Main Event Day 1a | 2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Golden Gates Casino

11-12-2015 11:00 UTC-6

Welcome to Day 1 of the MSPT Golden Gates Casino Main Event!

Chad Holloway

Season 6 of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) just wrapped up its stop at Meskwaki Casino last weekend – where Rich Alsup topped a field of 410 entrants to win $101,229 – and this weekend they're here at Golden Gates Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado for a $1,100 buy-in $200,000 guaranteed Main Event.

Earlier this week, the stop hosted a $360 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed MSPT Regional event, which attracted 770 entrants and crushed the guarantee by creating a $231,000 prize pool. That tournament saw Bobby Sanoubane of Aurora, Colorado capture a $33,000 first-place prize after a six-way chop.

As for the Main Event, the last time the MSPT visited Golden Gates was back in March, where Kane Lai topped a field of 409 entrants to win a $101,365 first-place prize. Interestingly, Lai won the HPT Ameristar St. Charles for $150,593 earlier this week, so momentum is on his side if he attempts a title defense.

Others slated to make an appearance at this stop are MSPT Team Pros Matt Alexander, Matt Kirby, and Nick Pupillo; as well as regulars such as Allen Kessler, Rex Clinkscales, Ting Ho, and current MSPT Player of the Year leader Mark Hodge, who took over the lead after making the final table at the aforementioned MSPT Meskwaki stop.

Here's a look at the remaining MSPT Golden Gates schedule:

Day	Event	Buy-In	Time
Thursday, Nov. 12	MSPT Main Event Day 1a	$1,100	12:00 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 12	MSPT Qualifier	$250	7:00 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 13	MSPT Qualifier	$250	9:00 a.m.
Friday, Nov. 13	MSPT Main Event Day 1b	$1,100	12:00 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 13	MSPT Qualifier Turbo	$250	9:00 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 14	MSPT Qualifier	$250	9:00 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 14	MSPT Main Event Day 1c	$1,100	12:00 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 15	MSPT Main Event Day 2	-	12:00 p.m.

The Main Event, which will start players with 30,000 in chips, will be held over three days beginning Thursday with Day 1a at 12 p.m. Day 1a will play 16 levels. Friday's Day 1b will also start at 12 p.m. and play 16 levels, and the same for Day 1c on Saturday. Players who advance from Day 1a are not eligible to play in Day 1b and so on. The remaining players from each flight will combine on Sunday morning at 12:00 p.m. and play until a champion is crowned. The Main Event final table will be broadcast live (15-minute delay) with hole cards worldwide on msptpoker.com and PokerNews.

Here's a look at those who've capture titles in Season 6 thus far:

Dates	Event	Entrants	Winner	Prize
Jan. 15-25, 2015	MSPT bestbet Jacksonville	421	Brian Arbaugh	$102,806
Jan. 30 – Feb. 8, 2015	MSPT Running Aces	354	Erv Bjerga	$91,941
Feb. 14-22, 2015	MSPT Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells	463	Ben Wiora	$114,512
March 5-15	MSPT Golden Gates	409	Kane Lai	$101,365
March 21-29	MSPT Meskwaki	371	Chad Willett	$96,760
April 4-12	MSPT Potawatomi	635	Jason Mirza	$147,529
April 6-19	MSPT Maryland Live! Casino	270	Greg Himmelbrand	$72,910
April 17-26	MSPT Canterbury Park	430	Dan Hendrickson	$106,182
May 9-17	MSPT FireKeepers Casino	614	Mark Rubenstein	$142,637
June 1-5	MSPT Venetian	1,964	Angelina Rich	$215,815
July 24-26	MSPT Meskwaki	410	Blake Bohn	$101,229
August 14-16	MSPT Grand Falls	238	Alan Curl	$64,941
August 21-23	MSPT Tropicana Evansville	251	Michael O'Neill	$67,746
September 4-6	MSPT Potawatomi	462	Dan Goepel	$114,117
September 18-20	MSPT Running Aces	328	Peixin Liu	$85,498
October 10-18	MSPT FireKeepers Casino	559	Michael Ferraroti	$134,642
November 6-8	MSPT Meskwaki	410	Rich Alsup	$101,229

For additional news and updates, be sure to follow the tour on Twitter @msptpoker. Cards will be in the air in just a couple of hours, so stay tuned!

