Ben Wiora opened for a raise under the gun to 80,000 and then called a three-bet of 275,000 from small blind Zach Shelton. On the flop, Shelton shoved for 866,000, and Wiora called.
Wiora:
Shelton:
The dealer burned and turned a , leaving Shelton with two outs, which he missed on the river.
John Hayes had a three-bet of 125,000 in front of him in the big blind and was staring at a four-bet of 350,000 from Ben Wiora, who had opened early. Hayes jammed, putting Wiora at risk for 624,000 total, and Wiora quickly called.
Wiora:
Hayes:
The flop was safe for "JohnnyGstaks," but an was a brutal turn, leaving him with one out, which he didnt hit on the river.
Mark Hodge just busted in 18th, ending his streak of three straight Mid-States Poker Tour final tables. According to an observer, Hodge got it in with trip aces against the jack-high flush of Zach Shelton on the turn, failing to fill up on the river.
Brian Rudolph shipped his last 81,000 in from middle position, and Zach Shelton called in the cutoff. Patrick Kellogg jammed as well in the next spot, folding out the blinds. Shelton asked for a count, and it was 208,000 total.
"There's just too much out there," he said, sliding in chips to call.
Shelton:
Kellogg:
Rudolph:
Shelton was ahead for the moment, and a flop moved him way in front with a set. He found quads on the turn to lock it up.
Nick Jivkov opened for a raise and saw John Hayes three-bet in late position. Jivkov jammed for what looked like about 150,000, and Hayes called with . Jivkov had , and Hayes won the race as he flopped a king and turned trips.
PokerNews Senior News Editor Chad Holloway said he opened to 11,500 with only to have Ashor Ochana shove for 137,000 from middle of position. Action folded back to Holloway, and he called for all all but 21,000 of his chips. Ochana tabled , and it was a race, that is until Holloway found himself nearly dead on the flop. The turn and river blanked, and Holloway sent over the majority of chips.
In the next hand, Holloway shoved his short stack all in under the gun holding and the player on the button called with the . The board ran out clean and Holloway fell about 10 spots shy of the money.
Championship Sunday has arrived again on the Mid-States Poker Tour, this time with a big carrot up top: the winner of MSPT Ho-Chunk Gaming will take home just under $115,000. All eyes are on Mark Hodge, the Minnesota native gunning for a fourth consecutive MSPT final table. He'll bring the biggest stack into play with 315,500 as blinds begin at 1,500/3,000/500.
Other contenders include Adam Sivertson (314,000), Will Stone (292,500), Nick Jivkov (248,000), Chris Karambinis (188,000), Mike Mustafa (137,500), Matt Alexander (133,000), Jason Sell (112,000), Nik Stone (110,000), Kou Vang (93,500), Chad Holloway (93,000), and John Hayes (43,500). Sell has already taken this event down for more than $97,000 a year ago. We'll see if history repeats itself.
Cards start flying at 10:30 a.m. and will continue to do so until a winner has been determined. Stay tuned as we see how this massive prize pool shakes out.