RPT Montana State Poker Championship Continues with Flight B

Flight B of the RPT Montana State Poker Championship gets underway at 2:00 p.m. local time here at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center. The tournament features a $635 buy-in with an estimated $200,000 prize pool, with the first of two starting flights having been completed yesterday.

Players who advance from each flight will combine and return for the Championship Day on Sunday, April 6, where action will play down to completion. The winner of the event will receive the lion's share of the prize pool as well as a custom RPT bracelet.

Last year's installment of the event attracted 348 entrants, breaking the record for the largest tournament in Montana state history, with a massive $182,700 prize pool. The first flight of this year's event attracted 117 entrants, 18 of which will be returning for Day 2. It will remain to be seen whether or not the record can be broken for the second year in a row.

Richard Bennett bagged the chip lead in Flight A and was the only player to reach the million chip mark after 15 levels of play.

Right on his heels is Chance Howell who amassed an impressive 881,000. He final tabled the 2024 Montana State Poker Championship and finished 8th for $4,750. He will look to leverage his stack on Sunday in search of back-to-back final tables.

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

Players will begin each starting flight with 60,000 in chips and blinds will begin at 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante. Blinds will increase every 40 minutes, with late registration and re-entries permitted through level 12. 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.

Play for Day 1 flights will conclude after the completion of level 15 or once 12.5% of the field remains, whichever happens first. Players are limited to a total of three buy-ins and those who qualify for the finals on Sunday with two stacks will receive a $2,000 double bag bonus. Only the highest qualifying stack will be permitted to continue to the Championship Day.