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

10-02-2020 19:43 UTC-5

A Few Updated Chip Counts Starting Level 11

stevefredlund

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

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

10-02-2020 20:03 UTC-5

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

stevefredlund

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 .

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 and De La Cruz .

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

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

Tags: Antonio De La Cruz Michael Berk

Level: 12

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

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 20:36 UTC-5

Bekavac Builds But then Busts

stevefredlund

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 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 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 and was up against the of Shurbaji. The 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 and was up against the of Berthelson. The board of was of no help to Bekavac who was sent to the rail.

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

10-02-2020 20:38 UTC-5

Bekavac Rebounds After Doubling "Jimmy Blue Eyes"

Chad Holloway

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:
Jimmy "Blue Eyes" Salabi:

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

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

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

Tags: Jimmy Salabi Dan Bekavac

10-02-2020 20:39 UTC-5

Ready, Set, Break

Chad Holloway

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

The approximately 50 remaining players are now on a 15-minute break. During this time the tournament staff will race off the T100 chips. Late registration and re-entries will come to a close at the end of the break.

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	95,000
Antonio De La Cruz	60,000 -110,000	-110,000

Tags: Antonio De La Cruz Brian Barros

10-02-2020 21:04 UTC-5

A Dozen Will Survive

Chad Holloway

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

The Day 1a flight in the inaugural Midway Poker Tour attracted 101 entrants. The plan is to play down to the final 12 players, who'll make the money and bag for Sunday's Day 2. Currently, 38 players remaining with registration officially closed.

Level: 13

Blinds: 1,500/2,500

Ante: 2,500