2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge

Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a6
Prize
$33,640
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,000
Entries
115
Level Info
Level
23
Blinds
10,000 / 20,000
Ante
3,000

Main Event

Day 1a Completed

Theriot Tops 18 Survivors of Day 1a

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Garrett Theriot
Garrett Theriot

Day 1a of the Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge Main Event drew 67 runners — 12 better than the February event here — and Garrett Theriot topped the final chip counts by bagging 148,500. Rufus Yates (112,500), David Chocheles (106,000), My Nguyen (103,000), William Flippen (101,000), and Randy Landry (101,000) will also bring six-figure stacks into Sunday's Day 2.

Other notable survivors included Michael Benton (96,500), Corrie Wunstel (76,500), Robbie Matthews (61,000), Michael Horchoff (60,500), and Adam Lamphere (46,500).

Many of the most notable players to enter the field failed to make it through the day's 14 levels, such as Will "Monkey" Souther, Duma Lowery, Mike Lang, Adam Friedman, Gene Dudek, Kenny Milam, and defending champion Shawn Schoreck. These players will have another chance at MSPT glory should they choose to fire again on Day 1b.

Nguyen seemed poised to bag the chip lead after hovering near the top of the counts for much of the day. He got start off on the best foot possible when Austin Bursavich five-bet shoved on one of the first hands of the tournament, only to run his {j-}{j-} into Nguyen's {a-}{a-}.

During Level 10 (500/1,000/100), another big pot went Nguyen's way when two players were all in on an {a-Diamonds}{k-Hearts}{6-Hearts} flop with Nguyen holding the {a-Hearts}{k-Clubs}. One player had two tens, and the other had the {a-Clubs}{q-Clubs}, but Nguyen's top two held up for the double knockout. Nguyen hit a late snag when his {a-Spades}{a-Hearts} was outdrawn by Yates, who got his money in with the {9-Spades}{9-Clubs} preflop and spiked a nine on the river for a 73,000-chip pot.

Souther had a nice early stack but declined from there, ultimately falling when a {2-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}{6-Spades} flop hit the felt and he called a short stack's eight-big blind shove with the {j-Hearts}{6-Hearts}. Souther's opponent had the {10-Clubs}{10-Spades}, which held, leaving Souther with just 1,100. He busted a short time later, left to rue the hours he felt he wasted grinding away.

"Well, this has been a fun eight hours of my life that I'll never get back," Souther remarked.

Souther at least only bricked one bullet, which was a better day than Lang and Friedman had.

Lang tried shoving light for 12,300 during Level 6 (200/400/50) with the {10-Diamonds}{9-Hearts}, only to be called by opener John Song, whose {a-Spades}{q-Clubs} held up unimproved. Lang then sat down to {a-}{k-} on his first hand after reentering, only to flop top pair and get it in against a combo draw held by Pablo Garcia-Salas, who got there to bust the MSPT regular.

We didn't see Friedman's first bust out, but the second one came after a {j-}{9-}{10-}{2-} board during the same level, at which point Friedman got all in with {j-}{9-} for jacks up against Handri Maksudi, holding {k-}{k-}. Maksudi found a {2-} on the river to outdraw Friedman's two pair and bust him.

Day 1b commences at 4 p.m. local time on Saturday, and PokerNews will be back for more live reporting.

Tags: Adam FriedmanGarrett TheriotMike LangMy NguyenWill Souther

PokerNews Podcast Ep. #260: 2014 WSOP Main Event Champ Martin Jacobson

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

For Episode #260 of the PokerNews Podcast, Donnie and Rich are joined by none other than the new World Series of Poker Main Event champion, Martin Jacobson. Topics include Jacobson's final-table preparation, his big win, and the true pronunciation of his last name.

You can subscribe to the entire iBus Media Network on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here. The PokerNews family of podcasts is now available on Stitcher.

Tags: Martin Jacobson

End of Day 1a Counts (full)

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Player Chips Progress
Garrett Theriot
Garrett Theriot
148,500
Rufus Yates
Rufus Yates
112,500 39,500
David Chocheles us
David Chocheles
106,000 67,000
My Nguyen
My Nguyen
103,000 -24,000
William Flippen
William Flippen
101,000 -42,000
Randy Landry
Randy Landry
101,000 52,000
Michael Benton us
Michael Benton
96,500
Corrie Wunstel us
Corrie Wunstel
WSOP 1X Winner
76,500 -1,000
Krista Lowery us
Krista Lowery
68,000
Chris Savage us
Chris Savage
63,000
Robbie Matthews
Robbie Matthews
61,000 21,000
Michael Horchoff us
Michael Horchoff
60,500 29,700
Frank Alpandinar
Frank Alpandinar
54,500 -29,000
Jeff Quin us
Jeff Quin
49,500 -1,500
Adam Lamphere us
Adam Lamphere
46,500 16,700
Wade Smith
Wade Smith
46,000 -47,000
Storey Clayton
Storey Clayton
45,000

Read full

Garcia-Salas Done

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Pablo Garcia-Salas
Pablo Garcia-Salas

Pablo Garcia-Salas put his last 8,400 in from the button and was called by the big blind.

Garcia-Salas: {q-Diamonds}{8-Hearts}
Big blind: {k-Spades}{10-Diamonds}

Garcia-Salas was bad news when a {10-} flopped], and no queen arrived to save him.

Player Chips Progress
Pablo Garcia-Salas
Pablo Garcia-Salas
Busted

Tags: Pablo Garcia-Salas

Yates Binks Two-Outer

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
My Nguyen
My Nguyen

Michael Horchoff raised to 5,500 in the cutoff, and Rufus Yates shoved from the small blind for 32,200. My Nguyen woke up with a quick call in the big blind, and Horchoff thought long and hard before folding. It was the right move, as Nguyen turned over {a-Spades}{a-Hearts}, while Yates had {9-Clubs}{9-Spades}. A board of {k-Spades}{2-Spades}{q-Clubs}{5-Spades} was grim for Yates, but the {9-Hearts} emerged on the river to save him.

Player Chips Progress
My Nguyen
My Nguyen
127,000 2,000
Rufus Yates
Rufus Yates
73,000 73,000

Tags: My NguyenRufus Yates

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,200/2,400

Ante: 400

Landry Doubles Through Garcia-Salas

Level 13 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

Pablo Garcia-Salas bet 7,000 from the small blind on a {k-Spades}{4-Diamonds}{2-Hearts} flop and was called by Randy Landry in the cutoff. Garcia-Salas bet the same on the {10-Spades} turn, and Landry, put his last 10,000 in. Garcia-Salas called with {k-Hearts}{j-Clubs} but was crushed by Landry's {k-Diamonds}{q-Clubs}. No jack appeared on the river.

Player Chips Progress
Randy Landry
Randy Landry
49,000
Pablo Garcia-Salas
Pablo Garcia-Salas
21,000 -71,500

Tags: Randy LandryPablo Garcia-Salas