Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2015 Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino
Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
2015 Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Buy-in
$1,000
Total Entries
614
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Players Left 1 / 614
Filter
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
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.
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
331,500
31,500
|
31,500 |
|
262,000 | |
|
|
233,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
|
219,000
219,000
|
219,000 |
|
208,000
208,000
|
208,000 |
|
181,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
|
174,000 | |
|
172,500
42,500
|
42,500 |
|
159,500
61,000
|
61,000 |
|
142,500
142,500
|
142,500 |
|
|
140,500
140,500
|
140,500 |
|
137,500
95,500
|
95,500 |
|
109,500
25,500
|
25,500 |
|
|
105,500
105,500
|
105,500 |
|
|
100,500
100,500
|
100,500 |
|
|
97,500
97,500
|
97,500 |
|
88,500
88,500
|
88,500 |
|
|
86,000
86,000
|
86,000 |
|
84,500
27,500
|
27,500 |
|
|
83,500
38,500
|
38,500 |
|
|
79,000
79,000
|
79,000 |
|
|
75,500
4,500
|
4,500 |
|
74,000
74,000
|
74,000 |
|
74,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
71,500
71,500
|
71,500 |
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 , 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 |
|---|---|---|
|
|
250,000
157,000
|
157,000 |
|
|
70,000
53,000
|
53,000 |
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 
, and Midena bet 15,000 on the turn. His opponent quickly folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
300,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 400
Level 13
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
|
185,000
87,000
|
87,000 |
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 
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
|
93,000 |
