2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Golden Gates Casino
Local pro Kane Lai has had a heck of a year. He's the defending champ of this event after topping a field of 409 back in the spring to win $101,365, which brought his lifetime tournament earnings to just under $400,000. It was his first six-figure score, but he notched another this past Monday when he won the Heartland Poker Tour Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles for $150,593.
Lai is looking to defend his title, and he took a step in the right direction with a recent double through Mike Harris. It happened when Lai shipped all in for 27,400 under the gun and Harris called.
Harris: ![]()
![]()
Lai: ![]()
![]()
It was a flip, but the ![]()
![]()
flop strengthen Lai's position by giving him a flush draw. The
turn was safe for him, as was the
river. Ship the double to Lai.
We haven't heard much from Allen Kessler all day long. It seemed he was patiently grinding, which was reflected in his chip count, which dipped down to 20,000.
That is when he opted to jam after Tony Karahalios' limped. Action folded back to Karahalios, and he opted to make the call with ![]()
, which was out in front of Kessler's ![]()
.
"I folded ace-five," Norecia Austin admitted.
The ![]()
![]()
flop gave Kessler the lead, but it was only temporary as the dealer burned and turned an
. The river was no help to Kessler, and his Day 1a came to an end.
Tony Karahalios limped from middle position and Norecia Austin did the same from the hijack. Bruce Carter then raised to 7,500 from the button, Bruce Russell called from the big blind, and Karahalios called. Austin got out of the way and it was three-way action to the ![]()
![]()
flop. Two checks saw Carter continue for 17,500, and it did the trick as both his opponents folded.
It wasn't much of a hand, but it gave us a good excuse to update you on all their counts. As you can see, they're all up since the last time we checked in on them.
Level: 12
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 200
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.
After Gary Reisman raised from the hijack, Bruce Russell three-bet to 7,600 from the small blind. Reisman made the call and then action went check-check on the ![]()
![]()
flop. When the
appeared on the turn, Russell led out for 16,000 only to have Reisman raise to 50,000.
Russell thought long and hard before making the call, and the
completed the board on the river. Russell paused for a few moments before betting 50,000, and Reisman called off about half his remaining stack. Russell tabled the ![]()
for a flopped full house, and it was good as Reisman sent his cards to the muck.
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.
We caught the elimination of Bryan Devonshire just as he was getting up from the table and collecting his things.
Devonshire got his stack in with ![]()
on a board reading ![]()
![]()
![]()
, but was drawing dead as Aaron Thomas had turned a flush with the ![]()
.
We missed the hand happen, but we do know that Tony Karahalios doubled through Bruce Russell. Karahalios got his stack of 83,000 all in preflop holding ![]()
and was racing against the ![]()
of Russell. A king on the river secured the pot for Karahalios, and Russell took a hit, though he soon recoup the chips off Adam Wilbur.
Not long after, Wilbur opened with a raise from the button only to have Karahalios three-bet to 16,200 from the big blind. Wilbur called and then bet 15,000 after Karahalios checked the ![]()
![]()
flop. Both players proceeded to check the
turn as well as the
river and Karahalios rolled over the ![]()
. It was good as a frustrated Wilbur sent his cards to the muck.