2015 Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino

The Mid-States Poker Tour Michigan State Poker Championship starting flights at FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, are over, and the surviving 110 players are set to play for the title on Sunday. On Saturday, 40 players managed to advance from Day 1c – which attracted 213 entrants to bring the total field up to 559 entries.

Jason Smith leads the pack with 278,000, though that's the lowest of the end-of-day chip leaders. Smith hovered around 100,000 or so for a lot of the day and finally topped 200,000 when he got against a player holding . The two players got it all in preflop and Smith's aces held up. That hand was in the penultimate level and set Smith up nicely to finish the day with the chip lead. Mike Ermie (250,500) and Mark Garrod (250,000) round out the top three.

MSPT Pro Nick Pupillo was able to work his stack up to 174,000, above the average going into Day 2. Pupillo got paid by top pair in a 70,000 pot where he held two pair. Pupillo is probably stoked after busting earlier today and making it to Day 2 on this last bullet.

He will join fellow MSPT Pro Jason Zarlenga in the Day 2 field, as well as MSPT regulars Steve Anderson (151,000) and Mark Hodge (26,000), the latter of which is contending for the MSPT Player of the Year title.

Meanwhile, Tony Pena played in multiple Day 1 flights, but he was unable to make it to Day 2. He busted a few levels before the end of the day when he played a hand with Paul Prentis. Pena raised all in preflop for his last 12,800 and action folded to Prentis, who was sitting directly to Pena's right. Prentis asked for a count and then called. He showed the and Pena showed the . The board ran out and Prentis won the pot eliminating Pena.

Others who fell on Day 1c include Mark Ader, John Hoppas, Chuck Newcomb, Steve Berra, and Shane Raikes.

Day 2 will start at 11 a.m. local time Sunday. Check back then to see who is crowned the Michigan State Poker Champion and walks away with the $134,642 first-place prize.

Dealers were told to deal out five more hands. There wasn't much action as each player was five hands closer to a Day 2 berth. Stay tuned for the recap of today's events including a list of all the Day 2 players and chip counts.

Tomorrow's Day 2 will start at 11 a.m. local time and play down to a winner. The final table will be broadcast with hole cards on a 15-minute delay.

After a few failed attempts to make Day 2, including earlier today, MSPT Pro Nick Pupillo is finally building a stack. His most recent hand, he won a big pot when his two pair beat the top pair of his opponent.

Jason Smith won another huge pot to break the 300,000 mark. He had and his opponent had for all the chips. Smith won and is now looking like a good bet to finish the night as the chip leader, and possibly challenge Day 1b's end of day leader, Steven Williams for the overall chip lead coming into Day 2.

The MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship is entering the final level of its Day 1 flights. Tomorrow the remaining players will play down to a winner. The MSPT doesn't allow deals, so the MSPT Champion will have to beat every other player to claim the crown.

Tony Pena raised all in preflop for his last 12,800 and the action folded around to Paul Prentis, who was sitting directly to Pena's right. Prentis asked for a count and then called. He showed and Pena showed . The board ran out and Prentis won the pot eliminating Pena.

Jason Smith just broke the 200,000 barrier and is the chip leader. The board read and Smith had . Smith has had a consistent day and has steadily been adding to his chip stack.