Main Event
Day 1b Completed
Main Event
Day 1b Completed
Back in 2013, the first time the Mid-States Poker Tour rolled into Battle Creek, Michigan for an event at FireKeepers Casino, Tom Midena navigated his way through a 272-player field and claimed the $73,456 top prize. It was the start of what has become a solid live tournament career, tallying nearly $400,000 in cashes thus far.
Midena's in good position to add to that after bagging 331,500 on Day 1b, topping the 35 survivors (the tournament drew 198 runners total). He spent most of the day treading water until a late surge vaulted him to the top in the last four levels of the night.
Others making it through included Yatendra Guru (262,000), Harry Tisdale (233,000), Mark Ummin (219,000), Sean Munjal (181,000), Ken Baime (172,500), Zal Irani (137,500), Brian Zekus (84,500), Gary Tsui (74,000), and Jose Serratos (58,000).
Tisdale got lucky late against Tsui, and essentially trading places with him on the leaderboard. On the very last hand of the night, Tisdale called a three-bet to 14,800 preflop after saying he had a pair in the hole. He checked dark as the flop came down , and Tsui announced he was all in. Tisdale immediately verbalized a call as he'd flopped bottom set with the . Tsui cursed his bad luck as he had the , was unable to find an ace on the last two streets, and had to send 100,800 to his right.
Baime is another former MSPT champion, and he had a huge stack for most of the night after taking the lead early in the day. He ended up hovering around the 150,000 mark for most of the night after gaining his initial big stack.
Some players who took shots on Day 1b and failed to advance included Gerald Heckathorn, Sai Mudduluru, Elliott Hebden, Mark Johnson, Mike Ross, Andy Rogowski, Adam Lamphere, Bruce "Hammer" Swart, and former MSPT FireKeepers champ Jason Zarlenga.
Zarlenga was struggling for most of the day and couldn't get his head above water. Eventually, the MSPT team pro and two-time champion got it in for his last 21,000 during Level 14 (1,200/2,400/400) with the against an opponent's . Unfortunately for Zarlenga, the board ran out , busting him just shy of making it through to Day 2. He'll have one more chance though, as will the other casualties, as the third and final starting flight, Day 1c, will take place at Noon on Saturday. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to capture all the action.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Tom Midena | 331,500 | 31,500 |
Yatendra Guru | 262,000 | |
Harry Tisdale
|
233,000 | -17,000 |
Mark Uminn | 219,000 | 219,000 |
Philip Wojtuniecki | 208,000 | 208,000 |
Sean Munjal | 181,000 | -4,000 |
Rob Robitaille
|
174,000 | |
Ken Baime | 172,500 | 42,500 |
Jeremy Grable | 159,500 | 61,000 |
Bob Hoag | 142,500 | 142,500 |
Craig Stasio | 140,500 | 140,500 |
Zal Irani | 137,500 | 95,500 |
Marty Dubois | 109,500 | 25,500 |
Todd Wildig | 105,500 | 105,500 |
Fred Lynch
|
100,500 | 100,500 |
Randell Boyer | 97,500 | 97,500 |
Kristopher Bradshaw | 88,500 | 88,500 |
Philip Chandler | 86,000 | 86,000 |
Brian Zekus | 84,500 | 27,500 |
Patrick Peroz
|
83,500 | 38,500 |
James Gerardut
|
79,000 | 79,000 |
David Armintrout | 75,500 | -4,500 |
Justin Lee | 74,000 | 74,000 |
Gary Tsui | 74,000 | 4,000 |
Greg Wilson | 71,500 | 71,500 |
We found Harry Tisdale and Gary Tsui locking horns again, with Tisdale calling what looked like a three-bet to 14,800 before flop in middle position. The flop came , and Tisdale checked. Tsui said he was all in, and Tisdale immediately called off his stack of just over 100,000.
Tisdale:
Tsui:
Tsui cursed his poor luck, asking for an ace "one time" but missing as the hit, followed by the .
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Harry Tisdale
|
250,000 | 157,000 |
Gary Tsui | 70,000 | -53,000 |
Tom Midena appears to be the favorite to take the top stack honors tonight. He just added to his stack in a three-bet pot where he opened under the gun to 5,000 and then called a middle-position player's reraise to 12,000. Both checked the , and Midena bet 15,000 on the turn. His opponent quickly folded.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Tom Midena | 300,000 | 140,000 |
We found Jason Zarlenga all in for his last 21,000 or so with one player all in ahead of him and covering. Everyone else folded.
Zarlenga:
Opponent:
The flop came , bringing the dreaded lady for Zarlenga's opponent. The changed nothing, and the turn left him shaking his opponent's hand.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Jason Zarlenga
|
Busted |
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 400
Sean Munjal limped the small blind and saw the big blind raise to 6,000. Munjal reraised to 14,000, and the big blind called. Munjal bet 10,000 on the flop, and his opponent called. He then checked the turn, and the big blind shoved for about 50,000. Munjal called, and he turned over . The big blind had and missed his straight as the hit the river.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Sean Munjal | 185,000 | 87,000 |
Harry Tisdale was in middle position and called an open from his right. The opener then just shipped for about 30,000 on the flop, and Tisdale was ready with an insta-call.
Tisdale:
Opponent:
Tisdale had nary a worry besides a chop, and those chances ended on the turn.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Harry Tisdale
|
93,000 |