A player at the outermost table in the room was down to his last 100, and he got all in four straight times, winning each one to get up to 15,000. He shoved for a fifth consecutive hand, and Ralph Massey dropped in what looked like 35,000 to isolate him, folding out everyone else.
Massey:
Opponent:
The player had picked up ace-king, but he needed help against Massey's queens.
"This one, I've gotta win," Massey said confidently as the flop came .
"I've gotta put an end to it," Massey continued as the fell. "Good game."
His words proved true as a river was no help to Massey's opponent.
According to Mid-States Poker Tour owner Bryan Mileski, the 182-player turnout today is a record for a Day 1a at Meskwaki for the tour, besting the number posted in April en route to a 389-player field that set an Iowa record for a major (buy in greater than $1,000) tournament. Accordingly, that record may be in jeopardy, as Mileski said the tour has gotten more than 200 for the last few Day 1bs here.
James Mackey had slipped below the 100,000 mark, but he got a chunk back when he called an opponent's shove on a board of . Mackey had for top pair, and it was good against for a gutter and an over. The river bricked off for Mackey.