$1,110 Main Event ($500K GTD)
Day 1a Completed
$1,110 Main Event ($500K GTD)
Day 1a Completed
Day 1a of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Riverside $1,100 Main Event is officially in the books with 140 total entries tallied by night's end.
A full 15 levels were played to their completion and when the dust settled, it was Iowa native Jason Bender who bagged the top stack with 437,000. Bender caught momentum at the end of Level 9 when he set-up a double elimination to soar to the top of the counts.
Finishing second in chips was Godson Wright who rivered a four-card straight to eliminate Darren Williams in the last level of the evening to catapult him to 350,000.
Kevin Berthelsen started building his stack in the early stages of the tournament and was one of the first players to eclipse the 100k mark. Berthelsen was able to build off the momentum and finished the night third in chips with 341,000 while Angelo Tsilibiris (274,00), and Rob Chiappone (256,000) round out the top five stacks.
Others to advance included Tim Garles (254,000), two-time MSPT Main Event Champ Taylor Howard (161,000), Phil Mader (118,000), and Joe Landazzi (113,000).
Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to make it through the night. Among those to fire and fall in Thursday’s flight were MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Johnson, WSOP bracelet winner Bradley Jansen, along with MSPT Champion's Ken Baime, and John Sun.
Day 1b will get underway at 3.00 p.m. on Friday, March 18th. Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 12 (approximately 11:40 p.m.)
PokerNews will be on hand all week long bringing you all of the action, so be sure to come back for Friday's Day 1b at 3.00 p.m. local time.
Player | Chips | Progress |
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437,000 | 57,000 |
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350,000 | |
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341,000 | -39,000 |
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274,000 | -66,000 |
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256,000 | 136,000 |
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254,000 | 14,000 |
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215,000 | 15,000 |
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194,000 | 54,000 |
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175,000 | 175,000 |
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161,000 | -44,000 |
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149,000 | -71,000 |
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128,000 | 58,000 |
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118,000 | -2,000 |
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118,000 | 118,000 |
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113,000 | 13,000 |
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111,000 | 111,000 |
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106,000 | 46,000 |
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The tournament director has just announced the final four hands of the evening with 17 players remaining.
Action folded to the button who raised to 11,000 and only Kevin Berthelsen called from the small blind.
The flop saw Berthelsen lead out for 15,000 and was called bringing the
turn.
Berthelsen led out for 17,0000 and his opponent called once again to see the complete the board on the river.
Berthelsen continued with his aggression and this time fired out an uncontested 31,000 to win the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
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380,000 | |
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A series of preflop raises saw Nick Hall call off his 108,000 stack from late position after Loren Rice jammed from the cutoff.
Nick Hall:
Loren Rice:
Rice had Hall crushed until the flop hit the felt giving Hall a set of jacks.
The turn didn't change a thing nor did the
river and Hall collected his double-up.
Player | Chips | Progress |
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220,000 | 112,000 |
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60,000 | -60,000 |
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Level: 15
Blinds: 3,000/5,000
Ante: 5,000
The MSPT Hall of Fame, established in 2017, is proud to recognize those individuals who have shown superior skill and achieved specific long-term accomplishments.
The criteria to earn a spot on the MSPT Hall of Fame is as follows:
To see which players are close to achieving HOF status, refer to the comprehensive MSPT Stats page.
As of today, eight players are currently enshrined in the MSPT Hall of Fame.
Kevin Berthelsen raised to 11,000 from late position and was called by Joe Landazzi from the hijack, along with the big blind.
Once the flop hit the felt, the big blind moved all-in for 31,000 and only Berthelsen called.
Opponent:
Kevin Berthelsen:
Both players flopped two-pair, but Berthelsen held the better hand and neither the turn nor the
river changed a thing as he eliminated his opponent.
Player | Chips | Progress |
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280,000 | 50,000 |
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100,000 | |
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Kevin Berthelsen raised from under the gun and then called the 50,000 three-bet jam John Sun made from the big blind.
John Sun:
Kevin Berthelsen:
Sun was way behind needing help but didn't find any from the runout and he made his exit from the tournament field.
Player | Chips | Progress |
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230,000 | 30,000 |
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Busted | |
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