With respect to Ryan DePaulo's vlog, we've had a great opportunity to pay homage with this shot of popular local player Dave Ouellette and his buddy Jack.
Ouellette and Jack are sitting with a healthy 138,000 chips as the night winds down with a potential hard stop at 31 players looming.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
138,000
134,500
|
134,500 |
Dan Bekavac's run in the tournament has come to an end at the hands of Josh Santi.
Bekavac open-jammed his final 53,000 in the hijack and was called by Santi in the cutoff. The rest of the table folded and Bekavac was at risk.
Dan Bekavac: 
Josh Santi: 
Help came for Bekavac on the 
flop, but the 
turn and 
river ended his chance of making Day 2 late in the day again.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
194,000
53,500
|
53,500 |
|
Busted |
The two biggest stacks in the room just got involved in a huge pot that has solidified Ron Kohner's chip lead as the end of night approaches.
With over 100,000 in the pot on the river with the board reading 
, Michael Williams checked to Kohner, who bet 20,000. Williams then check-raised to 65,000 and was snap-called by Kohner.
Williams showed 
for a bluff with a missed flush draw and Kohner turned over 
for winning trip nines.
With the win, Kohner climbs over 600,000 as the final four hands of the night are being played before the remaining players bag up for Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
610,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
310,000
-35,000
|
-35,000 |
Ron Kohner of Peoria, Arizona bagged up the biggest stack of Day 1b with 532,000 chips to lead the pack of 37 from Day 1b of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) South Dakota State Poker Championship.
Those 37 will join the 29 survivors from Day 1a for a final field of 66 that will be competing Sunday at the Silverado-Franklin Hotel and Gaming Complex for the huge $105,204 first prize and the iconic six-shooter trophy.
When the smoke cleared from a wild pair of opening flights, 506 entries had created a massive prize pool of $489,320, nearly quintupling the $100,000 guarantee.
| RANK | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ron Kohner | United States | 532,000 |
| 2 | Wesley Cannon | United States | 377,000 |
| 3 | Michael Williams | United States | 313,000 |
| 4 | John Schroer | United States | 275,000 |
| 5 | Sergio Mireles | United States | 263,000 |
| 6 | Cash Hepper | United States | 257,000 |
| 7 | Jim Michaelis | United States | 252,000 |
| 8 | Terence Reid | United States | 246,000 |
| 9 | Zane Reis | United States | 238,000 |
| 10 | Shane Steinhour | United States | 224,000 |
Several MSPT stalwarts also advanced through the field of 260 entries, as Wesley Cannon (377,000) found the second biggest bag of the day, while 2019 Champion Sergio Mireles (263,000), DJ Buckley (207,000), and 2019 runner-up Michael Campbell (165,000) also advanced with healthy stacks.
| Place | Prize | MSPT POY Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $105,204 | 1,600 |
| 2 | $64,639 | 1,400 |
| 3 | $46,583 | 1,300 |
| 4 | $35,231 | 1,200 |
| 5 | $26,423 | 1,100 |
| 6 | $20,062 | 1,000 |
| 7 | $15,658 | 900 |
| 8 | $12,233 | 800 |
| 9 | $9,297 | 700 |
| 10-12 | $7,340 | 600 |
| 13-15 | $5,872 | 500 |
| 16-18 | $4,893 | 400 |
| 19-21 | $4,453 | 300 |
| 22-24 | $3,768 | 200 |
| 25-27 | $3,278 | 150 |
| 28-36 | $2,642 | 100 |
| 37-45 | $2,398 | 75 |
| 46-54 | $2,202 | 50 |
The final 66 will return Sunday at 11 am to battle down to a winner, with the action starting midway through Level 15 with 19 minutes and 16 seconds remaining in the 3,000/5,000/5,000 level, as this was the point of Friday’s hard stop at the end of Day 1a.
Keep it locked onto PokerNews as we bring you all the action until a champion is crowned Sunday night here in historic Deadwood, South Dakota.
