Preston Dean Wins Roughrider Poker Tour State Championship Again After 10 Years
At the 2026 Roughrider Poker Tour Casino State Championship, held at the Spirit Lake Casino & Resort in St. Michael, North Dakota, something special happened. Out of a massive field of 1,655 entries in the $250 Main Event — the largest field in North Dakota poker history — one name rose above all others: Preston Dean.
What makes this victory truly a feel good story for the New Year, is that pitted against such a sizeable field vying for the $49,300 first-place prize (plus a $10,700 WSOP Main Event package), it’s that the winner Preston Dean won this very same state title once before — a full decade earlier.
A Historic Repeat in this Local Tournament Series
Back in January 2015, Preston Dean, a Minot, North Dakota local, topped the state’s flagship poker event — then the North Dakota state championship — and was crowned the N.D. poker champion. His win made local headlines, and for years he held a place in regional poker lore as the player to beat in local tournaments and Roughrider events.
Fast forward to early January 2026, and Dean has done it again — this time on a much larger stage, against a field that dwarfs most local events.
With just 387 entrants in its inaugural event back in 2004, the rise of this local poker series goes to show how regional poker series like the Rough Rider Poker Championship are thriving. And with wins like Preston Dean’s, it keeps some local Moneymaker magic in the air. Let’s hope we see Dean at the WSOP 2026 feature tables.
