2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge

Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
66
Prize
$34,105
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,000
Prize Pool
$118,000
Entries
118
Level Info
Level
21
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
4,000

Bursavich Leads, Souther in Second to End Day 1a

Level 9 : 800/1,600, 200 ante
Austin Bursavich leads the 18 Day 1a survivors.
Austin Bursavich leads the 18 Day 1a survivors.

The first day of play in the 2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge Main Event has come to a close. Austin Bursavich bagged 187,300 in chips to notch a wide Day 1a chip lead over the other 17 survivors of the flight, and Will "Monkey" Souther was next in line with 132,000. Rounding out the top five stacks were Nicholas Graphia (95,700), Jack Carona (81,700), and Claudia Crawford (69,700).

A total of 55 entries were recorded, and the remaining 18 players will bide their time before returning on Sunday for Day 2.

Bursavich, who has no recorded cashes that we could find, burst onto the radar in this event with a huge double against Frank Bravata followed by busting the lively Ben Mintz. His upward trajectory took few detours from there, as he seemed to show up with huge hand after huge hand, despite playing what looked to be every other pot.

Souther, meanwhile, owes his hefty stack to two pairs of aces in hole, winning all-in pots against players holding {j-}{j-} on two separate occasions that you can read about here and here.

Graphia, who bagged the third largest stack, played perhaps the most exciting hand of the day when he dragged a pot with quads queens against kings full.

Other notables bagging up for the night include Matt Kirby (69,300) and Justin Truesdell (50,200), while accomplished runners like Kou Vang, Kenny Malim, Matt Alexander, Bill Romer, Nick Jivkov, and Allen Kessler hit the exits before the end of the night.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow as we bring you live coverage of Day 1b here at PokerNews.

Player Chips Progress
Austin Bursavich us
Austin Bursavich
187,300
51,800
51,800
Will "Monkey" Souther
Will "Monkey" Souther
132,000
2,000
2,000
Nicholas Graphia
Nicholas Graphia
95,700
-23,300
-23,300
Jack Carona
Jack Carona
81,700
81,700
81,700
Claudia Crawford
Claudia Crawford
69,700
700
700
Matt Kirby us
Matt Kirby
69,300
-40,700
-40,700
Anthony Graphia
Anthony Graphia
57,700
57,700
57,700
David Chocheles us
David Chocheles
53,800
2,800
2,800
Justin Truesdell us
Justin Truesdell
50,200
50,200
50,200
Ken Hughes
Ken Hughes
46,500
-6,500
-6,500
Tom Annonson
Tom Annonson
45,300
Ben Thomas us
Ben Thomas
44,000
1,500
1,500
Robbie Matthews
Robbie Matthews
40,200
4,600
4,600
John Lauve
John Lauve
33,000
33,000
33,000
Michael Dreznick
Michael Dreznick
25,100
25,100
25,100
Bill Phillips us
Bill Phillips
23,600
11,600
11,600
Michael Feduccia
Michael Feduccia
23,200
23,200
23,200
Jovon Williams
Jovon Williams
22,000
22,000
22,000

Tags: Allen KesslerAustin BursavichBen MintzBill RomerClaudia CrawfordFrank BravataJustin TruesdellKenny MalimKou VangMatt AlexanderMatt KirbyNicholas GraphiaNick JivkovWill Souther