2015 Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino

Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2015 Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a6
Prize
$142,637
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,000
Entries
614
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000

Main Event

Day 1b Completed

Midena Bags Day 1b Lead in Quest for Second MSPT Win

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Tom Midena
Tom Midena

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 {2-Hearts}{8-Spades}{6-Diamonds}, and Tsui announced he was all in. Tisdale immediately verbalized a call as he'd flopped bottom set with the {2-Diamonds}{2-Clubs}. Tsui cursed his bad luck as he had the {a-Diamonds}{a-Clubs}, 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 {a-Clubs}{k-Spades} against an opponent's {a-Hearts}{q-Diamonds}. Unfortunately for Zarlenga, the board ran out {9-Hearts}{q-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}{10-Spades}{2-Clubs}, 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.

Tags: Harry TisdaleJason ZarlengaTom Midena

End-of-Day Counts (full)

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Player Chips Progress
Tom Midena us
Tom Midena
331,500 31,500
Yatendra Guru
Yatendra Guru
262,000
Harry Tisdale
Harry Tisdale
233,000 -17,000
Mark Uminn us
Mark Uminn
219,000 219,000
Philip Wojtuniecki us
Philip Wojtuniecki
208,000 208,000
Sean Munjal
Sean Munjal
181,000 -4,000
Rob Robitaille
Rob Robitaille
174,000
Ken Baime us
Ken Baime
172,500 42,500
Jeremy Grable
Jeremy Grable
159,500 61,000
Bob Hoag us
Bob Hoag
142,500 142,500
Craig Stasio
Craig Stasio
140,500 140,500
Zal Irani us
Zal Irani
137,500 95,500
Marty Dubois
Marty Dubois
109,500 25,500
Todd Wildig
Todd Wildig
105,500 105,500
Fred Lynch
Fred Lynch
100,500 100,500
Randell Boyer
Randell Boyer
97,500 97,500
Kristopher Bradshaw us
Kristopher Bradshaw
88,500 88,500
Philip Chandler
Philip Chandler
86,000 86,000
Brian Zekus us
Brian Zekus
84,500 27,500
Patrick Peroz
Patrick Peroz
83,500 38,500
James Gerardut
James Gerardut
79,000 79,000
David Armintrout
David Armintrout
75,500 -4,500
Justin Lee us
Justin Lee
74,000 74,000
Gary Tsui
Gary Tsui
74,000 4,000
Greg Wilson
Greg Wilson
71,500 71,500

Read full

Tisdale Doubles Through Tsui

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

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 {2-Hearts}{8-Spades}{6-Diamonds}, and Tisdale checked. Tsui said he was all in, and Tisdale immediately called off his stack of just over 100,000.

Tisdale: {2-Diamonds}{2-Clubs}
Tsui: {a-Clubs}{a-Diamonds}

Tsui cursed his poor luck, asking for an ace "one time" but missing as the {4-Spades} hit, followed by the {3-Spades}.

Player Chips Progress
Harry Tisdale
Harry Tisdale
250,000 157,000
Gary Tsui
Gary Tsui
70,000 -53,000

Tags: Gary TsuiHarry Tisdale

Midena Dominating

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

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 {6-Clubs}{j-Hearts}{3-Hearts}, and Midena bet 15,000 on the {10-Spades} turn. His opponent quickly folded.

Player Chips Progress
Tom Midena us
Tom Midena
300,000 140,000

Tags: Tom Midena

Zarlenga Eliminated

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Jason Zarlenga
Jason Zarlenga

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: {a-Clubs}{k-Spades}
Opponent: {a-Hearts}{q-Diamonds}

The flop came {9-Hearts}{q-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}, bringing the dreaded lady for Zarlenga's opponent. The {10-Spades} changed nothing, and the {2-Clubs} turn left him shaking his opponent's hand.

Player Chips Progress
Jason Zarlenga us
Jason Zarlenga
MSPT
Busted

Tags: Jason Zarlenga

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,200/2,400

Ante: 400

Munjal's Trap Works

Level 13 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Sean Munjal
Sean Munjal

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 {k-Spades}{10-Clubs}{5-Spades} flop, and his opponent called. He then checked the {4-Clubs} turn, and the big blind shoved for about 50,000. Munjal called, and he turned over {k-Clubs}{k-Diamonds}. The big blind had {q-Spades}{j-Clubs} and missed his straight as the {2-Clubs} hit the river.

Player Chips Progress
Sean Munjal
Sean Munjal
185,000 87,000

Tags: Sean Munjal

Free Money for Tisdale

Level 13 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

Harry Tisdale was in middle position and called an open from his right. The opener then just shipped for about 30,000 on the {4-Hearts}{8-Clubs}{6-Diamonds} flop, and Tisdale was ready with an insta-call.

Tisdale: {4-Clubs}{4-Spades}
Opponent: {k-Hearts}{j-Spades}

Tisdale had nary a worry besides a chop, and those chances ended on the {6-Spades} turn.

Player Chips Progress
Harry Tisdale
Harry Tisdale
93,000

Tags: Harry Tisdale