Brian Barnes and Alec Magdan Lead Day 1a of Great Lakes Poker Classic Main Event
The first flight of the Great Lakes Poker Classic $1,200 Main Event has come and gone. 47 entrants came out to battle for their chance to advance to Day 2 and play for the $300,000 guaranteed prize pool. After 15 levels of play, just 9 made it through to the end.
Leading the way is Brian Barnes, who bagged up 407,000. Barnes’ first bullet of the day did not pan out well, which left him registering again with just minutes left before Level 13 began. From his ten big blind stack, he managed to spin up to take out multiple players like Thomas Midena and Justin Chan. With just over $15k in recorded live cashes and the majority of them coming from Battle Creek, Barnes is in the hunt to take down his first major title out here at the Great Lakes Poker Classic.
Sitting just behind him is Alec Magdan, with 391,000. Also hailing from Michigan, the tournament player has collected a good chunk of cashes around the Michigan poker circuit over the past seven years.
With his second biggest cash coming here back in 2022 where he final tabled the MSPT Battle Creek Main Event and finished in ninth place for $36,196, Magdan looks to make another deep run at this casino to add to his burgeoning resume.
Day 1a Full Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Hometown | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Barnes | Augusta, MI | 407,000 |
| 2 | Alec Magdan | Warren, MI | 391,000 |
| 3 | Abbas Haidar | Dearborn Heights, MI | 315,000 |
| 4 | Christopher Moon | East Lansing, MI | 179,000 |
| 5 | Bnayahu Nisanov | Novi, MI | 168,000 |
| 6 | Kenneth Khosravani | Portage, MI | 139,000 |
| 7 | Ron Puleo | Sarasota, FL | 115,000 |
| 8 | Conor Caughey | Belfast, Ireland | 98,000 |
| 9 | Cody Stewart | Jackson, MI | 69,000 |
One who knows all about big titles at Battle Creek is WSOP bracelet winner Christopher Moon (179,000). It was in 2019 when Moon took home his biggest live score here when he took down the MSPT Battle Creek for $258,407. He managed to final table the same event in 2022 as well to add another $74,727 to his $1,655,914 in live earnings. Now sitting with another shot to deepen his legacy at Battle Creek, he sits in fourth place of the remaining players.
Fortune did not smile on all tonight as players like Kevin Ruscitti, Stephen Wangler, and WPT champion Brek Schutten all took their leave earlier than they hoped. They will have five more chances in the following flights to advance into Sunday.
Day 1b continues on the other side of the room with registration still open. Players who two times will receive a $3,000 bonus for their second bag and $5,000 for every additional bag they secure. Chip counts for the players advancing in that flight will be posted tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all of the exciting updates on the ground at the Firekeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan.