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Season 6 of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) continued yesterday with Day 1a action from the Golden Gates Casino Main Event!
The first of three starting flights attracted 126 entrants, but after 16 levels of play just 20 remained with Ross Reichert and his stack of 357,500 leading the way. Today, the second flight will kick off with a mix of new faces and Day 1a casualties looking to reenter such as MSPT Golden Gates Regional champ Bobby Sanoubane, who is already two bullets deep; MSPT Team Pro Matt Kirby; Nebraska farmer Phil Mader; Bryan Devonshire, who finished sixth in the Colorado Poker Championship back in August; and Aaron & Ralph Massey.
Some players we won't see in action are defending champ Kane Lai (304,000) and MSPT Team Pros Matt Alexander (270,500) and Nick Pupillo (100,000), all of who advanced from Day 1a. Lai topped a field of 409 entrants back in March to win a $101,365 first-place prize, and interestingly, he won the HPT Ameristar St. Charles for $150,593 earlier this week. With a big stack headed into Day 2, Lai will certainly be a force to be reckoned with.
Day 1b will kick off at 12:00 p.m. local, which is less than an hour from now. Late registration and reentries are open all day long, so check back soon for all the action straight from Black Hawk, Colorado!
In the meantime, here's a look at the remaining MSPT Golden Gates schedule:
Day
Event
Buy-In
Time
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 see the Day 1b field play 16 levels, and the same for Day 1c on Saturday. 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!
In the middle of the 2013 World Series of Poker, Kevin "Phwap" Boudreau collapsed in the parking lot of a nearby Subway restaurant during the dinner break of an event. The young poker pro was rushed to the hospital and the community was shocked to learn that he had suffered a traumatic brain injury, one that came with a grim prognosis.
Boudreau, who was part of the famed Ship It Holla Ballas crew, had sudden bleeding in his brain and was placed in an induced coma. As his family rushed from Colorado to be by his side, many of his close friends in Vegas did what they could. The outlook was grim.
Fast forward two years. Boudreau, who is still on a long road to recovery, is back playing the game he loves. A miracle in and of itself. At this time last year, Boudreau set the poker world ablaze when he final tabled this very event, ultimately finishing in fourth place for $34,678 after suffering a brutal bad beat to eventual champ Reza Yazdi.
Boudreau has returned to Golden Gates Casino and is looking for a bit of redemption, and he immediately got back to his winning way.
In a recent hand, Boudreau opened for 300 from the cutoff and received calls from the player on the button and MSPT Team Pro Matt Kirby in the big blind. The flop saw Kirby check, Boudreau bet 700, and only the button call to see the turn, which both players checked.
When the completed the board on the river, Boudreau bet 1,050 and his opponent paid him off. Boudreau tabled the for a flopped two pair, and it was good as his opponent simply mucked.
Tyler Corbett always seems to do well here at Golden Gates Casino. Back in August, he topped a field of 281 to take down the Colorado Poker Championships $1,100 Main Event for $52,320, and the last time the MSPT visited the property, he finished runner-up to Kane Lai (who finished third in chips on Day 1a this year) for $58,518.
Corbett is in action today and looking to finish one spot better than he did the last time around, and he's certainly off to a good start.
We missed the action in a recent hand, but we do know there was around 15,000 in the pot and a board reading . Corbett managed to get his stack of approximately 36,000 in, and his opponent, who had just a bit less than that, called off.
Corbett tabled the for aces full of queens, which best his opponent's aces full of deuces.
Reza Yazdi, who won this very event one year ago, opened for 800 from middle position and Chuck Tipton three-bet to 2,000 from the hijack. Action folded back to Yazdi, who called to see a flop. Yazdi proceeded to check-call a bet of 4,000, and then checked the turn. Tipton bet 8,000, Yazdi moved all in, and Tipton called off for just a bit less.
Tipton:
Yazdi:
Yazdi flopped trip nines to pull ahead of Tipton's queens, and he held when the blanked on the river. Tipton immediately made his way to the registration desk to reenter.
Just before the level went up, Nathan Finger raised to 1,500 from middle position and received a call from the player in the cutoff. Thomas Sharp then three-bet jammed for 5,850 total from the button, both blinds folded, and the other two players called before checking it down as the board ran out .
Sharp:
Cutoff:
Finger:
Finger had the worst hand preflop, but the ace on the flop gave him the win to send Sharp to the rail.
With roughly 10,000 in the pot and a board reading , current MSPT POY leader Mark Hodge bet 3,800 only to have Mike Hassab raise to 8,000. Hodge took his time before coming out with a three-bet to 18,800, and Hassab thought for a bit before just calling.
"I have a boat," Hassab said and tabled the .
"Quads," Hodge said and tabled the . The entire table, including Hodge, seemed impressed that Hassab just called.
"I almost shipped it right there," Hassab admitted. "Wow, I got off cheap."
William Black was on one heck of a heater earlier in the day, but his active and aggressive style caught up to him.
We missed Black's bustout hand, but Tyler Corbett, who had tangled with Black on numerous occasions, informed us of his demise. According to him, Black limped and Alan Curl raised to 3,000. Two players called, and when action was back on Black he shipped for 24,000. Curl called and the other two players got out of the way.
Curl:
Black:
Black was looking for some help, but the board ran out a lowly to improve Curl to a wheel.
A short-stacked Allen Kessler open-shoved his last 10,000 from middle position and Bruce Carter called from the button. The blinds both folded and Carter tabled the .
"I'm afraid to turn my hand over," Kessler said before revealing the .
The flop was bad news for Kessler.
"Drawing dead on the flop," he muttered. Not quite true as he could catch running queens, but that didn't happen as the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river.
John Vitt opened for 6,500 from the hijack and Tom Heine three-bet to 16,000 from the cutoff. Aaron Massey then four-bet jammed for 29,300 from the big blind, Vitt five-bet all in over the top for 86,100, and Heine hit the tank before spiking in a call.
Vitt:
Heine:
Massey:
"That's a problem," Heine said upon seeing he and Massey shared the same hand. Indeed it was, and neither player got lucky as the board ran out to give Vitt a full house.
flop saw Kirby check, Boudreau bet 700, and only the button call to see the 
turn, which both players checked.
completed the board on the river, Boudreau bet 1,050 and his opponent paid him off. Boudreau tabled the 
for a flopped two pair, and it was good as his opponent simply mucked.
. Corbett managed to get his stack of approximately 36,000 in, and his opponent, who had just a bit less than that, called off.
for aces full of queens, which best his opponent's 
aces full of deuces. 
turn. Tipton bet 8,000, Yazdi moved all in, and Tipton called off for just a bit less.
blanked on the river. Tipton immediately made his way to the registration desk to reenter.
.
, current MSPT POY leader Mark Hodge bet 3,800 only to have Mike Hassab raise to 8,000. Hodge took his time before coming out with a three-bet to 18,800, and Hassab thought for a bit before just calling.
.
. The entire table, including Hodge, seemed impressed that Hassab just called.
to improve Curl to a wheel.
on the river.
