Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2014 Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino
Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino
Buy-in
$1,000
Prize Pool
$397,170
Entries
411
Level
28
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
1,000
Myers Comes on Strong at End of Night to Lead Advancing 24 Day 1b Players
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
On Friday, Season 5 of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) continued with Day 1b action from FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan. The second of three starting flights attracted 127 entries, which was up from the 75 and 121 Day 1b entries the last two times the MSPT was in town.
Along with Day 1a’s 106 runners, the current field stands at 233 entrants with another starting flight to go, which means it will no doubt pass it’s previous record of 301 entries. After 14 levels of play, just 24 players remained with Carter Myers and his stack of 273,000 leading the way. That’s quite a bit more than Day 1a chip leader Ben Hammnett, who lead the advancing 18 players with 212,500.
Carter was short in the early stages of the tournament, but he hit a big-time heater at the end of the night. In one notable hand, which happened in the last level of the night, a player in middle position raised to 7,500 and a late-position player made the call. Myers three-bet to 20,400 from the big blind, the original raiser made the call, and the late-position player folded. The flop was 
and Myers led out for 12,500. His opponent made the call and the turn was the 
. Myers checked to his opponent who went all in and Myers snap-called, showing 
. His opponent was behind with jacks and wafted as the 
hit the river.
Of course not everyone was so lucky. World Series of Poker bracelet winner and Heartland Poker Tour champ Adam Friedman was playing his first-ever MSPT event, but he ended up exiting in Level 7 (250/500/50). According to Friedman, he raised to 1,000 under the gun with 
and Wisconsin’s Ken Payne three-bet to 2,500 from the button. Friedman responded with a four-bet to 5,200, Payne called, and the flop came down 
with two diamonds.
Both players checked, and then Friedman put out a bet on the 
turn. Payne called and ended up moving all in after Friedman checked when a second 
appeared on the river. Friedman called off with his aces and kings, but it was no good as Payne had gotten extremely luck to make trips with . Friedman stated that he would return on Day 1c, while Payne went on to bag up 96,500.
Others who hit the rail on Day 1b were “Wild Bill” Romer, DJ Hirko, Rob Wood, Rick Terrill, Aaron Wallace, Rob Robitaille, Scott Miller, Tyler Caspers, Bruce “The Hammer” Swart, Nick Jivkov, and Justin Rice.
Rice’s demise came in just two hands, the first of which was losing a race with Big Slick to pocket jacks. A short time later in Level 11 (600/1,200/200), Rice opened the action with a raise to 2,700 from under the gun, which received two callers including Dee Bell in the big blind. The 
flop saw Bell, the last woman in the field, check and Rice continued for 4,200. Both his opponents called, the 
was put out on the turn, and Bell took the initiative and led out for 11,000. Two calls followed, the river blanked, and Bell fired out 22,000.
Rice moved all in for roughly 28,000, the other player folded, and Bell called with 
for the nuts. Rice showed for a set, and just like that he went from 100,000 in chips to out of the tournament.
While many fells, a select few made it through to Day 2 including MSPT Majestic champ Ken Baime (179,000), Jason Zarleng (186,000), and Dustin Hargis (181,500), just to name a few.
Day 1c is set to kick off at Noon local time on Saturday. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to bring you all the action and eliminations, so be sure to check back then. In the meantime, check out this PokerNews Impromptu with the aforementioned Adam Friedman, who talks about playing his first-ever MSPT, this summer’s WSOP, and more.
For more on the MSPT stop at FireKeepers, visit MSPTpoker.com.
