$1,100 Main Event ($150K GTD) Day 1a | 2020 Mid-States Poker Tour Grand Falls

08-29-2020 02:16 UTC-5

Kevin Berthelsen Leads 27 Survivors from Day 1a of MSPT Grand Falls

Chad Holloway

Level 15 : 3,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

If the Day1a turnout at Grand Falls Casino just outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota is any indication, there’s clearly a hunger for live tournament poker. The first of two starting flights closed with 226 entries, which nearly equaled the venue’s two-day record of 238 total entries back in 2015.

After a hard stop 10 minutes into Level 15, just 27 players bagged and tagged with Kevin Berthelsen and his stack of 541,000 leading the way. Rounding out the top five big stacks were William Chao (427,000), Stephen Cleghorn (357,000), Tim Garles (310,000), and Curtis Vierstraete (296,000).

Others to punch their tickets to Day 2 were Donnie Phan (248,000), Steve Federspiel (227,000), Kyna England (207,000), Jason Seitz (191,000), Tyler Kolness (141,000), and Ryan Phan (95,000).

Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to make it through the night. Among those to fire and fall in Friday’s flight were two-time South Dakota State Poker Championship winner Ryan Skluzak, WSOP Circuit studs Blake Whittington and Nick Pupillo, Howard Hankin’s BFF Cody Brinn, “Bemidji” Eric Anderson, and MSPT Hall of Famer Rich Alsup.

Day 1b will get underway at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 12 (approximately 11:40 p.m.). PokerNews will be on hand to capture all the action, so be sure to join us then.

08-29-2020 00:45 UTC-5

The Hammer Has Been Laid Down

Chad Holloway

Level 14 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Action folded to Bruce "The Hammer" Swart on the button and he moved all in for 43,000, which Denver's Dapo Ajayi called from the small blind.

Bruce Swart:
Dapo Ajayi:

It was a race but Swart needed to improve to stay alive. Unfortunately for him, that didn't happen as the board ran out to send him out the door in 34th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dapo Ajayi	200,000	30,000
Bruce Swart	Busted

08-29-2020 00:21 UTC-5

Berk's Rollercoaster Ride Comes to an End

Chad Holloway

Level 13 : 2,000/3,000, 3,000 ante

Chicago's Michael Berk was on an up-and-down ride today. Midway through the tournament he was short but then hit his stride and worked a short stack into one of the bigger ones in the room.

Unfortunately for him, he lost a chip-leading pot that would've put him at 500K had he made it through the river. It happened on a flop when he held . His opponent had , and long story short a jack spiked on the river.

Berk was left with 100K but lost another big one to knock him down to just 6,000. In what would be his final hand of the Day 1a flight, Berk moved in from the hijack and Mike Lang called from the button. The player in the big blind put in an additional 3,000 and then the two active players checked it down as the board ran out .

Michael Berk:
Mike Lang:
Big blind:

Lang didn't seem to realize he had the ace-high flush, which proved the winner to send Berk out in Level 12.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mike Lang	70,000
Michael Berk	Busted

Tags: Michael Berk

08-28-2020 23:31 UTC-5

Ajayi Looking to Play Some More Golf Tomorrow

Chad Holloway

Level 12 : 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

Denver's Dapo Ajayi hasn't played much poker since January, which is when he finished runner-up in the WSOPC Thunder Valley for $91K. However, he had the itch and opted to travel to Grand Falls yesterday. A golf aficionado, he's already taken advantage of the property's award-winning course by playing three rounds already. It's looking like he'll have the opportunity to play even more tomorrow if he can bag the big stack he's currently sitting on.

In a recent hand, the under-the-gun player moved all in for 36,500 and Ajayi isolated with a three-bet from the hijack. The rest of the players folded and the hands were turned up.

Dapo Ajayi:
Opponent:

It was a flip and Ajayi was just looking to hold. That's exactly what he did as the board ran out a clean to give him the knockout.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dapo Ajayi	290,000	185,000

08-28-2020 23:20 UTC-5

Berthelsen Sets Up Scotter

Chad Holloway

Level 12 : 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

Scotter Clark got his last 28,000 or so all in preflop and was primed to double through Kevin Berthelsen.

Kevin Berthelsen:
Scotter Clark:

Clark had the better pocket pair and held on the flop. Unfortunately for him, disaster struck when the dealer burned and turned the .

