Main Event Day 1b | 2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Potawatomi Casino

09-06-2014 21:03 UTC-5

Potawatomi Second-Largest MSPT Event Ever Held

Chad Holloway

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante

Registration and late entries are open for another two levels, but right now we can confirm that the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino stop is going to be the second-largest MSPT event ever held. Day 1a attracted 246 entries, and right now the Day 1b clock says 232 entrants have mixed it up today. That means the field currently stands at 478.

Here's a look at the top ten biggest MSPT events in history:

Date	Location	Venue	# of Entrants
6/4/14	Las Vegas, NV	Venetian	854
9/5/14	Milwaukee, WI	Potawatomi	???
3/16/14	Black Hawk, CO	Golden Gates	453
3/27/14	Shakopee, MN	Canterbury Park	447
5/18/14	Battle Creek, MI	FireKeepers Casino	411
4/6/14	Tama, IA	Meskwaki Gaming	389
3/23/14	Baraboo, WI	Ho-Chunk Gaming	383
12/9/12	Shakopee, MN	Canterbury Park	376
9/8/13	Quapaw, OK	Downstream Casino	375
4/28/13	Shakopee, MN	Canterbury Park	373

09-06-2014 20:55 UTC-5

Chip Counts from Half the Room

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Chad Holloway

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Todd Brooks	90,000
Rob Edelstein	72,000
Mark Sandness	70,000
Ravi Raghavan	55,000 39,500	39,500

Larry Ormson	45,000 25,000	25,000
Chad Graves	35,000
Judd Greenagel	35,000 1,000	1,000
Olesya Watchorn	30,000 2,000	2,000
Sam DeSilva	27,000 7,000	7,000
Justin Filtz	25,000 1,125	1,125
Nicholas Aranda	25,000 4,000	4,000
Steve Belland	20,000
Nicholas Palma	10,500 7,300	7,300

09-06-2014 20:41 UTC-5

Graves Plants One in the Ground

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Chad Holloway

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante

On a flop of , a player led out for 1,500 and Chad Graves just called. The player on the button then raised to a little over 5,000, the bettor folded, and Graves announced that he was all in. The button called off for roughly 9,000 total and discovered the bad news.

Graves:
Button:

Both players had flopped top pair, but it was Graves' ace kicker that made all the difference. The turn gave Graves two pair, but it also delivered the button a gutshot Broadway straight draw.

"Blank," Graves requested. The dealer obliged and put out the , giving Graves the knock out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chad Graves	35,000 10,000	10,000

Tags: Chad Graves

09-06-2014 20:32 UTC-5

Khedup Says Peace Out

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Chad Holloway

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante

It appeared a player had opened with a standard raise and Dan Graunke raised to 2,000 from the hijack. Whatever the case, we do know Lob Khedup responded by moving all in for 9,850 from the cutoff. Graunke ended up making the call and the cards were turned on their backs.

Graunke:
Khedup:

Khedup got it in good, but the flop was bad news as Graunke flopped a flush draw. The turn gave Graunke the lead with tens, but Khedup must have been fixated on hearts as he didn't see it. We knows this because when the appeared on the river, Khedup began to celebrate. The table quickly filled him in on what had happened, and that left Khedup shaking his head before exiting the tournament floor.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dan Graunke	40,000 40,000	40,000
Lob Khedup	Busted

Tags: Dan Graunke Lob Khedup

Level: 7

Blinds: 250/500

Ante: 50

09-06-2014 20:12 UTC-5

Time for Another Break

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Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

Players are now on their second 10-minute break of the day.

09-06-2014 20:12 UTC-5

Brutal End for Flesch

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Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

In the last hand before the break there was a commotion over at the far end of the room. We made our way over to discover that Eric Flesch had just been eliminated, and in particularly brutal fashion.

Flesch ended up getting his stack all in preflop holding and was up against an opponent who also had , albeit with the . The flop came nine-high and all hearts, which meant Flesch was at risk. The turn was safe, but the river wasn't as it was the dreaded heart. With that, Flesch saw his MSPT Potawatomi Main Event come to an end.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Flesch	Busted

Tags: Eric Flesch

09-06-2014 20:08 UTC-5

Greenagel Straightens Out an Opponent

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Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

We picked up the action on a flop when an unknown player bet 2,000 and Judd Greenagel called. A third player got out of the way, the dealer burned and turned the , and the player bet 4,000. Greenagel responded by raising to 11,000, and then snap-called when his opponent moved all in for just 1,300 more.

Greenagel:
Opponent:

Greenagel had turned a straight, which guaranteed him the hand. The meaningless was run out on the river for good measure, and Greenagel was pushed the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Judd Greenagel	34,000 14,000	14,000

Tags: Judd Greenagel

09-06-2014 19:50 UTC-5

One for the Reigning MSPT Player of the Year

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Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

Before 2013, the name Pat Steele wasn’t mentioned much in the poker world; however, thanks to a stellar performance by the family man from Chelsea, Michigan, it's now found its place in poker history.

That’s because Steele, who is married with three children, won the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Season 4 Player of the Year title — not to mention amassing $261,941 in winnings including a $155,636 win in the Heartland Poker Tour Soaring Eagle Main Event.

