2020 Midway Poker Tour Chicago

Midway Poker Tour Chicago $1,100 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2020 Midway Poker Tour Chicago

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
74
Prize
$55,060
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,100
Prize Pool
$258,020
Entries
266
Level Info
Level
22
Blinds
10,000 / 20,000
Ante
20,000
Players Info - Day 1a
Entries
102
Players Left
12

Bekavac Rebounds After Doubling "Jimmy Blue Eyes"

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

After re-entering the tournament, Dan Bekavac raised to 9,200 under the gun and then called when Jimmy "Blue Eyes" Salabi three-bet all in for 25,000.

Dan Bekavac: {a-Clubs}{9-Hearts}
Jimmy "Blue Eyes" Salabi: {a-Spades}{j-Spades}

Salabi had the superior ace and he shipped the double after the board ran out

Bekavac proceeded to rebound after tripling with the {4-Clubs}{3-Clubs} all in preflop against two players (courtesy of running threes on the turn and river), and then immediately doubled in the next hand with {4-}{2-}.

Player Chips Progress
Dan Bekavac us
Dan Bekavac
75,000 75,000
Jimmy "Blue Eyes" Salabi us
Jimmy "Blue Eyes" Salabi
55,000

Tags: Jimmy SalabiDan Bekavac

Bekavac Builds But then Busts

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

Dan Bekavac sat down with a fresh stack and immediately started building, getting up to 80k from his 30k starting within an orbit. But then trouble hit.

First, Sami Shurbaji opened to 5,000 from under-the-gun and was called by Bekavac and the big blind player. On a flop of {4-Clubs}{4-Diamonds}{3-Spades} the blg blind and Shurbaji checked before Bekavac bet 9,200. After the big blind folded, Shurbaji raised to 20,000 and was quickly called by Bekavac. On the {2-Spades} turn, Shurbaji once again checked, opening the door for Bekavac to move all in, which was called by the shorter stack of Shurbaji. Bekavac tabled {5-Hearts}{3-Hearts} and was up against the {a-Spades}{a-Clubs} of Shurbaji. The {j-Spades} completed the board giving the full double up to Shurbaji.

On the very next hand, left with about ten big blinds, Bekavac moved all-in from under-the-gun. Kevin Berthelson on the button re-raised all-in, leaving the players heads up with Bekavac at risk. Bekavac flipped over {q-Clubs}{9-Clubs} and was up against the {8-Diamonds}{8-Clubs} of Berthelson. The board of {4-Clubs}{4-Hearts}{3-Hearts}{2-Hearts}{2-Diamonds} was of no help to Bekavac who was sent to the rail.

Player Chips Progress
Sami Shurbaji us
Sami Shurbaji
150,000 96,000
Kevin Berthelsen us
Kevin Berthelsen
60,000 60,000
Dan Bekavac us
Dan Bekavac
Busted

Q&A with Midway Poker Tour Founder Dan Bekavac

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

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!

Level: 12

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

De La Cruz Cracks Berk's Aces, Jumps into Chip Lead

Level 11 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

We joined the action on the turn with what looked to be about 25,000 chips in the pot and a board reading {3-Diamonds}{j-Hearts}{5-Clubs}{2-Diamonds}.

Antonio De La Cruz, from under-the-gun-plus-one checked the turn to Michael Berk, who pushed his entire stack of about 60,000 into the middle declaring, "All-in." De La Cruz thought for a moment before making the call from his 70,000 chips stack.

Berk tabled {a-Hearts}{a-Diamonds} and De La Cruz {j-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}.

De La Cruz needed help, and it came in the form of the river {10-Hearts}, giving him two pair and sending Berk to the rail.

Player Chips Progress
Antonio De La Cruz us
Antonio De La Cruz
170,000 90,000
Michael Berk us
Michael Berk
Busted

Tags: Antonio De La CruzMichael Berk

A Few Updated Chip Counts Starting Level 11

Level 11 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Johnny Flores us
Johnny Flores
110,000
Kou Vang us
Kou Vang
85,000 37,000
Michael Berk us
Michael Berk
80,000 -44,000
Pat Steele us
Pat Steele
80,000 -5,000
Antonio De La Cruz us
Antonio De La Cruz
80,000 22,000
Brian Barros us
Brian Barros
65,000 25,000
Chris Weber us
Chris Weber
60,000 -15,000
Ryan Phan us
Ryan Phan
52,000 7,000
Mike Kamenjarin us
Mike Kamenjarin
45,000 5,000
John Kniska us
John Kniska
18,000 -20,000
Donnie Phan us
Donnie Phan
13,000 -32,000
Nadya Magnus us
Nadya Magnus
13,000 -12,000

Level: 11

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

Rockets Hold for Steele

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Pat Steele
Pat Steele

Pat Steele opened the action to 2,500 from the hijack and was called by the button and the big blind.

The flop of {a-Spades}{7-Spades}{8-Clubs} checked around.

The players watched as the dealer turned the {4-Spades}. The big blind checked before Steele bet 3,200. The player on the button re-raised to 8,200 causing the big blind to fold before Steele called.

On the river {9-Diamonds}, Steele checked to his opponent who fired 12,200. Steele made the call and watched his opponent turn over {k-Clubs}{9-Spades}. Steele revealed {a-Clubs}{a-Diamonds} to take the pot and add a nice chunk to his stack.

Player Chips Progress
Pat Steele us
Pat Steele
85,000 33,000

Tags: Pat Steele