11-12-2015 13:59 UTC-6

Sanoubane Looking to Go Back-to-Back This Week

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Earlier this week, Golden Gates Casino hosted a $360 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed MSPT Regional event, which attracted 770 entrants and crushed the guarantee by creating a $231,000 prize pool. That tournament saw Bobby Sanoubane of Aurora, Colorado capture a $33,000 first-place prize after a six-way chop.

Sanoubane is back in action today and looking for even more success. In a recent hand, four players limped to see a flop, which they all checked. When the appeared on the turn, Allen Kessler checked from the big, Sanoubane bet 500 from the big, and the other to players folded. Kessler did the same and Sanoubane took down a small pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bobby Sanoubane	31,000 1,000	1,000

Tags: Bobby Sanoubane

11-12-2015 14:46 UTC-6

Enter the Massey Brothers

Chad Holloway

Level 3 : 100/200, 0 ante

Bryan Devonshire, Ralph Massey & Matt Kirby

The field just got a lot tougher as the Massey Brothers, Aaron and Ralph, have taken their respective seats in the tournament.

The story of the Massey Bros. has been well documented here on PokerNews — click here to read more — and most recently Aaron, who was the Heartland Poker Tour Season X Player of the Year, made headlines calling out Dwyte Pilgrim for faulting on a loan.

All told, Aaron has $2,591,403 in lifetime tournament earnings, while Ralph, who drew a tough seat between Bryan Devonshire and MSPT Team Pro Matt Kirby, has $356,648. That's not too surprising considering Ralph took up the game long after his little brother, but regardless both siblings, who're a part of the Big Cock Poker stable, have made a name for themselves on the circuit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ralph Massey	30,000 30,000	30,000
Aaron Massey	30,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Aaron Massey Ralph Massey

11-12-2015 16:30 UTC-6

Carter Cracks Aces to Send Bender to the Rail

Chad Holloway

Level 5 : 150/300, 25 ante

Gary Reisman opened for 950 under the gun and Bruce Carter called from middle position. The player in the small blind came along, and then Jason Bender three-bet to 6,300 from the big. Reisman called, as did Carter, and the small blind folded to make it three-way action to the flop.

Bender wasted little time in moving all in for just over 9,000, Reisman folded, and Carter snap-called.

Carter:
Bender:

"How about a jack?" Carter asked the dealer.

"No jack," Bender replied.

"Or a king," Carter added. The dealer obliged with the on the turn.

Bender was clearly upset, and watched helplessly as a blank on the river to send him to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gary Reisman	76,000
Bruce Carter	39,000 15,000	15,000
Jason Bender	Busted

Tags: Bruce Carter Jason Bender

11-12-2015 16:50 UTC-6

Tyler Shoots to the Top of the Leaderboard

Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

We discovered Max Tyler sitting with a mountain of chips, which looked to be roughly 140,000.

We asked him how he got them, and he explained that his most recent win was the elimination of MSPT Team Pro Matt Kirby.

According to Tyler, he flopped the nut flush draw and Kirby bet. He called and then called another bet on a turn. The river was a blank, and Kirby checked. Tyler moved all in, and Kirby called off what little he had left only to muck when Tyler tabled his pair of aces.

We'll no doubt see Kirby back in action either later today or in a subsequent starting flight, while Tyler is primed to make some noise here on Day 1a.

Player	Chips	Progress
Max Tyler	140,000
Matt Kirby	Busted

Tags: Max Tyler Matt Kirby

11-12-2015 18:01 UTC-6

Russell Sends Bingle to the Rail with Superior Full House

Chad Holloway

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante

Allen Kessler just called us over to point out a big hand going down at his table.

