Ever since doubling with a straight flush earlier this afternoon, Brandon Tharp has done nothing but increase his stack.
In a recent hand, he opened big to 1,100 from early position and 2012 World Series of Poker Event #5 $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em champ Nick Jivkov called in the next seat. The rest of the players folded and it was heads-up action to the flop.
Tharp kept the pressure on with a bet of 1,400, but Jivkov looked him up. When the appeared on the turn, Tharp quickly tossed out a bet of 2,100, and this time it did the trick as Jivkov released his hand.
We saw former MSPT final tablist Allen Lanier standing on the rail, which is usually a bad sign. Sure enough, he confirmed that he had just been eliminated.
As he told it, he was crippled after running into , and then he got the rest of his chips in with only to run into . Lanier managed to flop trip sevens, but his opponent found a king to make a full house.
Lanier's absence from the tournament is only temporary though as he indicated he has plans to reenter a little later on.
After a player opened for 500 and the hijack called, Jason Smith called from the big blind and three players took a flop of . Smith checked, the original raiser continued for 700, and the hijack folded.
Smith made the call and then both players checked the turn as well as the river. The original raiser tabled the for ace high, but it was no good as Smith's flopped gutshot turned into a pair on the turn.
It was a small pot, but it gave us a good excuse to update you on Smith's stack.
The MSPT began in Minnesota, so it's no surprise the tour has a strong following from that state. Two of the MSPT's most loyal players — Kou Vang and Tyler Caspers — made the trip to Michigan and are in action today.
Caspers, who finished third in the Season 5 opener at Running Aces in Minnesota, is firing his third bullet in this event after busting both Day 1a and 1b, while Vang is firing his first after getting into town late Friday night.
Vang, a MSPT champ, is the current MSPT Season 5 Player of the Year leader after a red-hot start to the year. It began at the MSPT Belle of Baton Rouge where he finished runner-up for $21,032, and then a couple weeks later he was at the final table of the MSPT Majestic Star stop where he ultimately finished in eighth-place for $8,794. Amazingly, he made a third consecutive final table a week later at the MSPT Black Hawk stop in Colorado where he took fifth for $22,650.
Both Caspers and Vang are seated at the same table, so we'll have to wait and see if they mix it up with one another.
According to the MSPT, just 19 more entries are needed for this tournament to have a first-place prize of at least $100,000. If it happens, it will be the third consecutive MSPT event that has offered a six-figure first place prize.
In fact, four of the last five have offered six-figure first-place prize, with other barely missing out at $97,539. Clearly the MSPT has something going for itself.
We missed the preflop action, but we do know that two players, one of them being JJ Adkins, got their stacks in. The unknown player, who was the shorter stack, held the , but unfortunately for him it was no good as Adkins held the .
It's always good to be on the good end of a cooler, as Adkins experienced after the board ran out a clean .
FireKeepers has not been kind to WSOP bracelet winner Nick Jivkov. He fired and missed on Day 1a, fired twice on Day 1b, and now he's on his second — and final — bullet here on Day 1c. MSPT rules allow for one reentry per starting flight, meaning in a tournament with three Day 1s the maximum amount of time someone could enter is six.
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flop.
appeared on the turn, Tharp quickly tossed out a bet of 2,100, and this time it did the trick as Jivkov released his hand.
for ace high.
only to run into 
. Smith checked, the original raiser continued for 700, and the hijack folded.
turn as well as the 
river. The original raiser tabled the 
for ace high, but it was no good as Smith's 
flopped gutshot turned into a pair on the turn.
, but unfortunately for him it was no good as Adkins held the 
.