Steele, who attended Northwood University in Midland, Michigan where he played Division II football, owns Steele Heating & Cooling, Inc. — a third-generation family business — but has been supplementing his income through poker.

"I started playing poker when I was 12. I would use my allowance and play with my dad and his friends in our basement," Steele previously told PokerNews. "I have played since that time, mostly cash games, with a few tournaments. It wasn't until the fourth-place finish at FireKeepers that I gained the confidence required to be competitive."

Steele didn't make his way to Milwaukee until today, so Day 1b marks his first shot at the MSPT Potawatomi. In a recent hand, there was approximately 2,000 in the pot and a flop of when the player in the big blind checked and Steele bet 1,025 from middle position. The big blind called and then both players checked the turn. When the completed the board on the river, the big blind led out for 3,000 but wasted little time in folding when Steele raised to 6,500.

Here’s a look at Steele’s 2013 accomplishments:

Date	Event	Place	Prize
March 7	MSPT $1,100 FireKeepers Main Event	4th	$18,364
March 22	MSPT $1,100 Ho-Chunk Main Event	3rd	$27,773
May 17	HPT $1,650 Soaring Eagle Main Event	1st	$155,636
June 17	Wynn Summer Classic $550 NLHE	81st	$1,174
July 6	2013 WSOP Main Event	362nd	$28,063
August 16	HPT $1,650 Gary, Indiana Main Event	41st	$3,505
August 22	MSPT $1,100 FireKeepers Main Event	4th	$18,880
November 8, 2013	MSPT $1,100 Ho-Chunk Main Event	34th	$1,472
December 6	MSPT $1,100 Canterbury Park Main Event	10th	$7,074

Player	Chips	Progress
Pat Steele	26,000 13,000	13,000

Tags: Pat Steele

09-06-2014 19:36 UTC-5

Potawatomi Poker Room Manager Jeff Gemini Talks MSPT Coming to Town

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Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

Prior to the MSPT rolling into Milwaukee, PokerNews sat down with Jeff Gemini, Poker Room Manager here at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, to ask him a few questions about hosting a premiere poker tour. Here's what he had to say.

PokerNews: This marks the first time the MSPT is coming to Potawatomi. What inspired you to bring the MSPT to town?

Gemini: I wanted to expand our tournaments and make them bigger than what we’ve had in the past. I looked into the MSPT and since it’s a Midwest-based tournament, I thought we could get a combination of guests already familiar with Potawatomi, as well as some players from markets a little further out.

Are Potawatomi players excited for the MSPT? Has there been a general excitement in the room?

Players are very excited. Our satellite tournaments have been very successful up to this point and players can’t wait for the main event weekend to see the crowd and amount of players that will be here playing.

What sort of things has Potawatomi been doing to prepare for the MSPT?

One of the things we’ve done to prepare is to move the main event into our Event Center for the weekend. We’re also offering players a special room rate at our new hotel.

Can you tell us a little about your property and the surrounding area?

The biggest news is the addition of our 19-story, 381-room luxury hotel. We opened our doors Aug. 18 and all the rooms offer spectacular views of the city and surrounding area. The hotel also features our newest restaurant, Locavore, a bar area and a coffee bar featuring Stone Creek Coffee.

Of course, visitors to our property will still have access to all the world-class gaming, dining and entertainment that makes our casino a top Wisconsin destination. And since we’re ideally located in the vibrant Menomonee Valley near downtown Milwaukee, we’re very close to other popular tourist destinations like the Harley-Davidson Museum and Miller Park.

Can you describe the poker room at the Potawatomi?

Our main games are $1-$3 and $3-$5 no-limit games; $2-$4, $3-$6, $4-$8, $5-$10 and $20-$40 limit games; and we also have Omaha games along with PLO games with a variety of different blinds. Our regular tournament is our deep stack on Saturday mornings and our no-limit hold’em tournament on Sunday afternoons. Our Bad Beat promotion has also been a huge success for us and we’ve paid out nearly $2.5 million in just under two years.

Are there any other events going on players should check out when in town for the MSPT?

Milwaukee is known for its festivals, so players should take some time to check out the Indian Summer Festival at nearby Henry W. Maier Festival Park Sept. 5-7. It’s the largest Native American three-day festival in the United States and is the last big festival of the summer. Also, the Milwaukee Brewers will be in town and hosting a series with the St. Louis Cardinals. There really is so much to see and do in Milwaukee, but one thing I would suggest to players is to go downtown and take a photo with the Bronze Fonz!

If you had to recommend three things for players to do other than poker while at Potawatomi, what would they be?

Have a drink at Bar 360, stop by the Fire Pit’s Side Bar to hear some live music and check out a Bonkerz comedy show in our Northern Lights Theater. The comedy show is free if you have a Fire Keeper’s Club card, or $5 if you don’t, so it’s a really good value and the theater is one of the top venues in the city.

Where’s the best place to eat at Potawatomi, or what’s the best kept secret at the property?

Dream Dance Steak is our signature, award-winning restaurant, so I would definitely recommend having dinner there because the food and atmosphere can’t be beat. However, another great restaurant to try is RuYi, which features a variety of Asian cuisine. They also offer convenient to-go service, so players can pick up their orders at the host stand if they prefer. No matter which restaurant you choose, you really can’t go wrong.