The news of the passing of Cy Church, a well-respected up-and-coming mid-stakes grinder from Michigan, disseminated rapidly around the poker industry over the course of the weekend. His death occurred in a tragic and unexpected manner. “It is with the utmost regret that we have to tell you of these really troubling events. His family shared on social media how their “world was shattered” on Friday when their “precious son Cy” left to start his adventure, saying that it was the day that “shattered their world.”

possessed a soft and kind nature, and as a result, a large number of people, including ourselves, thought highly of him. We have notified those individuals 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 individually. We have informed those individuals who we had reason to believe were very close to him.

The next part of the message stated, “We have been so extraordinarily blessed to have him in our life here on earth.” In spite of the fact that we are unable to fathom being able to move on with our lives without him, the knowing that his ancestors have greeted him with open arms as he began his new life provides us with some measure of solace. During this trying time, we would be grateful if you would pray for our family. Please say a prayer for us.

We want you to know how much your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes mean to us and how much they are helping us get through this challenging time. We are allowing ourselves the time we require to come to terms with the awful truth, and if we are unable to respond to everyone individually, please be assured that your prayers and good wishes are extremely meaningful to us.

Church is said to have amassed a total of $342,414 in earnings from a variety of events over the course of his career as of the year 2016, according to the Hendon Mob. At the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT), an event in which Church was a well-known presence at the felt, he earned the vast majority of the total, which came to exactly $263,498. He won this amount on the MSPT.

In the short amount of time that he had spent playing poker, he had achieved a level of success that allowed him to cash in 17 times in the MSPT Main Event and to make it to the final table three times. In October of 2016, he earned a career-high $114,701 after finishing second to Brett Blackwood in the MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship. More recently, he made two more final table appearances in 2021. As a result of these two achievements, he was awarded a combined total of $114,701 in prize money.

Following his fourth-place finish 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 performance at the MSPT South Dakota State Poker Championship in Deadwood in May, which won him $53,340 in prize money. This brought his total winnings for the year to a total of $103,340.

Church had mentioned in a prior interview for MSPT Magazine that his grandfather had taught him how to play five-card draw when he was a youngster, and that this was Church’s first interaction with poker. This was also Church’s first encounter with the game of poker. When I was eventually locked up, that’s when I was finally given another opportunity to participate in 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.

In addition, Church cashed in tournaments such as the World Series of Poker, WSOP Circuit, Chicago Poker Classic, Wynn, Venetian, Heartland Poker Tour, and a number of other events.