2019 MSPT Denver Poker Open

Thus far at Mid-States Poker Tour Denver Poker Open $1,110 Main Event, one thing is for sure: players at Golden Gate Casino aren't worried about trying to eke their way into Day 2. For the second straight day, a hard stop was in play as 12% of the field was reached, this one even earlier at 26 minutes remaining in Level 14 (1,500/3,000/3,000).

Jim Morrison was tops among the 15 players who bagged, as he finished with 413,000, just barely ahead of the 411,500 bagged by Caleb Meyer. Nick Boll reached 393,500 for third place, and all three rank above Day 1a leader Phil Kiphardt.

Morrison had an unremarkable stack after the final break, but he caught fire in the aftermath. He made two sets to win huge pots, and then he busted Khoa Nguyen in a large flip with ace-king over jacks.

Meyer put a nasty cooler on Edo Zucker to end the night, with a flopped ace-high flush prevailing over a king-high flush.

A robust turnout of 132 also enabled the tournament to inch past its guarantee, as that made for 205 entries total while the guarantee sits at $200,000. With one flight still remaining, loftier goals are doubtless on the minds of organizers.

Some MSPT regs who advanced alongside the big stacks were "Farmer" Phil Mader, Cooper Wanty and WSOP bracelet winner Ben Keeline.

Among the notables still seeking a bag are Aaron Frei, Derek McMaster, Jason Vanstrom and Todd Melander.

They'll have their chance on Saturday with Day 1c, the third and final flight. The biggest turnout yet is expected, so come back to PokerNews at noon local time to follow the action.

On a board of , Edo Zucker got all of his chips, about 80,000, in with . Unfortunately for him, he'd run into a cooler as Caleb Meyer held for the ace-high flush. The meaningless river was a .

With the field reduced to 15 players, another hard stop has been reached.

Nick Boll raised in middle position and Rich Dixon shoved over him for a little under 57,000. Action folded back to Boll, and he quickly called with . Dixon was dominated with and found no help on the board.

At the other table, Khoa Nguyen also busted. He three-bet shoved jacks and couldn't overcome the of Jim Morrison.

After getting a shove through from under the gun, Rich Dixon got his 23,000 in chips in again the next had. Adam Hudson had shoved in the cutoff for 34,500 and limper Don Marquis was considering it. He opted to call.

Marquis:
Dixon:
Hudson:

The community improved nobody, so Dixon tripled up and Marquis raked in a small side pot.

On a flop, Donald Angstead got his stack of about 30,000 in with . Unfortunately for him, Khoa Nguyen had outflopped him with in the hijack, and he held through the turn and river.

Rich Dixon, once the chip leader of the tournament, is down to a few blinds. Most recently he got a large chunk of his stack in, 61,500, preflop with , only to run into the of Vincent Griboski. Griboski flopped top set and turned quads for a short sweat.

Caleb Meyer had 6,000 in front of him on in the cutoff, and small blind Adam Hudson had called him. From under the gun, Alexander Czernik shoved for 28,500. It stayed three ways to the river, with Hudson checking dark. He folded to a shove.

"I've got a nine," Meyer said, flicking in.

Czernik showed and hit the exit.