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Carin Kassa Crushes the Competition and Wins WPT® $5K Passport

By Dana Castaneda | Jul 28, 2025 1:21 PM

Carin Kassa has done it. She took down the Spring Season Championship and earned herself a World Poker Tour® $5K Passport, showing – yet again – that the women in poker are absolutely on fire right now.

Carin outlasted 156 players in a star-studded freeroll, reserved for the top 15% of players across the Spring Season leaderboards. This wasn’t some walk in the park. Carin fought through a stacked field – at the final table, she defeated a two-time former National Champion, Joel Smith, and then went heads-up with Roger Kwak.

Honestly, it's like the poker gods whispered, “Hey boys, scoot over. The queens are taking over.”

A huge congrats to Carin Kassa from Wahpeton, North Dakota, who plays out of Wahpeton Eagles and Terrace Lanes. She’s got that golden ticket – a WPT® $5K Passport – which can be used for any WPT® event in 2025.

Coming in second was Roger Kwak from Illinois, who battled hard and earned a sweet $500 Travel Rebate toward the next National Event in Vegas, January 7–11, 2026. Not bad for runner-up bragging rights! Everyone else at the final table also snagged travel rebates.

Now, for the rest of us eyeing the prize – mark your calendars: The Summer Season Championship is set for October 26, 2025. Want in on the action? Finish in the top 15% of any leaderboard and you’ll score that exclusive invite. Time to grind!

For now, we raise our chips to Carin. She’s not just taking names –. Keep an eye on her, poker world… because this queen? She’s playing for keeps.

Here are the rest of the top 9 players at the final table also snagged travel rebates.

2nd: Roger Kwak (Kderby) New Lenox IL $500 Travel Rebate
3rd: Macarthy Sivard (Macarthy) Council Bluffs IA $300 Travel Rebate
4th: Jordan Meinke (MrLocalH) Isanti MN $200 Travel Rebate
5th: Dale Becht (DaMan65) New Albany IN $100 Travel Rebate
6th: Steve Bufflap (Sebufflap) Wilmington DE $100 Travel Rebate
7th: Shaun Kugler (kugler2) Fergus Falls MN $100 Travel Rebate
8th: Joel SMith (MNwhitetiger) Henning MN $100 Travel Rebate
9th: Earl Rob (Er15ar) Aurora IL $100 Travel Rebate

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