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Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki Casino
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki Casino
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Buy-in
$1,000
Total Entries
371
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Players Left 1 / 371
Filter
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
"These guys should be ashamed if they let me bag a stack," Rob Wazwaz declared as one of the later levels ticked down on Day 1a of the Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki Casino, which attracted 175 runners.
As it turned out, not only did they let Wazwaz bag a stack, they let him bag the biggest one of them all. Wazwaz finished the night with 244,000 chips to lead 36 survivors after 14 levels of play in Tama, Iowa. The Minnesota player is a regular on the tour, with his best result being a fourth-place finish at MSPT Ho-Chunk in 2013 for $19,133. He has more than $450,000 in career tournament cashes.
Wazwaz started out strong with an early double but was down to 32,000 during Level 9 (400/800/100) after sending a large portion of his stack to Bill Hanson. However, a key double happened for him early in the next level when he bet 9,000 on a 
flop after an opponent checked to him. The player check- jammed, putting Wazwaz at risk for 32,800 total, and Wazwaz snapped it off with 
, which was ahead of his opponent's 
. The 
gave Wazwaz a sweat, but a river 
was safe for him.
Others surviving the grind included Nicholas Aranda (207,000), Steve Vang (189,000), tour pro Matt Kirby (176,000), Kevin Suneson (171,000), Ben Keeline (114,500), Rodger Johnson (106,500), Joe Barnard (78,000), and John Reading (50,500).
Aranda already had a solid stack when he got in a confrontation with James Wilson preflop, the latter having opened to 6,500 from the hijack during Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300). Aranda made it 13,000 from his left, and Wilson thought awhile before shoving for approximately 41,000. Aranda called with the 
, only to see Wilson show the 
. Luck smiled upon Aranda though as a 
run out left him with top two and the win.
Plenty of notables took shots and missed on Day 1a, such as former champs Josh Reichard, Ben Wiora, Terry Ring, and Jonathan Olson. Other eliminations included Steve Belland, Todd "Sharkslayerr" Breyfogle, Dustin Dirksen, Mike Lang, Lance Harris, Mike Ross, Kou Vang, MSPT points leader Mark Hodge, and MSPT team pros Matt Alexander and Nick Pupillo.
All will have a chance at redemption on Day 1b, which commences at 4 p.m on Saturday. We'll be back with more live coverage here on PokerNews, so be sure to check back then.
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Rich and Donnie break down Wednesday's RAWA hearing on Capitol Hill, and Remko talks to Global Poker Masters champion and MVP Giuliano Bendinelli, along with Russia's Anatoly Filatov.
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Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Play has ended for the night.
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
"Would you like to know how many chips I have?" Rob Wazwaz asked Bill Hanson.
Hanson affirmed he did, and Wazwaz approximated his shove at 85,000 on the 
board. Hanson mucked, and Wazwaz took the pot, passing the 200,000 mark.
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
A player with a short stack of about 24,000 shoved in from middle position, and Matt Kirby called in the cutoff.
Kirby: 
Opponent: 
A 
flop was clean for the all-in player, but Kirby found outs on both the 
turn and river to score the knockout.
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Ben Keeline opened in early position and then called the shove of Mike Ross, who had only about 13,000 in the small blind.
Keeline:
Ross: 
Ross had live cards and pulled ahead as a 
flop hit. Keeline still had outs though, finding one on the turn in the 
. The bricked off on the river, and Ross headed for the exits to try again tomorrow.
