Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Tropicana
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Tropicana
Buy-in
$1,000
Entries
251
Level
27
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000
Spalding Leads, Defending Champ Falls Late on Day 1a
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
The Mid-States Poker Tour rolled into Tropicana Evansville in Southern Indiana for its second-ever event here, now branded as the Indiana State Poker Championship. Day 1a of the tournament drew 110 entrants, and Craig Spalding finished as top dog with 283,000 after 14 levels of play.
Eighteen other players survived the grind, including Alex Yen (112,000), Nick Pupillo (111,000), and two-time ring winner Josh Turner (82,500). Yen got second in this tournament last year, falling to Charlie Dawson heads up. Pupillo also made that final table, where he ultimately finished seventh in his first MSPT appearace. He has since parlayed his success on the tour into a sponsorship deal.
Yen made a huge call for stacks during Level 7 (250/500/50). The pot already contained more than 60,000 when Keith Heine put 35,000 in the middle, enough to put Yen's stack of 26,100 at risk on a board of 
. Yen tanked a couple of minutes and called off his second bullet.
"Ace-high," was all Heine could muster.
Yen showed 
.
"That's a great call."
Yen's heads-up opponent from 2014 did not have as much success. Dawson looked poised to mount a spirited defense, building up to more than 50 big blinds in the penultimate level of the night. However, his success ended there. He three-bet to 18,000 from the big blind over a button open from Tom Zenthoefer, who responded by shoving all in. Dawson called for 63,100 effective.
Dawson: 
Zenthoefer: 
Dawson was unable to wriggle out of trouble as he had a couple of times before as Zenthoefer faded a third ten. Dawson was left with just a few big blinds and busted in short order.
Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler, Jonathan Dimatteo, Jason Zarlenga, Matt Alexander, Mark Hodge, Adam Friedman, Adam Lamphere, and Steve Anderson were some of the other players failing to advance. They'll have one more shot on Day 1b on Saturday. Play will kick off at 4 p.m. once again, andPokerNews will be on hand for more live reporting.
End of Day 1a Counts (full)
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
283,000 | |
|
207,000 | 67,000 |
|
200,000 | |
|
|
151,000 | 11,000 |
|
147,500 | |
|
|
141,500 | 11,500 |
|
112,000 | -13,000 |
|
111,000 | 27,400 |
|
|
103,000 | -7,000 |
|
95,500 | -74,500 |
|
94,500 | |
|
94,000 | |
|
89,000 | -56,000 |
|
88,500 | |
|
|
82,500 | -24,000 |
|
|
62,000 | |
|
|
58,000 | |
|
|
40,500 | |
|
36,000 | -31,000 |
That's a Wrap
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Play has ended for the night.
Rustler Eliminates One
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
We found Jim Rustler with 20,000 in front of him in the cutoff on a board of 
. His opponent pushed all in for about double that from middle position and Rustler announced a call.
Rustler: 
Opponent: 
The river was a 
.
"Should have pushed all in on flop," Rustler's disappointed opponent said.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
140,000 | 25,000 |
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 400
Dawson Eliminated
Level 13
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Charlie Dawson three-bet to 18,000 from the big blind and then called the shove of Tom Zenthoefer, who had 63,100 on the button.
Zenthoefer:
Dawson:
Dawson needed a two-outer, and he couldn't find any magic this time as the board rolled out clean for Zenthoefer. Left with 5,200, Dawson busted the next hand when his 
couldn't hold against 
.
"Guess I'm playing tomorrow," he said. "Good game."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
130,000 | |
|
Busted |
Dawson Wins Battle of Charlies
Level 13
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Charlie Leroi bet 11,000 from the big blind on a board of 
, and Charlie Dawson called in middle position. Leroi fired 12,000 more on the river, and Dawson quickly flicked in a call.
Leroi showed 
for tens up, but Dawson had a straight: 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
110,000 | 15,000 |
|
|
101,000 | 22,000 |
PokerNews Podcast Episode #327: Attacking Adelson feat. Tim James
Level 13
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Tim James, creator and host of The Tim James Show, joins the podcast to talk about Sheldon Adelson, underage activities at Venetian, the reaction from his show's clip, and more.
The crew also unveils a voicemail number for fans to call in: 774-77-PNPOD.
You can subscribe to the entire iBus Media Network on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here. The PokerNews family of podcasts is now available on Stitcher.
Steele Eliminated
Level 13
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Mike O'Neill opened to 4,500 and Patrick Steele jammed for 22,800. Robert Hankins shoved over that in the small blind, and everyone else mucked.
Steele: 
Hankins: 
Steele was crushed beyond belief, and the 
board sent him packing.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
145,000 | 70,000 |
|
Busted |