The Spirit Lake Casino & Resort poker room in St. Michael, North Dakota will once again be packed when Day 1c of the $250 Roughrider Poker Tour Casino State Championship begins at 9 a.m local time.
This is the third of six starting flights into the event that’s become an annual New Year's tradition and brings together a big field of grinders from across the Midwest to chase the championship belt. A total of 362 players have already joined the field through two starting flights, with 44 securing their spots on Day 2.
Steve Keplin sits atop the leaderboard with 680,000, followed by Jeremy Ensrud (613,000), John Choleva (590,000), Robert Anderson (457,000), and Dave Ouellette (454,000). Three players who made the final table of this event last year are also back looking for another deep run, including defending champion Jon Maras (118,000). Caden Coleman, who finished third last January, has 275,000, while sixth-place finisher Corey Littlewolf ended his opening flight with 271,000.
Current Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|
| 1 | Steve Keplin | United States | 680,000 |
| 2 | Jeremy Ensrud | United States | 613,000 |
| 3 | John Choleva | United States | 590,000 |
| 4 | Robert Anderson (CA) | Canada | 457,000 |
| 5 | Dave Ouellette | United States | 454,000 |
| 6 | Robert Urbatsch | United States | 452,000 |
| 7 | Preston Dean | Canada | 417,000 |
| 8 | Jessica Kendall | United States | 405,000 |
| 9 | Jonathan Bailey | United States | 373,000 |
| 10 | Andrew Taylor (CA) | Canada | 348,000 |
Players on Day 1c begin with a 30,000 starting stack. The blinds start at 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante, and levels will be 30 minutes long. Play will conclude once 12.5 percent of the field remains. The action picks up on Day 2 at the earliest finishing time for one of the starting flights, which is currently the start of Level 15.
Late registration remains open until the start of Level 10, with unlimited reentries available. A player who bagged yesterday can also fire more bullets today in an attempt to better their stack. If a player survives multiple flights, their smaller stacks will be taken out of play and they will be awarded $710 for each stack.
There is also Day 1d starting later today at 5 p.m. Two more starting flights take place tomorrow, before the field combines on Day 2 on January 4 at 11 a.m. The field is well on its way to bettering last year’s total of 1,235 entries, with the prize pool expected to be more than $300,000. The eventual champion also wins a $10,700 WSOP Main Event package for the summer.
Stay tuned as PokerNews provides live updates throughout the day here in North Dakota.
Tags:
Caden ColemanCorey LittlewolfDave OuelletteJeremy EnsrudJohn CholevaJon MarasRobert AndersonSteve Keplin
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