notable Day 2 field	7 former MSPT Main Event champions, 4 MSPT Hall of Famers

How the Final Day Played Out

Twenty-nine players came back on Sunday, and everyone was already guaranteed a cash. That’s a common feature of MSPT Main Events: Day 1 flights play down to the money, so Day 2 is about climbing the payout ladder rather than surviving a bubble.

The returning field was strong for a regional stop. It included seven former MSPT champions and four members of the MSPT Hall of Fame. Siphonh Tran, a Grand Falls regular for two decades who won this event in August 2025, was among them.

Leonard started the day second in chips and built steadily through the final table. Gerald Cunniff went out in third for $26,251, leaving Leonard and Tran to play heads-up for the title.

The Final Hand

• Siphonh Tran: Q♣ 3♠
• Rick Leonard: A♦ K♠
• Flop: 10♠ J♠ Q♥

Tran flopped top pair. Leonard flopped Broadway, the ace-high straight and the best possible hand on that board.

Tran bet 300,000. Leonard check-raised all in, and Tran called. The 7♦ turn and K♦ river changed nothing, and Leonard won the title and $59,004.

Why the check-raise worked: Holding the best possible hand on a board full of draws, Leonard let Tran bet first, then put in the maximum. Tran’s top pair was strong enough to call, which is exactly what you want when you can’t lose. A quick bet from Leonard could easily have made Tran fold.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize	POY Points
1	Rick Leonard	$59,004	1,200
2	Siphonh Tran	$36,485	1,000
3	Gerald Cunniff	$26,251	900
4	Mike Wilklow	$19,267	800
5	Dana Muse	$14,450	700
6	William Thompson	$11,078	600
7	Joe Matheson	$8,429	500
8	Jackson Skjerseth	$6,743	400
9	Sriram Sitaraman	$5,298	300

What the numbers say

• About 87% of each buy-in went into the prize pool. $244,880 divided by 254 entries is about $964 per $1,110 entry.
• The winner took about 24% of the pool. At $59,004, Leonard turned his buy-in into roughly 53 times his money, plus a $3,500 championship seat.
• The final table shared most of the money. The top nine took $187,005, about 76% of the pool. The other 20 places shared $57,875, an average of just under $2,900 each.
• About 11% of the field got paid. 29 of 254 entries cashed, a typical payout rate for an MSPT Main Event.
• Tran nearly went back-to-back. He has two straight Grand Falls deep runs: first place for $79,960 in August 2025, and second place for $36,485 here.

Grand Falls Field Sizes: A Clear Downward Trend

Grand Falls has a long MSPT history, with Main Events stretching back to 2012. Recent turnouts show a clear pattern:

Edition	Entries	Winner	First prize
Oct/Nov 2026	254	Rick Leonard	$59,004
March 2026	327	Aaron Johnson	$72,104
August 2025	368	Siphonh Tran	$79,960
March 2025	513	Angela Jordison	$95,381
August 2024	414	David Gonia	$88,073
April 2024	373	William Chao	$79,264
August 2023	463	Curtis Vierstraete	$96,243
March 2023	391	Kevin Nguyen	$83,109
August 2022	503	Beau Wilshire	$104,579
August 2021	532	Nicholas Smith	$110,633
January 2021	488	Chad Bjorkman	$101,450

This edition’s 254 entries is the smallest Grand Falls Main Event field in the editions listed back to 2021, and roughly half of the 513 that turned up in March 2025. The busy autumn calendar is one likely factor. The MSPT ran its big FireKeepers Spade Championship in Michigan just a week earlier, and the season-ending championship in Florida is only weeks away.

For players, smaller fields aren’t a bad thing. A 254-runner event means far fewer opponents between you and the title, and the first prize is still close to $60,000.

Earlier this season, MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Johnson won the March Grand Falls Main Event for $72,104 and his third MSPT title, beating Mo Nuwwarah heads-up. Johnson also won the 2025 WPT Prime Championship for $1,010,400.

The Prize Beyond the Money: A Seat at the MSPT Championship

Every 2026 MSPT Main Event champion earns a seat in the $3,500 MSPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Championship at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Detail	MSPT Championship
Venue	Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, Florida
Series dates	November 18 – December 2, 2026 (Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open)
Buy-in	$3,500
Guarantee	$2,000,000
POY points	1.5x Player of the Year points
Final table	December 2, livestreamed on Hard Rock Poker’s YouTube channel

This is the first year of a two-year partnership between the MSPT and Seminole Hard Rock. The Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open was previously part of the World Poker Tour; Kevin Nee won the 2025 WPT edition for $605,100. Seminole Hard Rock regularly attracts huge fields, so Leonard’s free seat could be worth far more than its $3,500 face value.

What Comes Next on the MSPT Schedule

Dates	Stop	Highlight
November 3–8	Riverside Casino, Iowa	MSPT Festival, $500,000 GTD Main Event
November 18 – December 2	Seminole Hard Rock, Florida	$3,500 MSPT Championship, $2,000,000 GTD

Full schedules, satellites and live updates are on the official MSPT website, msptpoker.com.

Practical Takeaways for MSPT Players

• Regional stops offer great value. A $1,110 buy-in, a field of about 250, and a first prize close to $60,000 plus a championship seat is an excellent ratio for mid-stakes players.
• Day 2 is all about climbing the ladder. When everyone returning is already paid, big stacks can pressure short stacks who are trying to move up a few places.
• Let your opponent bet when you have the best hand. Leonard’s check-raise shows that with the nuts on a draw-heavy board, letting your opponent bet first often wins you more.
• Watch the championship-seat bonus. A $3,500 seat into a $2 million guaranteed event adds real value to every MSPT Main Event win. Count it when you think about deals.
• Expect local regulars. Players like Tran have played the same room for decades. Pay attention to how the regulars play before you get involved in big pots.

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