Maras Bags Lead; Brudenell, Davis, and Johnson All Bag Piles In Day 1b
After 15 levels of play, the second of three flights in The Mid-States Poker Tour $1,100 Main Event at Riverside Casino and Golf Resort in Iowa has concluded. A total of 265 entrants gave their money for a chance to make the second day, but only 35 made it through their trials of the flight. The guarantee has been met and surpassed with the 379 total entrants, creating a current prize pool of $367,630. With tomorrow’s flight expected to be the biggest, the prize pool will in all likelihood see a massive boost.
Leading the was South Dakota native Jon Maras who ended the day with 567,000. Maras obtained most of his chips in a confrontation with Bradley Beetz and from there on, he remained at the top of the leaderboard. Maras had a runner up finish in an MSPT in 2015 and is now looking to better that finish in this tournament.
Bill Brudenell ended the day just behind him with 548,000, closely followed by WPT champion Mark Davis who bagged 527,000, and Jonathan Johnson who bagged 515,000. This tight cluster of four at the top, represent the only players in the tournament who bagged more than half a million chips. They hold a more than 100,000 chip gap between themselves and the next closest player.
Top Ten Chip Counts Day 1b
| Rank | Name | Chip Count | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Maras | 567,000 | United States |
| 2 | Bill Brudenell, | 548,000 | United States |
| 3 | Mark Davis | 527,000 | United States |
| 4 | Jonathan Johnson | 515,000 | United States |
| 5 | Kole Petersen | 330,000 | United States |
| 6 | Cyrus Khorram | 281,000 | United States |
| 7 | Corey Pritchett | 276,000 | United States |
| 8 | Darin Utley | 251,000 | United States |
| 9 | Nicola Ditrapani | 212,000 | United States |
| 10 | Josh Smith | 207,000 | United States |
Others that bagged today included Nicola Ditrapani (212,000), Alex Wheeler (183,000), Mark Van Keirsbilck (150,000), Steve Wazwaz (136,000) and Ryan Phan (131,000).
Defending champion Craig Trost was unable to find a bag in this flight. Others who’s fortunes turned sour included Aaron Johnson, Michael Puccio, DJ Buckley, Rob Wazwaz, and Matt Morfitt. MSPT Player of the year competitors John Dennehey and CJ Peake were unable to secure a bag this flight, meaning their last chance to acquire points this tournament will depend on them bagging in tomorrow’s flight.
The 35 surviving players will join the 13 from Day 1a on Sunday at 11 am. The clock will return to level 14 with blinds at 2,000/4,000 and a 4,000 ante with 10:10 left on the level. After that the players who return on Day 2 will play 40-minute levels again. Players will have one final opportunity to bag chips and it will be tomorrow at 3 pm for Day 1c. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding The Mid States Poker Tour.
pushed Kinder close to the door, but the turn 
offered him some hope in the form of a straight draw. The river 
completed his straight and Kinder went from very little equity to winning the pot.
and Youngman continued for 6,000 which Davis called. 
peeled off on the turn Youngman sized up to 35,000. Davis responded by moving all in for 233,000 and Youngman asked "you don't want me to bluff do you?" Davis shook his head, "I think that option is off the table." Youngman pondered his decision before ultimately putting his hand into the muck, ceding the pot to Davis.
for queens up and the MSPT hall of famer took down the pot.
which did give Johnson a small side pot to know out the other player, but the main pot of over 300,000 went to Beetz who now takes the chip lead.
and Phan held up to win the pot.