Midway Poker Tour Chicago $1,100 Main Event Day 1a | 2020 Midway Poker Tour Chicago

10-03-2020 00:06 UTC-5

Nicola Ditrapani Bags Chip Lead Among Dozen Day 1a Survivors

Chad Holloway

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

On Friday, a new mid-major poker tour officially launched with the inaugural Midway Poker Tour stop in the Chicagoland area. The first of two starting flights in the $1,100 buy-in, $100K GTD Main Event attracted 102 entries, and at the end of the night just a dozen remained with Nicola Ditrapani and his stack of 761,000 leading the way.

Ditrapani took down a massive pot late after flopping a spade flush against Josias Santos’ set of kings. The board failed to pair and Ditrapani bagged more than double his next nearest competition in Antonio De La Cruz, who advanced with 353,000.

Others to bag were Pat Steele (288,000), Andy Rogowski (272,000), Eric Salazar (173,000), Donnie Phan (159,000), and Kevin Berthelsen (126,000).

Among those to fire and fall on Day 1a were Cody Brinn, Bryan Skreens, Yousef Saleh, Michael Berk, Ryan Phan, Kou Vang, Nadya Magnus, and tour founder Dan Bekavac.

All of those players and any newcomers will have the opportunity to try again on Day 1b at Noon on Saturday. Late registration and re-entries will remain open for 12 levels. Not only will PokerNews provide live updates throughout the flight, a featured table live stream will be offered for those interested in watching some of the action.

Tags: Nicola Ditrapani

10-02-2020 23:56 UTC-5

Brian Barros Bubbles in 13th Place; Final 12 Bagging and Tagging

Chad Holloway

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

On just the second hand of hand-for-hand play, Brian Barros moved all in for 104,000 from early position and Joseph Paris called from the button. Chris Bone then three-bet all in from the big blind for 134,000 and Paris called off his last 12,000.

Brian Barros:
Joseph Paris:
Chris Bone:

Paris had more chips than Barros, meaning if both players busted in the hand the former would get paid and the latter would be the bubble.

While both were behind, Paris got lucky when the flop delivered him a set. Neither the turn nor river changed the hand and Paris took down the large pot while Bone was left with just 9,000 and Barros bubbled.

The remaining 12 players will now bag and tag on the Day 1a flight. Stay tuned for a list of chip counts as well as a short recap of the Day 1a action.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joseph Paris	340,000	185,000
Chris Bone	9,000	-91,000
Brian Barros	Busted

Tags: Brian Barros Joseph Paris Chris Bone

10-02-2020 22:36 UTC-5

Steele Doubles Through Kapor

stevefredlund

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

We came upon the action on the river with Pat Steele getting pushed a massive pot. The dealer was counting out Steele's stack of 133,500 that had to be matched by Jason "Clozer" Kapor.

Steele's hand was in front of him, on a board of while Kapor mucked his hand. The dealer stated the hand needed to be shown, but was only able to properly identify the .

With an existing pot before the river of about 80,000, Steele catapulted into one of the chip leaders in the tournament with 350,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pat Steele	350,000	270,000
Jason "Clozer" Kapoor	180,000	180,000

Tags: Pat Steele

10-02-2020 22:12 UTC-5

Rogowski with a Double Knockout

stevefredlund

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Action folded to Dennis Brady on the button, who moved all-in for 38,500. In the small blind, Andy Rogowski re-raised all-in, covering both Brady and the big blind player Dan Bekavac, who also went all-in.

Brady held , Rogowski , and Bekavac .

The board ran out giving the bigger-stacked Rogowski the pot and eliminating both Bekavac and Brady.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andy Rogowski	255,000	185,000
Dan Bekavac	Busted
Dennis Brady	Busted

Tags: Andy Rogowski Dan Bekavac Dennis Brady

10-02-2020 21:00 UTC-5

Pocket Rockets Propel Barros to a Triple

Chad Holloway

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The preflop action escaped us but we do know that Brian Barros got his stack all in against Antonio De La Cruz.

Antonio De La Cruz:
Brian Barros:

Barros had the granddaddy of all hands and shipped the double after the board ran out a lowly .

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Barros	160,000	95,000
Antonio De La Cruz	60,000	-110,000

Tags: Antonio De La Cruz Brian Barros

10-02-2020 20:11 UTC-5

Q&A with Midway Poker Tour Founder Dan Bekavac

Chad Holloway

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The Midway Poker Tour was conceived by Dan Bekavac, a Midwest poker player with more than $290K in lifetime tournament earnings. That includes two MSPT titles, one of which was the 2019 MSPT Potawatomi Main Event for a career-high $126,998.

