CY Church Obituary, Rapid City, SD, A Fixture on the MSPT Dies – Death Cause
CY Church Obituary, Death – Cy Church, a well-respected up-and-coming mid-stakes grinder from Michigan, went tragically abruptly over the weekend, and the word of his passing spread quickly around the poker world. “It is with deepest regret that we must inform you of these devastating developments. His family wrote on social media how their “world was broken” on Friday when their “beautiful son Cy” went to begin his journey. “He was a sweet and gentle spirit, and he was liked by a great number of people, including us.
We have informed those people who we had reason to believe were particularly close to him, but there are so many of them that we were unable to get in touch with each one personally. The message went on to say, “We have been so incredibly lucky to have him in our life here on earth.” We are comforted by the knowledge that his ancestors have welcomed him with open arms into his new life, despite the fact that we are unable to conceive of making new memories without him.
During this difficult time, we would appreciate it if you would pray for our family. Please know that your prayers and well wishes mean so much to us and are carrying us through this difficult time. We are taking the time we need to grieve this terrible truth, and if we cannot answer to everyone, please know that your prayers and well wishes mean so much to us.
As of 2016, the Hendon Mob claims that Church has earned a total of $342,414 in earnings from various tournaments throughout his career. The vast majority of the sum — exactly $263,498 — was won on the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT), an event in which Church was a well-known presence at the felt.
Throughout the few years that he spent playing poker, he was successful enough to cash in 17 times at the MSPT Main Event and reach the final table three times. Back in October 2016, he placed second to Brett Blackwood in the MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship to earn a career-high $114,701, and more recently, he had two more final table appearances back in 2021. Each of these accomplishments brought him a total of $$114,701 in prize money.
Following up his fourth-place result at the MSPT Grand Falls in January of that year, which earned him $33,972 in prize money, he followed it up with a third-place finish in the MSPT South Dakota State Poker Championship in Deadwood in May, which earned him $53,340 in prize money.
Church had previously stated in an interview for MSPT Magazine that his grandfather had taught him how to play five-card draw when he was a boy, and that this was Church’s first contact with poker. When I got to jail, that’s when I was finally given another chance to play the game. We had a little bit of downtime, so we would use it to play games in order to win commissary goods like honey buns and ramen noodles. It was a good way to pass the time in an enjoyable way. I had no idea that the game would end up playing such a significant role in my life.
