Day 1b finished on Saturday in the 2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells Main Event and 44 players remain. Former MSPT champion Jason Mirza ended the day at the top with 330,500 in chips to have the chip lead, although Thomas Peebles made a pretty good run at it.
Mirza previously won the MSPT Milwaukee Main Event back in April, keeping the title on home turf and securing himself a payday of $147,529. Mirza defeated a field of 635 entries and has set himself up for another deep run after he solid Day 1b performance. Here, Mirza will be looking to claim the top prize of $98,907.
It was going to be close between Peebles and Xao Yang for the second biggest stack, as the two were sitting over 200,000, but on the last hand of the night Peebles sealed the deal.
Peebles raised from middle position and Kou Vang reraised all in for 47,100. Peebles snap-called with the and was against the of Vang. He stayed ahead and knocked Vang out, finishing the day with 295,500. Yang finished with 268,500.
Rounding out the top five were Matthew Vaughn (248,500) and John Hayes (219,500).
MSPT Pro Blake Bohn was unable to make it though to Day 2, and with one event left Mark Hodge will stay above Bohn on the MSPT Player of the Year leaderboard. Hodge also busted earlier in the day.
A total of 69 players will return for Sunday's Day 2, the 44 who remained from Day 1b and the 25 who were left from Day 1a. The top 36 spots will pay, so about half of the returning field will go home empty handed.
Ernest Garrett was the 26th player that made it through Day 1a, but he sacrificed his stack to give Day 1b a shot and was unable to make it through.
Day 2 will begin at 11 a.m. local time and before the day is done, a champion will be crowned.
Thomas Peebles raised preflop to 8,000 on the last hand of the night. Kou Vang thought about his move from the button. He settled on shoving all in for 47,100. The blinds folded and Peebles snap-called and showed aces, . Vang had .
The board ran out and Peebles eliminated Vang on the final hand and cemented his position as the second biggest stack of the day.
John Zawaski just knocked out two players, including Robert Edelstein. He is now over 160,000.
The first player shoved all in for 24,700 and Edelstein was short, with only 6,100, he called. Zawaski debated for a moment before calling with . The first player had and Edelstein had .
The board ran out , giving Edelstein hope for a moment, before the hit the river and gave Zawaski a boat.
MSPT Potawatomi Champ Jason Mirza just took the chip lead right before the break, with two levels left to play. Mirza won the largest MSPT Event outside of Las Vegas for $147,529.
On this hand, Mirza raised to 4,200 and two players called. The flop came and Mirza led out for 9,100. The next player folds and the remaining player shoved all in with . Mirza snap calls and shows . The turn and the river came and Mirza would score the knockout and jump into the chip lead.
Mark Kroon was under the gun and he looked to former MSPT Potawatomi Champ Jason Mirza in the big blind.
"It's your big blind?" said Kroon, "I raise. I'm going after the champ!"
Monty Schmidt was on the button.
"You're going after the champ? I can't miss out on this," said Schmidt as he called.
Mirza called from the big blind and the three players saw the flop of . All three players checked the flop.
The turn was the and Mirza checked. Kroon bet 1,675 and Schmidt called. Mirza folded, leaving Kroon and Schmidt heads up to the river.
"Get him! Get him!" said Mirza to Schmidt as he folded.
Kroon asked he dealer to complete a wheel draw, but the river was the . Kroon checked and Schmidt bet 2,000. Kroon hesitated for a second before calling.
"Jack," said Schmidt and then, "Sh$t, really?" as Kroon turned over .
Jeff Hariu was looking at a board of . He had started the betting making it 1,000 to go. The next player to act reraised to 2,500 and Kirby Rogers shoved for 19,500.
Hariu called for 18,675 and the next player reshoved all in, which ended up being a call since Rogers had Hariu covered.
Rogers showed for an over pair and an open-ended straight flush draw. Hariu was sitting pretty with the nut flush and the third player had for the second-nut flush.
The turn was a black queen, but it was the and teased Rogers a little before the river came the and ended Rogers day. Hariu tripled up and is sitting at just under 50,000
Ernest Garrett bagged 14,500 chips last night. Apparently he wasn't happy with that, so he woke up this morning and earned another seat into the Main Event. He just sat down and just like that added 5,500 chips to his stack.
MSPT events require you to sacrifice your stack if you choose to try and run up a bigger stack in later flights. Of course, he now has to make it through 12 more levels of play before he knows whether he will be playing Day 2 or not.
and was against the 
of Vang. He stayed ahead and knocked Vang out, finishing the day with 295,500. Yang finished with 268,500.
. Vang had 
and Peebles eliminated Vang on the final hand and cemented his position as the second biggest stack of the day.
and Lowery had 
. The board ran out 
and sent Kessler to the rail.
. The first player had 
and Edelstein had 
. 
, giving Edelstein hope for a moment, before the 
. The turn and the river came 
and Mirza checked. Kroon bet 1,675 and Schmidt called. Mirza folded, leaving Kroon and Schmidt heads up to the river.
. Kroon checked and Schmidt bet 2,000. Kroon hesitated for a second before calling.
and the third player had 
for the second-nut flush.
