MSPT Sycuan $1,110 Main Event Day 1a | 2021 MSPT Showdown Series

05-06-2021 16:21 UTC-7

What You Need to Know About San Diego's Sycuan Casino

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 100/200, 200 ante

Are you familiar with Sycuan Casino? If not, fear not as we're ready to let you know everything you need to know.

Sycuan Casino is located in the Dehesa Valley just 30 minutes from downtown San Diego, Sycuan Casino Resort began as a one-room Bingo Palace in 1983. Over three decades later, they've grown into a community landmark and one of San Diego’s premier casino resort destinations that offers something for everybody.

They recently completed a 260 million dollar expansion project featuring a 12-story luxury hotel with over 300 guest rooms and 57 suites. Guests have several new onsite amenities to enjoy like expanded casino floor space, bars and restaurants, a full-service spa and salon, over 80,000 square feet of customizable meeting and event space, and a state-of-the-art pool area.

The casino floor now includes 2,200 diverse slot machines and 50 classic table games like poker, blackjack, craps, and roulette.

And the fun extends well past the gaming. From A-list concerts and comedy shows to sports viewing parties and San Diego’s only country pool party, their featured live entertainment is always a world-class guest experience.

With over 15 bars and restaurants ranging from casual to upscale, dining at Sycuan Casino Resort is an experience in itself. Whether it’s a laidback tap house, an upscale steakhouse, or a fast-casual eatery featuring several of San Diego’s favorite restaurants, their full-service resort offers dining for every taste.

They also created their very own oasis with two pools, a lazy river, a swim-up bar, and cabanas. Their full-service spa and salon offers a wide array of wellness treatments ranging from facials to massages, saunas, and steam rooms, to even a complete hair salon.

For more on the venue, visit sycuan.com.

05-06-2021 16:02 UTC-7

Welcome to the Party

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 100/200, 200 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Ken Baime	25,000
Ben Moon	25,000
Adam Friedman	25,000
Laurette Thurber	25,000
Kyle Frey	25,000
Happy Spaulding	25,000
Hannah Spaulding	25,000

05-06-2021 15:57 UTC-7

MSPT Showdown Series at Sycuan Casino Winners Thus Far...

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 100/200, 200 ante

Tournament	Entries	Prize Pool	Winner	Hometown	Prize
Event #1: $360 Regional Event	1,047	$312,162	Armando Mesina	Chula Vista, CA	$33,329
Event #2: $400 PLO	75	$25,125	Aaron Wallace	North San Juan, CA	$8,543
Event #3: $250 NLHE Sunday Deast	251	$50,200	Fadi Yakou	San Marcos, CA	$7,221
Event #4: $200 NLHE Ladies Event	79	$13,825	Victoria Davidson-Castillo	West Covina, CA	$4,701
Event #5: $360 Seniors	175	$51,900	Joseph Szegedy	Winnetka, CA	$7,981
Event #6: $250 NLHE Turbo Super Stack	200	$40,000	Bob Chow	Las Vegas, NV	$6,098
Event #7: $360 PLO8	93	$27,900	Ken Po	Seven Hills, OH	$8,369
Event #8: $250 NLHE Tag Team	418	$41,800	Lena Evans & Tavish Margers	Beverly Hills, CA & Santee, CA	$9,798
Event #9: $200 NLHE Hump Day	161	$32,218	Jennifer Craddock	Ocala, Florida	$8,531

05-06-2021 15:50 UTC-7

Illinois' Brad Sailor in the House

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 100/200, 200 ante

The MSPT Sycuan Showdown Series has attracted players from all over the country, and that is evidenced by one experienced player who has traveled all the way from Illinois. That is none other than Brad Sailor, who has more than $523K in lifetime tournament earnings.

Sailor’s career-high score of $111,311 came when he finished third in the 2015 Chicago Poker Classic $2,000 Main Event. The year before that, he made a run in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event placing 167th for $44,728, which came just a few months after he finished third in the 2014 Chicago Poker Classic Event #2: $500 NLHE for $42,219.

On the MSPT, Sailor has $66,294 in career earnings from a single regional cash and eight Main Event cashes, including two final table appearance. His best MSPT score to date was $21,738 for finishing fifth in the MSPT Meskwaki in March 2019. His other final table was the 2014 MSPT Majestic Star when he finished third for $20,992.

Only time will tell if the Midwest player can find success out west!

Player	Chips	Progress
Brad Sailor	25,000

Tags: Brad Sailor

Level: 2

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 200

05-06-2021 15:37 UTC-7

Aaron Wallace Wins MSPT Sycuan Event #2: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha

Chad Holloway

Level 1 : 100/100, 100 ante

In addition to the $1,100 Main Event happening here at the MSPT Sycuan Casino, there were 10 other side events that awarded trophies.

