2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki Casino

Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki Casino

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a9
Prize
$96,760
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,000
Entries
371
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000

Main Event

Day 1b Completed

Hudson Laps Field on Day 1b as 37 Advance

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Mario Hudson
Mario Hudson

Day 1b of Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki Main Event drew 196 players, pushing the total runners to 371 after two days. Mario Hudson will have a wide lead over the remaining field with 380,500 when everyone comes back for Day 2 on Sunday.

Hudson, a Minnesota native, has more than $180,000 in career cashes and is what you might call an MSPT lifer, having attended tour events since as early as 2010. He cashed for $25,321 after a second-place finish in April of that year when the tour was still branded as the Minnesota State Poker Tour.

Counting Hudson, 37 players advanced from Day 1b, including Joe Matheson (282,000), Thao "Scratch" Thiem (246,000), Josh Reichard (155,000), two-time champ Dan Sun (113,000), Jason Seitz (100,500), Lance Harris (93,000), Ryan Hohenstein (72,000), Mike Ross (66,500), MSPT Ho-Chunk champ Ben Wiora (54,500), and current MSPT points leader Mark Hodge (44,500).

Hodge is seeking an incredible seventh straight MSPT cash, having made three final tables during his surge. His best result was a fourth-place finish at Running Aces for a little over $25,000. He busted Jim Boone late in the night with the {k-Spades}{k-Diamonds} against Boone's {a-Spades}{k-Hearts} to get up to about 75,000, but ran into a snag during the last level of the night, Level 14 (1,200/2,400/400).

At that point, Hodge three-bet to 20,000 over an Anselmo Villarreal open to 8,000. Villareal called after some deliberation and then checked a {j-Hearts}{10-Hearts}{4-Hearts} flop. Hodge bet 20,000 again and then folded when Villarreal tank-shoved for Hodge's last 18,000. Villarreal showed the {k-Hearts}{k-Diamonds}, and Hodge showed he had bricked the flop with the {a-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds}. Hodge was able to double up in the waning minutes and keep his streak alive for at least another day.

With a big field and just a few tables worth of players bagging, plenty of notable names failed to advance. Todd "Sharkslayerr" Breyfogle, "Minnesota" Jon Hanner, Kou Vang, Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler, David Gonia, Mike Lang, Everett Carlton, Shawn Roberts, and MSPT team pros Matt Alexander and Nick Pupillo were among those falling during the course of play. Roberts and Pupillo had heaps of chips with a few levels left before busting out, with many of those chips likely finding their way to Hudson's stack as he ended the night with a huge lead over second-place Matheson and Day 1a leader Rob Wazwaz (244,000).

Play resumes on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. local time at Level 15 (1,500/3,000/500), and PokerNews will again be on hand to see who is crowned the latest MSPT champion.

Tags: Mario HudsonMark Hodge

End of Day 1b Counts (full)

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Player Chips Progress
Mario Hudson us
Mario Hudson
380,500 70,500
Joe Matheson us
Joe Matheson
282,000 122,000
Thao Thiem us
Thao Thiem
246,000 156,800
Chad Willett us
Chad Willett
195,500 195,500
Brian Cox us
Brian Cox
171,500 171,500
Josh Reichard us
Josh Reichard
155,000 45,000
Anthony Yeh
Anthony Yeh
147,500 -3,500
John Kurfman us
John Kurfman
145,000 145,000
Chunlei Yuan
Chunlei Yuan
134,000 134,000
Brian Zupancich us
Brian Zupancich
125,000 35,000
Nathan Crookshank
Nathan Crookshank
120,500 120,500
Anselmo Villarreal us
Anselmo Villarreal
114,500 114,500
Garrett Riley us
Garrett Riley
113,500 113,500
Dan Sun
Dan Sun
113,000 73,000
Jason Seitz us
Jason Seitz
100,500 -22,500
Oleg Badmayev
Oleg Badmayev
100,500 -103,500
Anthony Knepper us
Anthony Knepper
97,500 97,500
Lance Harris
Lance Harris
93,000 43,000
Darek Anderson
Darek Anderson
91,000 -19,800
Brett Reichard us
Brett Reichard
88,500 4,500
Darin Utley us
Darin Utley
87,500 87,500
Ryan Hohenstein us
Ryan Hohenstein
72,000 2,700
Gerald Heckathorn
Gerald Heckathorn
69,500 35,200
Mike Ross us
Mike Ross
66,500 -14,500
Marinela Selseth
Marinela Selseth
66,000 66,000

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Villarreal's Tank Shove Folds Out Hodge

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

Anselmo Villarreal opened to 8,000 and saw Mark Hodge three-bet to 20,000 on the button. Villarreal took a long time, saying he thought Hodge had a certain hand, then called. On the {j-Hearts}{10-Hearts}{4-Hearts} flop, Villarreal again tanked awhile before checking. Mark Hodge bet 20,000, and Villarreal thought a few minutes before pushing his whole stack in, covering Hodge.

"Well done," Hodge said, leaning back. He mucked {a-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds} face-up, and Villarreal showed {k-Hearts}{k-Diamonds}.

Player Chips Progress
Anselmo Villarreal us
Anselmo Villarreal
120,000 120,000
Mark Hodge us
Mark Hodge
18,000 -57,000

Tags: Mark Hodge

Hudson Grabs a Late Lead

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Mario Hudson
Mario Hudson

Mario Hudson has over 300,000 now and appears to be the leader as the night winds down. Former big stacks Nick Pupillo and Shawn Roberts have been reduced considerably from their peaks at the same table, so perhaps Hudson's chips came at their expenses.

Player Chips Progress
Mario Hudson us
Mario Hudson
310,000 148,000
Nick Pupillo us
Nick Pupillo
WSOP 1X Winner
54,500 13,500
Shawn Roberts us
Shawn Roberts
43,000 -125,000

Tags: Nick PupilloShawn RobertsMario Hudson

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,200/2,400

Ante: 400

"Good Turn Card" for Yeh

Level 13 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Josh Reichard
Josh Reichard

Anthony Yeh limped in the hijack and saw the player on the button raise to 5,400 before Josh Reichard repopped to 14,000. Yeh flatted, and the third player pitched his cards. Reichard fired the same bet on the {10-Spades}{6-Hearts}{6-Clubs} flop and again Yeh called. Reichard switched gears and checked the {a-Clubs} turn, calling 8,000 from Yeh. A {j-Clubs} completed the board.

"I have no idea what you have," Reichard said as he check-called another 12,000. Yeh showed {a-Diamonds}{k-Spades}.

"Good turn card for you," Reichard said, whacking two kings together a couple of times before mucking them.

Player Chips Progress
Anthony Yeh
Anthony Yeh
151,000 151,000
Josh Reichard us
Josh Reichard
110,000 9,000

Tags: Josh Reichard