As he explained it, a flop saw Matt Bingle bet and then call a raise from the big-stacked Bruce Russell. When the peeled off on the turn, Bingle put out a big bet, Russell called, and the paired the board on the river.

Bingle moved all in for his last 50,000 or so, and Russell call.

Bingle:
Russell:

Bingle thought he hit his gin card on the turn, but Russell had been sitting with top set on the flop. The river gave both players a full house, but of course Russell's was best to send a shellshocked Bingle to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bruce Russell	175,000 55,000	55,000
Matt Bingle	Busted

Tags: Bruce Russell Matt Bingle

11-12-2015 18:47 UTC-6

"1sickdisease" Flushed By Pupillo

Chad Holloway

Level 8 : 300/600, 75 ante

We missed the preflop action, but we do know Kevin "1sickdisease" Eyster got his stack of roughly 20,000 all in against MSPT Team Pro Nick Pupillo.

Pupillo:
Eyster:

It was a flip, and while Eyster survived the flop, Pupillo picked up a flush draw to go with his overs. He hit it too as the peeled off on the river to leave Eyster drawing dead. The meaningless was put out on the river for good measure, and then Eyster headed for the exit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nick Pupillo	115,700

Kevin Eyster	Busted

Tags: Kevin Eyster Nick Pupillo

11-12-2015 19:08 UTC-6

Pupillo Continues to Build with Double Knockout

Chad Holloway

Level 9 : 400/800, 100 ante

Action folded to Duma Lowery on the button and he raised to 2,000, which Mike Hassab called from the small blind. MSPT Team Pro Nick Pupillo came along from the big blind, and the flop came down .

Hassab checked, Pupillo tossed in two red T5,000 chips for a bet of 10,000, and Lowery called off his last 7,500. Hassab then check-raised all in for 22,000, and Pupillo called the additional 12,000.

Lowery:
Pupillo:
Hassab:

Hassab got it in good with top pair, but both Lowery and Pupillo were drawing to two different straight. The turn gave Pupillo his, and that left Lowery drawing dead. Meanwhile, Hassab could still win with either an ace or kings on the flop, but it was not meant to be as the blanked on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nick Pupillo	150,000 34,300	34,300

Mike Hassab	Busted
Duma Lowery	Busted

Tags: Duma Lowery Mike Hassab Nick Pupillo

11-12-2015 21:11 UTC-6

Set Over Set Sends Massey to the Rail

Chad Holloway

Level 11 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

In the very next hand after Bryan Devonshire was eliminated from the tournament, Ralph Massey joined him on the rail.

It happened when four players each put in 2,500 preflop and took a flop of . Massey checked from the big blind, Corey Zedo bet 5,500 from middle position, and Aaron Thomas folded from the cutoff. Ben Keeline called from the button, Massey check-raised all in for 37,800 total, and Zedo moved all in over the top, which inspired Keeline to fold.

Massey:
Zedo:

It was a brutal set-over-set flop for Massey, who was drawing to the case three. The turn wasn't it, and neither was the river. Massey was felted on the hand, while Zedo jumped up among the chip leaders.

Player	Chips	Progress
Corey Zedo	190,000
Ralph Massey	Busted

Tags: Corey Zedo Ralph Massey

11-12-2015 21:24 UTC-6

Northrope Cut Down By Campbell

Chad Holloway

Level 11 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

A short-stacked Travis Northrope moved all in for his last 7,100 from middle position and Danny Gonzalez called from the hijack. When action reached Michael Campbell in the small blind, he three-bet to 30,000, which prompted Gonzalez to fold.

Northrope:
Campbell:

Northrope was in dire straits, and it got even worse when the flop delivered Campbell top two. The turn left Northrope drawing dead, but just to rub salt in the wound the dealer put out the on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Campbell	152,000
Travis Northrope	Busted

Tags: Travis Northrope Michael Campbell