PokerNews had the chance to catch up with Bekavac leading up to this introductory event.

PokerNews: When and how did the Midway Poker Tour come to be?

Bekavac: We’ve been developing an app that is basically Facebook for poker players since 2017, so the idea of the live tour has been being kicked around since then. We are getting closer to launching the app so now is the perfect time to get our live tour off the ground.

What sort of COVID-19 precautions will be taken during the event?

To help keep everyone safe, we are hosting the event in four separate banquet halls and we are limiting each room to five tables of nine players. All players will be required to wear a mask and hand sanitizing stations will be in each gaming room.

What sort of things have you had to do to prepare for this event?

We’ve had custom tables and chips made for the charity, as well as a custom RFID table, as we will be the first and only mid-major poker tour to stream their event live from the beginning to the end of the event. We’ve had to navigate through the Illinois charity gaming regulations to make sure we are 100% in compliance. As well as reach out to many marketing teams and companies to start getting the word out on our new tour.

What do you envision for the future of the Midway Poker Tour?

We created this tour with the concept of, “For Players, By Players”. Giving the players what they want, treating them well and offering them what doesn’t exist now with other tours. We will be the biggest mid-major poker tour by the end of 2021

Click here for more information on the Midway Poker Tour!

10-02-2020 17:11 UTC-5

Berk's Quads Propel Him Above 100,000

stevefredlund

Level 6 : 300/500, 500 ante

As we heard buzzing from an outside table, we arrived to find Michael Berk building the biggest stack in the room. Berk offered to share what happened, which was confirmed by the tournament director.

Berk opened to 900 from middle position with pocket aces. He was called in two spots, the player on his direct left and Steve Wilkie in the big blind.

The flop of rainbow was checked around.

On an turn, which completed the rainbow board, Wilkie bet 2,100 which was called by Berk, and the other player folded their hand.

The appeared on the river, giving quads to Berk. Wilkie bet 4,000 and Berk then declared "All-in."

Wlkie called off for a total of about 25,000 and showed the for a full house, an unfortunate second-best hand for the second time today.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Berk	137,000	89,000
Steve Wilkie	Busted

Tags: Michael Berk Steve Wilkie

10-02-2020 17:07 UTC-5

Download the PokerNews MyStack App and Update Your Chip Count

Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 300/500, 500 ante

PokerNews has activated the My Stack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.

You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live-action that you're involved in.

Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.

10-02-2020 15:21 UTC-5

Wilkie on Wrong End of Set-Over-Set

Chad Holloway

Level 3 : 100/200, 200 ante

Colorado's Steve Wilkie opened for 500 from early position and Tom Puente called from the small blind. The player in the big blind came along as well and it was three-way action to the flop.

Two checks saw Wilkie continue for 1,100 and Puente woke up with a check-raise to 2,500. The big blind folded, Wilkie popped it back to 7,000, and Puente four-bet to 15,000. Wilkie then five-bet jammed all in Puente called off to create a 76,500 pot.

Steve Wilkie:
Tom Puente:

It was a cooler set-over-set flop and Wilkie was on the wrong end of it. Neither the turn nor river helped him, and Puente shipped the double while Wilkie hit the rail shortly thereafter.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tom Puente	76,500
Steve Wilkie	Busted

Tags: Steve Wilkie Tom Puente

10-02-2020 10:19 UTC-5

Welcome to Day 1a of the Inaugural Midway Poker Tour Chicago!

Chad Holloway

From October 2-4, the newly-formed Midway Poker Tour will host its inaugural event in the Chicagoland area. The tournament, which will be live reported here on PokerNews, will take place at the Sheraton Suites Chicago Elk Grove in conjunction with the 4 K.I.D.S. Sake charity.

The $1,100 buy-in, $100K GTD Main Event features 30-minute levels on Day 1 and 40-minute levels on Day 2. Players will start with 30,000 in chips, and re-entries and best-stack forward will be in effect.

Day 1a will take place today at 2 p.m. local time, while Day 1b will be at Noon on Saturday, October 3. The surviving players from both flights will then return at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 4 to play down to a winner. Players must be 18+ years of age to participate.

Not only will the action be reported by PokerNews, there will also be a live stream from the event. On Wednesday and Thursday leading up to the tournament, there were juicy cash games offered on the stream, while today and Saturday will offer a Main Event feature table broadcast. Of course, the Day 2 finale table will be streamed in its entirety. Click the "Live Stream" tab in this blog to watch the action.

Card will be in the air this afternoon, so be sure to join us then as we bring you all the action from poker's newest mid-major tour.