End of Day 1b Chip Counts (full)
![[user269680]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
273,000 | 67,000 |
|
186,000 | 56,000 |
|
181,500 | 181,500 |
|
179,000 | -1,000 |
|
|
155,500 | 97,500 |
|
|
148,500 | 148,500 |
|
134,000 | 134,000 |
|
119,000 | -1,000 |
|
|
110,500 | 53,500 |
|
96,500 | -98,500 |
|
|
95,000 | 95,000 |
|
|
94,500 | 94,500 |
|
86,000 | 86,000 |
|
|
85,000 | 85,000 |
|
83,500 | -6,500 |
|
|
83,000 | 83,000 |
|
79,000 | 45,000 |
|
|
71,000 | -1,000 |
|
69,000 | -38,000 |
|
64,000 | -36,000 |
|
|
57,500 | -59,500 |
|
45,500 | 45,500 |
|
|
33,000 | 33,000 |
|
|
23,000 | 16,400 |
Five More Hands
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
The tournament staff has just announced that the remaining players will play five more hands each before bagging and tagging for the night.
We're headed out to the tournament floor to catch and last-minute action, so stay tuned for those, a list of chips counts, and a full recap of the Day 1b action.
The Moon is Out Tonight
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Not long ago Bryan Moon was sitting on a massive stack of 180,000, but his luck changed quickly and he is now out of the tournament.
Moon bleed quite a few chips before losing a bit pot with against . Moon managed to flop a queen to take the lead, but it was only temporary as his opponent found an ace on the turn. That left Moon with just 6,000 in chip, but he managed to work that up to 30,000 or so before dropping back down to 10,500.
That is when he committed it from the cutoff and received a call from Jason Zarlenga in the big blind.
Moon: 
Zarlenga: 
Moon was behind, but he was drawing to two live cards. The 
flop was disaster though as Zarlenga paired his ace and gave him a hammerlock on the hand. The 
turn improved Zarlenga to a full house, which left a frustrated Moon drawing dead.
The meaningless 
was put out on the river for good measure, and then the Moon finally set.
Palmer Crippled
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
After player opened for 5,800, Zane Palmer moved all in for 43,100. When action reached Pierre Armster in the small blind, he called off for 36,500 and the original raiser folded.
Armster: 
Palmer: 
Palmer was left shaking his head upon discovering his pocket pair was dominated, while a nervous Armster was up on his feet. The 
flop no doubt soothed his nerves, but the 
turn gave him a sweat as Palmer picked up a gutshot straight draw. Fortunately for Armster, it didn't come in as the 
blanked on the river.
"Oh, that hurts," a crestfallen Palmer said after the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
90,000 | |
|
|
6,600 | -47,400 |
Myers Takes a Big One
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
A player in middle position raised to 7,500 and a late-position player made the call. Carter Myers three-bet to 20,400 from the big blind and the original raiser made the call. They were heads up after the late-position player folded. The flop was and Myers led out for 12,500. His opponent made the call and the turn was the . Myers checked to his opponent who went all in and Myers snap-called, showing .
His opponent tabled and had only one out, but couldn't find it as the hit the river. Myers is now flush with chips at over 200,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
206,000 | 96,000 |
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 400
Palmer Gets Healthy
Level 13
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Bryan Moon raised to 5,200 from middle position and a player in late position called. It was folded around to Zane Palmer in the big blind who pushed all in for 21,800 total. Moon made the call and the late-position player got out of the way, leaving them heads up and racing.
Moon had pocket fours and Palmer needed to improve with . The 
flop was good for Moon, as was the turn. Palmer spiked an on the river though and happily dragged the 50,000+ pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
90,000 | -20,000 |
|
|
54,000 | 14,000 |
Farhat vs. Myers
Level 13
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Gary Farhat raised to 5,300 from the hijack and received a call from Carter Myers in the small blind. When the flop came down 
, Myers check-called a bet of 5,300 and then both players checked the 
turn.
The 
river put four spades on board, and Myers checked to Farhat, who double checked his cards and then bet three green T5,000 chips for a bet of 15,000. Myers wasted little time in making the call, but mucked when Farhat tabled the 
for the nuts.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
110,000 | -15,000 |
|
|
100,000 | 27,000 |