Welcome to Day 1b of the 2022 MSPT South Dakota State Poker Championship
The second of two opening flights of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) South Dakota State Poker Championship takes place at 3 pm MT from the historic Silverado-Franklin Hotel and Gaming Complex in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Today’s entrants will be looking to join Friday’s 29 survivors from Day 1a who came from a field of 246 entries. The tournament’s $100,000 guarantee has already been easily reached and will continue to be decimated with an even bigger field expected Saturday.
Players in this flight will be targeting Gerald Cunniff’s 649,000 chip stack which led Day 1a. Joshua Reichard, Matt Kirby, and Jeff Heiberg are among those who also bagged healthy stacks to bring into Sunday.
South Dakota State Championship Main Event Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| RANK | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerald Cunniff | United States | 649,000 |
| 2 | Josh Reichard | United States | 425,000 |
| 3 | Matt Kirby | United States | 424,000 |
| 4 | Kevin Ellis | United States | 417,000 |
| 5 | Peter Asmuth | United States | 354,000 |
| 6 | Patrick Rachow | United States | 321,000 |
| 7 | Leroy Stuen | United States | 319,000 |
| 8 | Mo Nuwwarah | United States | 301,000 |
| 9 | Dave Word | United States | 288,000 |
| 10 | Jeff Heiberg | United States | 269,000 |
As with Day 1a, 15 40-minute levels are scheduled, but if the field reaches 12% before then, a hard stop will be reached as it was Friday with 19 minutes and 16 seconds remaining in Level 15.
Players will begin with 25,000 chips and blinds of 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Ten minute breaks are scheduled for the end of every third level and late registration and re-entry will be available until the start of Level 13.
Should fortunes not favor them today, players will have one more shot at bringing home some tournament money with a $250 Last Chance Showdown event scheduled for noon Sunday.
2022 MSPT South Dakota State Poker Championship Remaining Schedule
| Date | Time (MDT) | Tournament | Late Reg | GTD Prize Pool | Starting Stack | Blind Levels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, May 21 | 3 pm | $1,110 MSPT Main Event Day 1b | 11:40 pm | $100,000 | 25,000 | 40 |
| Sunday, May 22 | 11 am | $1,110 MSPT Main Event Day 2 | - | $100,000 | - | 40 |
| 12 pm | $250 Last Chance Showdown NLH | 3 pm | - | 15,000 | 20 |
Keep it right here at PokerNews, as we’ll have all the action until a winner is crowned Sunday and awarded the iconic Deadwood six-shooter trophy.
, a player in late position bet 1,200, a player in early position check-raised to 3,500, and Paulson called the 3,500. The late position player then moved all in for almost 25,000. The player in early position folded after some thought, but Paulson had an easy decision and called.
and 
to complete the board, giving Paulson a quick double up and then some to start the day.
, action was checked to Jessica Anderson on the button, who bet 6,000. Ty Wicks then check-raised all in for a little over 21,000.
brought no help to Wicks, who surrendered most of his stack to Baumann, before being eliminated shortly afterward.
and got 6 callers.
and Bekavac bet 7,000. With just 1,800 behind, his first opponent called and the other folded.
to give Bekavac his flush and eliminate his opponent.
, as Hepper's queens held to eliminate his opponent and bring him one step closer to 'Cash-ing' this tournament.
with an already large pot in front of them.
turn and river.
on the turn ended those hopes, followed by an inconsequential 
on the river to end Howard's chances of repeating as champion.