The river was no help to Clark and he collected his things before exiting the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kevin Berthelsen	300,000	40,000
Scotter Clark	Busted

Tags: Kevin Berthelsen Scotter Clark

08-28-2020 22:47 UTC-5

Seitz Survives Bekavac

Chad Holloway

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Former MSPT champ Jason Seitz moved all in for 31,000 from early position and Dan Bekavac three-bet jammed over the top from the cutoff. The rest of the players got out of the way and the hands were turned up.

Dan Bekavac:
Jason Seitz:

It was a bad spot for Seitz but he got lucky when the flop delivered him an ace. Neither the turn nor river changed a thing and Seitz shipped the double.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jason Seitz	70,000	70,000
Dan Bekavac	28,000	-52,000

Tags: Jason Seitz Dan Bekavac

08-28-2020 22:06 UTC-5

Anderson's First MSPT Event Since 2012 Ends as Vierstraete Thrives

Chad Holloway

Level 10 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

The under-the-gun player raised to 3,500 and five players called, including Eric Anderson in the small blind. Anderson is no stranger to the MSPT having worked for the tour for seven years, though now he finds himself on the otherside as a player. This is the first MSPT event he's played since 2012.

Both Anderson and the player in the big blind checked and the UTG player continued for 8,500. Curtis Vierstraete called from middle position while another player got out of the way. Anderson then check-raised all in for 22,500, Max Young folded from the big blind, and the UTG player called.

Vierstraete then jammed over the top for what looked like another 30,000 or so and the UTG player called that as well.

Curtis Vierstraete:
Eric Anderson:
UTG Player:

Vierstraete was ahead with a set, but the turn did give Anderson an up-and-down straight draw. Unfortunately for him, it didn't come in as the bricked on the river to give Vierstraete the big pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Curtis Vierstraete	125,000
Eric Anderson	Busted

Tags: Eric Anderson Curtis Vierstraete

08-28-2020 20:57 UTC-5

"Red Bull Robbie" Brings Big City Experience to Grand Falls

Chad Holloway

Level 9 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Back in the day, Robbie Thompson was a staple at the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Not only that, he was a fixture on the poker circuit.

So how did the man, who hails from nearby Egan, South Dakota (Pop. 720) and still lives in the same house he did when he was just three years old, get to such a spot in the poker world?

In 1993, Thompson, who used to work manual labor, took a job as a blackjack dealer.

“After a couple years in the pit, I made my move to poker,” Thompson previously said in an interview with CardsChat. “I was leaving my shift one day and my manager asked if I would deal poker that night. She knew that I played, so without any training I sat in the box to a 7-Card Stud hi-lo game and the rest is history.”

Eventually, around 2002, Thompson became a traveling dealer and worked his first WSOP in 2004. Two more years of experience saw him dealing the WSOP final table, and from there it was off to gigs on the European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour. In 2008, he had his chance to become the final table announcer of the WSOP.

In 2017, things came full circle when Thompson got off the road and Renee Thomas, the poker room manager at Grand Falls, offered him a job. As it happened, she was the aforementioned manager who gave him his start 25 years earlier.

Thompson has been using his big-time experience here at the Grand Falls poker room ever since.

Tags: Robbie Thompson

08-28-2020 20:33 UTC-5

Brinn Hooks Himself a Double

Chad Holloway

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

We happened upon the table with a player in the tank and 6,400 out in front of him. He was contemplating what to do as Cody Brinn was all in for 16,300. The two chatted a bit, and while the player didn't seem too excited about it, they made the call nonetheless.

Cody Brinn:
Opponent:

Brinn had the better pocket pair and he shipped the double after the board ran out a clean .

Player	Chips	Progress
Cody Brinn	33,000	27,000

Tags: Cody Brinn

08-28-2020 19:01 UTC-5

Sun Sets on Skluzak

Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 300/600, 600 ante

Former MSPT Grand Falls champ Ryan Skluzak, who is also a two-time South Dakota State Poker Champion from 2016 and 2017, has found himself on the rail.

Unfortunately for the agricultural retail salesman, who has three kids with his wife Breanna Skluzak (who also plays poker), his first tournament in six months is done as he's busted two bullets already and is unable to play tomorrow.

Before he departed, Skluzak shared some details on his final hand.

As he told it, he held the and saw a flop of . Some action went down, another appeared on the turn, and the rest of the chips went in.