In a battle of the blinds, David Hobbs bet 50,000 on a flop, and Jim Will shoved all in after tanking a bit for about 350,000 effective. Hobbs called it off with , only to be shown for the stone nuts. Hobbs needed massive help, but he could only chop after the turn. The river was a , and Will collected the pot of the tournament thus far.
The player on the button opened to 8,500. Neil Patel made it 18,000 from the small blind, and after tanking a bit, Derek Schroeder shoved all in. The opener mucked.
"Damn man," Patel said. "Can I get a count?"
The dealer told him it was 75,500, and he called.
Patel:
Schroeder:
The flop made Schroeder a set. The turn sealed it with quads.
Just under 20 percent of the field remains as 49 players will convene for Day 2 of Mid-States Poker Tour Tropicana Evansville out of a total field of 251. Craig Spalding enters with the most chips at 283,000, but he will have plenty of competition as players vie for the second-ever title here in Southern Indiana.
Day 1b leader Kenny Smith, Neil Patel, two-time MSPT champ Jason Zarlenga, Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler, Alex Yen, Nick Pupillo, Tim Vance, Josh Turner, and Adam Lamphere are some of the names still in the hunt for a first-place prize that has yet to be released. Pupillo and Zarlenga are representing Team MSPT as sponsored pros, with the former looking to repeat a final table appearance from last year and the latter looking to become the first three-time winner.
Blinds will begin at Level 15 (1,500/3,000/500) and progress in increments of 40 minutes as players fall by the wayside until a final table is reached. At that point, there will be a dinner break before things resume until a champion is crowned. Stay tuned to PokerNews to see who that will be.