Welcome to Day 1b of Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki Casino

The Mid-States Poker Tour is off to a solid start with 179 players having played in the Day 1a flight. An even larger turnout is expected for today's flight 1b, scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. central time in Tama, Iowa.

A total of 32 players made it through last night, led by Yousri "Chicago" Ali who bagged 309,500 in chips. Not far behind the Chicago native was Las Vegas professional poker player Rex Clinkscales with 286,000. And rounding out the top three was John Joachim who will start Day 2 with 266,500 in chips.

Other survivors of Day 1a included tour regulars Robbie WazWaz (162,000), "DQ" Dan Hendrickson (135,500), Aaron Johnson (104,000), the lone female Patricia Bott (41,000), and Dan Hamm (39,000).

Players who did not make Day 1a and are expected to try again today include Josh Reichard, Terry Ring, Lance Harris, Kou Vang, MSPT team pros Matt Alexander, Matt Kirby, and Nick Pupillo, and MSPT structure creator Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler.

Players will once again use the Kessler-approved structure, featuring blinds starting at 50/100 and a 20,000 starting stack. Levels will increase ever 40 minutes, with ten minute breaks after every three levels. All players are allowed to reenter once, and the reentry period will end after Level 9.

Please stayed tuned here at PokerNews for live updates beginning with the start of the tournament at 4 p.m.