We didn't see the action, but Reg Powell scooped up a pot in which Ken Payne had all his chips in the middle, while Powell and another opponent had built up a reasonable side pot as well. Powell showed to take the pot on a queen-high board, while Payne shook his head and mucked his face up before exiting the tournament area.
Lance Harris shoved his short stack over a raise from Kou Vang and a call from another player. Vang reraised all in to isolate Harris, and the third player folded.
Vang:
Harris:
Harris nodded his approval when the flop came , increasing his outs. A turn left him considerably less optimistic, as it gave Vang a flush draw. The river was a brick: , and Harris wish his tablemates good luck.
According to Ric Cacho, he busted two players after he came along in a multi-way raised pot before a player behind shoved. The original raiser shoved, and action folded to Cacho, who decided to gamble with . His opponents held and , and Cacho flopped a pair, turned a straight draw, and rivered a second pair to eliminate both opponents.
Brett Kuznia three-bet to about 13,000 after an early-position raise from Dustin Dirksen. When action folded back to Dirksen, he shoved all in. Kuznia called, though he didn't seem thrilled about it.
Kuznia:
Dirksen:
"Classic," Dirksen said, and indeed we had a classic flip that decides so many tournament lives.
This time, it was Kuznia on the wrong end of it when the board ran out , and Dirksen vaulted to the chip lead while his opponent hit the rail.
After 9 levels of play here on Day 1a of the Mid-States Poker Tour, Dustin Dirksen bagged a massive chip lead with 254,800. The next-biggest stack is more than 100,000 below Dirksen's: Mark Sandness finished the night with 148,200. Rounding out the top five were Tim Hoberstad (118,100), Ric Cacho (114,000), and Keith Doering (113,900).
Thirty-six players bagged up stacks out of the 128 total entrants, and both the survivors and the busted can return tomorrow for Day 1b, though survivors must forfeit their Day 1a stacks to do so. The fields will then combine for the final day on Sunday.
Dirksen owes a solid chunk of his massive stack to his track shoes: he won a huge race against Brett Kuznia for a sizable pot late in the tournament. He appeared to maintain a well-above-average stack for most of the night, though we didn't catch him in many hands. Dirksen, who sports a résumé that includes three World Series of Poker final tables, a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure final table, and more than $1.1 million in live tournament cashes, is certainly a player whom not many runners will be happy to see with a large stack.
Well-known pros Matt Kirby (104,500) and Blake Bohn (75,600) also bagged solid stacks. In Bohn's case, a lucky turn enabled him to avoid busting when he semi-bluffed all in and got there against a made hand.
Other notables who made it through the day with chips include Reg Powell (101,100), Rodger Johnson (88,800), Todd "sharkslayerr" Breyfogle (75,900), Rob Wazwaz (55,400), and Terry Ring (39,100).
A larger turnout is expected for tomorrow's Day 1b, so be sure to tune back in to PokerNews as we bring you all of the live updates from the first stop on this year's MSPT.
to take the pot on a queen-high board, while Payne shook his head and mucked his 
, increasing his outs. A 
turn left him considerably less optimistic, as it gave Vang a flush draw. The river was a brick: 
, and Harris wish his tablemates good luck.