One of them was Event #2: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha, which played out Friday, April 30. The tournament attracted 75 entrants and offered up a $25,125 prize pool reserved for the final table of eight.

The local San Diego contingent comprised 75% of the final table, but one-by-one they fell to the wayside leaving two "out of towners" to battle heads-up.

After a long day of play, it was Aaron Wallace of North San Juan, California emerged victorious to win the tournament for $8,543 while Tristan Ziemann finished in second place for $5,301.

Event #2 Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Aaron Wallace	North San Juan, California	$8,543
2	Tristan Ziemann	New Brighton, Minnesota	$5,301
3	Cobi Vu	San Diego, California	$3,467
4	Jon Bergston	San Diego, California	$2,437
5	Eric Bradford	San Diego, California	$1,809
6	Mike Souza	San Diego, California	$1,407
7	Mark Nguyen	San Diego, California	$1,156
8	Alphonso Herdeia III	San Diego, California	$1,005

05-06-2021 15:15 UTC-7

In Action from the Start

Chad Holloway

Level 1 : 100/100, 100 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrew Moreno	25,000
Veronica Daly	25,000
Armando Mesina	25,000
Rich Alsup	25,000
Faris Fetouhi	25,000
Robert Keeling	25,000
Adam Demersseman	25,000
Brad Sailor	25,000
Tim Daly	25,000
Chad Bjorkman	25,000
Alan Wentz	25,000
Marty Gorenc	25,000
Nick Yunis	25,000
Jeff Grimes	25,000

05-06-2021 15:08 UTC-7

Download the PokerNews MyStack App and Update Your Chip Count

Chad Holloway

Level 1 : 100/100, 100 ante

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.

Level: 1

Blinds: 100/100

Ante: 100

05-06-2021 15:07 UTC-7

Welcome to Day 1a of the MSPT Sycuan $1,100 Main Event

Chad Holloway

The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT), which has awarded more than $110 million in prize money since its debut in December 2009, is in Southern California for the first time! For the past week, the tour has partnered with Sycuan Casino Resort to play host to an 11-event series deemed the “MSPT Showdown Series.”

Last weekend, things kicked off with the $360 buy-in, $100K GTD MSPT Regional Event, which saw 65-year-old Armando Mesia top a massive 1,047-entry field to win the tournament for a career-high score.

This weekend, the $1,100 buy-in, $200,000 GTD Main Event will play out starting with today's Day 1a field at 3 p.m. local time. The tournament, which will also offer Day 1b and 1c flights at the same time on Friday and Saturday respectively, will start players with 25,000 in chips and play 15 levels. Those who survive will then return at 11 a.m. local time on Sunday to play down to a winner.

The tournament offers a max of one reentry per starting flight. There will be a 10-minute break after every three levels, each lasting 40 minutes. This tournament will play 8-handed throughout. This tournament will transition from Big Blind Ante to Standard Ante when 24 players remain.

In between the two bookend tournaments, there have been nine other trophy events including a $200 MSPT Ladies Event powered by Poker League of Nations (PLON), a $360 Seniors (50+) tournament, and a $250 MSPT Tag Team Championship. There were also both pot-limit Omaha and pot-limit Omaha 8 or Better Championships. We will be sprinkling in mini-recaps for all those events throughout this weekend's coverage of the Main Event.

Click here for a look at all tournament structures.

Sycuan Casino Resort, which requires players to be 21+, is situated just 30 minutes outside downtown San Diego. Sycuan Casino Resort proudly boasts world-class accommodations, including live world-class entertainment venues and gaming. Test your luck at casino gaming with over 2,500 slot machines, bingo, baccarat, blackjack, and in their poker room

Date	Time (PST)	Event	GTD	Total Chips
Thursday, May 6	3 p.m.	Event #10: $1,110 MSPT Main Event Day 1a	$200,000	25,000
Thursday, May 6	8 p.m.	$265 satellite - 1 in 5 advance to Main Event	-	15,000
Friday, May 7	10 a.m.	$265 satellite - 1 in 5 advance to Main Event	-	15,000
Friday, May 7	3 p.m.	Event #10: $1,110 MSPT Main Event Day 1b	$200,000	25,000
Friday, May 7	8 p.m.	$265 satellite - 1 in 5 advance to Main Event	-	15,000
Sautrday, May 8	10 a.m.	$265 satellite - 1 in 5 advance to Main Event	-	15,000
Saturday, May 8	3 p.m.	Event #10: $1,110 MSPT Main Event Day 1c	$200,000	25,000
Saturday, May 8	8 p.m.	$135 Nightly Deep Stack	-	12,000
Sunday, May 9	11 a.m.	Event #10: $1,110 MSPT Main Event Day 2	$200,000	-
Sunday, May 9	Noon	Event #11: $360 Last Chace Showdown NLHE	-	15,000
Sunday, May 9	4 p.m.	$135 Nightly Deep Stack	12,000