Main Event
Day 1a Completed
Main Event
Day 1a Completed
The Mid-Stakes Poker Tour drew 191 entries to the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Tama, Iowa, today for the first of two starting flights in the $300,000 guaranteed MSPT Meskwaki Main Event.
Through 14 levels of play, just 37 survived with Calmar, Iowa's Marty Faldet bagging the chip lead on 317,000.
Faldet, who is no stranger to success here in Tama, having made 19th here in March and 16th back in 2013, doubled through early leader Tim Colby with pocket kings versus the nut-flush draw to climb into the lead halfway through the day. He then cemented it by sending 2014 MSPT Meskwaki runner-up Mike Lang home late in the day when he got it in with two red queens versus two black ones and managed to make a heart flush.
While MSPT Pro Nick Pupillo and MSPT Player of the Year contender Mark Hodge were among the casualties today, Team Pro Matt Alexander flourished and will take a healthy stack of 184,500 with him into Day 2 beginning at 11 a.m. local time on Sunday.
Other notables who will be joining Alexander include perpetual short stack Allen Kessler, World Poker Tour final table participant Jose Serratos, and one-time World Series of Poker heartbreak kid Adam Friedman, who got on a late heater to bag 242,500 and put him second in chips to Faldet.
The MSPT Iowa Main Event continues with the second of two starting flights set for 4 p.m. Saturday and an even bigger field is expected.
As always, the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand for all the action from beginning to end, and you can follow along right here.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Marty Faldet | 317,000 | 107,000 |
Adam Friedman
|
242,500 | 146,500 |
Rich Alsup
|
176,000 | 176,000 |
Tim Thompson
|
167,500 | 129,800 |
Vic Hoffman
|
163,000 | -9,000 |
Kipp Smith | 152,500 | 112,500 |
Rick McGown | 150,500 | 31,500 |
David Gutfreund | 139,500 | 139,500 |
Derek Dempster | 134,500 | 15,500 |
Jose Serratos | 124,500 | 124,500 |
Darrell Prevail | 123,500 | 123,500 |
Kurt Kasper
|
120,500 | 120,500 |
Hamid Feiz | 114,000 | 32,000 |
Matt Kaldenburg | 110,500 | 110,500 |
Jason Seitz | 108,000 | 108,000 |
Jeff Bryan | 104,000 | |
Tom Hammers | 103,500 | 103,500 |
James Wilson | 102,000 | 8,000 |
Todd Melander | 101,000 | |
Randy Perkins | 96,000 | 96,000 |
Ryan Watts
|
77,000 | 26,000 |
Dustin Peck | 60,500 | 60,500 |
Shaun Burnett | 60,000 | 60,000 |
Ron Rusch
|
60,000 | 60,000 |
Sara Allgood | 59,500 | 59,500 |
With 10 minutes left in the level the clock was stopped and a draw was conducted to determine the number of hands left to play before Day 1a is done. They drew a three.
Facing a raise and a call as he basked in the afterglow of his recently reported chopped pot, MSPT Pro Nick Pupillo looked down at from the big blind and let it fly again.
The original raiser was the only caller and his won the classic flip after a board ran out, taking Pupillo with it.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Nick Pupillo
|
Busted |
On his second bullet today, MSPT Pro Nick Pupillo just got it in with the versus one opponent's and looked to be on his way out the door yet again.
Instead, the flop fell giving him plenty of outs. Despite giving him a set, the turn wasn't a great card for Pupillo, as his opponent had already flopped a bigger one.
However, the worked, putting a straight on the board and chopping the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Nick Pupillo
|
30,000 | -8,000 |
MSPT Pro Matt Alexander made it 5,500 and the player on the button bumped it to 15,500.
Alexander pushed in, having the button's 35,000 behind well covered. The button called with the , but was on the wrong end of a classic cooler with Alexander holding the .
Aces held on a board pf bricks and Alexander is now close to 200,000.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Matt Alexander | 188,000 | 33,000 |
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 400
Heads-up on a flop with some 25,000 in the middle already, MSPT Pro Matt Alexander called a 15,000-chip bet.
The turn brought a check from his opponent and Alexander promptly shoved, dragging the pot when his opponent quickly mucked.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Matt Alexander | 155,000 | 15,000 |
Marty Faldet just felted Mike Lang to take the chip lead and become the first player over 200,000. But it's how he got it done that truly makes this hand worth noting.
It was Lang's versus Faldet's with Faldet four-flushing Lang's hopes down the toilet.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Marty Faldet | 210,000 | 105,000 |
Mike Lang | Busted |