$1,100 Main Event ($150K GTD)
Day 1a Started
$1,100 Main Event ($150K GTD)
Day 1a Started
At the beginning of the year, the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) was primed for Season 11 and even hosted three stops before the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted things, just like it did for so many other tours and venues.
This weekend, the MSPT Season 11 continues, at least for one stop, with the $1,100 buy-in, $150,000 GTD Main Event at Grand Falls Casino, just outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The event, which requires players to be 21+ and will be live reported by PokerNews, marks the first mid-major tournament in the United States in nearly six months.
The $1,100 Main Event, which will require players to wear masks, features two starting flights beginning with Day 1A at 3 p.m. today. Day 1B will take place at the same time on Saturday, August 29. Both days will play 15 levels. The surviving players from both flights will then return at 11 a.m. on Sunday, August 30 to play down to a winner.
Tournament officials plan to make use of their large event center by spacing out tables as a pandemic precaution.
The MSPT last visited Grand Falls Casino for a Main Event back in September when Jesse Rockowitz topped a 175-entry field to win the tournament for $45,425. The time before that, Ryan Skluzak bested a 226-entry field to win it for $54,427.
The last MSPT stop in general, which took place March 4-8, was actually at Grand Falls Casino, though it was a $350 buy-in Regional Event. Swadeep Mishra took down that tournament for $23,467
Date | Time (CDT) | Tournament | Chips | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
Friday, August 28 | 10 a.m. | $250 Satellite – 1/5 advance to $150K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Event Center |
Friday, August 28 | 3 p.m. | $1,100 Main Event Day 1a | 25,000 | Event Center |
Saturday, August 29 | 10 a.m. | $250 Satellite – 1/5 advance to $150K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Event Center |
Saturday, August 29 | 3 p.m. | $1,100 Main Event Day 1b | 25,000 | Event Center |
Sunday, August 30 | 11 a.m. | $1,100 Main Event Day 2 | - | Event Center |
*Visit msptpoker.com for a complete listing of rake and staff fees.
Cards are in the air here on Day 1a of the MSPT Grand Falls! It's a special moment as it marks the mid-major live poker tournament in the US since March.
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 100
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Swadeep Mishra | 25,000 | |
Bruce Swart | 25,000 | |
Kyna England | 25,000 | |
Jonathan Kim | 25,000 | |
Ryan Skluzak | 25,000 | |
Nick Pupillo
|
25,000 | |
Phil Mader | 25,000 | |
Dapo Ajayi | 25,000 | |
Michael Berk | 25,000 | |
Blake Whittington | 25,000 |
PokerNews has activated the My Stack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live-action that you're involved in.
Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.
Two-time MSPT champ Dan Bekavac, who traveled up from Chicago to play in the tournament, has gotten off to a hot start thanks to a double in the first hand he played.
We missed it as it happened, but learned some details after the fact. As Bekavac told it, six players committed 300 preflop to see a rainbow flop. Bekavac, who was in the cutoff with , bet 1,500 and got one caller. On the turn, Bekavac bet 5,000 and then called when his opponent min-raised to 10,000.
An on the river was gin for Bekavac and he moved all in. His opponent called with a set of sevens and Bekavac shipped the double. He then proceeded to win the next two hands to pull out to an early chip lead.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Dan Bekavac | 66,800 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 200
Since its inception in 2009, the MSPT has done a great job keeping track of player stats. As a result, 11 years on they have one of the best player databases in the industry.
On their "Leaderboards" page, the MSPT tracks such things as Career Earnings, Main Event Cashes, Main Event Final Tables, Main Event Titles, Total Cashes, Most Cashes/Final Tables in a Season, Most Final Tables All-Time, and much more. Click here for a look at all the leaderboards.Click here for a look at all the leaderboards.
Here's a look at the top ten MSPT Main Event cashers:
Place | Player | Hometown | Main Event Cashes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Aaron Johnson | Red Wing, Minnesota | 39 |
2 | Kou Vang | Maplewood, Minnesota | 32 |
3 | Richard Alsup | New Hope, Minnesota | 29 |
4 | DJ Buckley | Eden Prairie, Minnesota | 27 |
5 | Mark Hodge | Fernandina Beach, Florida | 25 |
6 | Blake Bohn | Eden Prairie, Minnesota | 25 |
7 | Patrick Steele | Chelsea, Michigan | 25 |
8 | Jason Seitz | Shakopee, Minnesota | 22 |
9 | Rob WazWaz | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 22 |
10 | Phil Mader | Grand Island, Nebraska | 22 |