Hot Claims Chip Lead on Day 1c of 2019 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship
The third and final flight of the 2019 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship saw 307 entries come out and it took less than a full 15 levels for that number to reach 36, the rounded-down figure of 12 percent of field that required a hard stop on play for the night. When that number was reached, 2:51 still remained on the clock for Level 14 (1,500/3,000/3,000).
Despite the abbreviated evening, Igor Hot had no trouble bagging a stack just shy of Day 1a chip leader Paul Camby (465,000). Hot finished the day with 452,000 after riding a heater through the last three hours of the night that saw him pick up chips in chunks, winning a massive pot with a river raise that earned an immediate fold from his opponent to put an exclamation mark on his ascent about 10 minutes before play concluded.
Rounding out the top five for the day were Miroslav Semanisin (440,500), Bryant Miller (364,500), Wai Ngai (306,000), and Luke Goodwillie (301,500). They were the only players to finish above 300,000 for the day.
Others to make it through the day included Jill Bryant (268,000), Ralph Massey (184,000), Phil Mader (170,000), Aaron Johnson (157,000), and Saad Ghanem (85,500).
Players such as Nghia Le, Cody Brinn, Aaron Massey, Johanssy Joseph, and Ahmed Taleb were among those who did not make it through the day.
In total, the tournament drew 660 entries over the three starting flights. Seventy-eight of those players will come back for Day 2, which will begin Sunday at 11 a.m. local time. It will mark the first time all weekend where the entire field will play under one roof, with play set to reach the money when the field reaches 72. Play will continue until a winner has been determined and the final table will be live streamed on a 15-minute delay on the MSPT website.
PokerNews will be providing updates from the time cards go in the air until the time the trophy is hoisted. Come back and find out who will be the next MSPT champion.
in a heads-up pot between a player in the big blind and Igor Hot, who was in early position. The big blind was first to act and in the process of thinking. Eventually, he put out a bet that had numerous T5,000 chips that fell over onto their sides.
and Cotolan checked to his opponent, who made a continuation-bet of 7,000. Cotolan called.
for a turned top pair, top kicker. The player remarked saying that he had a king as well, and that it was a sick turn. He then said he folded king-jack.
and Massey put out another 5,000 for a continuation-bet. Bryant quickly flicked in a T5,000 chip to call.
and the river came 
. Massey checked to Bryant and she threw out a bet of 10,000. Massey sent his cards to the muck.
and both blinds checked. Miller fired a continuation-bet of 3,000, which was raised to 8,000 by the player on the button. Both blinds folded and Miller thought for a few moments before putting out a T5,000 chip to complete the call.
and his opponent put out a bet of 23,000. Miller thought for around a minute and then announced a check-raise all in. His opponent seemed disgusted and confused as he processed the situation and the dealer reached forward to the five-seat to cut out Miller's stack for a count as he anticipated him to spend some time making his decision. It was not necessary.
and both players checked to bring the river 
for the nut flush, good to send Bryant to the rail for a quick moment, as she has just sat down again to fire her second and final bullet into the event with around 10 minutes left in Level 10.
. Dombrowski sat for a bit and then put out a bet of 10,700. Taleb quickly called.
was still tabled, showing Broadway.
and Brinn called. He had the player drawing dead on the turn despite the three outer coming before it on the flop, and now has a stack of 53,500 after taking down the pot.
and Johnson sat stoically for about 15 seconds before throwing out a bet of 6,500. The middle-position player thought for a couple seconds and then shook his head in a slightly nodding fashion. He then folded. The player on the button folded shortly thereafter and Johnson quickly took back his bet and scooped up the pot that was shipped his way.