Lundy Edges Bekavac for Day 1c Lead
The last of three grueling Day 1 flights is in the books here at Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan. Lonnie Lundy emerged as the top dog with 277,500, but he barely passed Dan Bekavac, a former MSPT champion, who lost about 15,000 on the final hand of the night and ended up bagging 265,000. Bekavac took down MSPT Ho-Chunk back in March 2013 for a $76,668 score.
Day 1c drew a large 260 runners, pushing the three-day total to 614 players, a new record for a major tournament in the state of Michigan. With 55 surviving the final flight, it will be 120 players returning on Sunday for a crack at more than $142,000 up top.
Bill Hamilton (216,500), Jake Baumgartner (205,500), MSPT team pro Jason Zarlenga (195,000), "Polish" Andy Rogowski (151,000), Bruce "Hammer" Swart (147,000), Mark Johnson (141,500), Adam Lamphere (127,500), Mike Ross (101,000), and Brett Reichard (65,500) all advanced to Sunday.
Ross had one of the biggest stacks in the room late in Level 14 (1,200/2,400/400), but he ended up sending a big chunk of his chips to Bekavac, who opened to 7,000 in the cutoff seat and got a call from the small blind. Ross came along as well at a discount and saw the 
flop. Bekavac bet 16,000 when checked to, folding out the small blind. Ross made it 37,000 to go, and Bekavac thought for a bit, then called. Action checked through the 
turn, and Ross checked the 
river before calling 30,000. Bekavac had the 
for a straight on the end, while Ross showed he'd been outdrawn with the 
.
Bekavac was fortunate to even be in that position. Just a few hands prior, he took down a three-way all-in pot with the 
against the 
and the 
, nailing his one-outer on the turn and then still fading a gutshot and an ace on the end.
Some of the players falling short today were Gerald Heckathorn, Jason Smith, Mark Hodge, Chris Karambinis, Andrew Rubinberg, Jason Johnson, and Allen "Chainsaw' Kessler.
Those who did make it through will reconvene on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. local time. We'll see you then here on PokerNews.