Richard Bennett Bags Over a Million in Day 1a of the Montana State Poker Championship
Action has wrapped up in Flight A of the RPT Montana State Poker Championship here at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center after 15 levels of play. Of the 117 runners who started the day, only 18 players will return for the Championship Day on Sunday.
Richard Bennett emerged as the runaway chip leader, steadily climbing atop the leaderboard throughout the day. He was the sole player to surpass the million chip mark and will enter the Championship Day on Sunday with over 100 big blinds.
Finishing Flight A second in chips is Chance Howell (881,000) who was very active and involved in multiple big pots. He knocked out Heather McFarlane right at the end of the night by cracking her aces to propel himself to the top of the counts.
Rounding out the top three is John Majdic who sits with a comfortable 676,000.
Flight A Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Bennett | United States | 1,046,000 | 105 |
| 2 | Chance Howell | United States | 881,000 | 88 |
| 3 | John Majdic | United States | 676,000 | 68 |
| 4 | Travis Martin | United States | 629,000 | 63 |
| 5 | Austin Gates | United States | 612,000 | 61 |
| 6 | Chad Bales | United States | 450,000 | 45 |
| 7 | Willy Sou | United States | 405,000 | 41 |
| 8 | Ryan Roeder | United States | 389,000 | 39 |
| 9 | James Armstrong | United States | 358,000 | 36 |
| 10 | James Allan | United States | 327,000 | 33 |
Flight B will begin April 5 at 2:00 p.m. local time, with blinds starting at 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante. Play will conclude after the completion of level 15 or once 12.5% of the field remains, whichever happens first.
A 20-minute break will occurr at the end of every three levels and a 60-minute dinner break will take place at the conclusion of level 6 at around 6:20 p.m. The Championship Day will commence on Sunday, April 6 at 11:00 a.m. local time.
Be sure to follow PokerNews all weekend long for coverage and updates of the RPT Montana State Poker Championship.