$1,110 Main Event ($500K GTD) Day 1a | 2022 MSPT Riverside

03-18-2022 02:11 UTC-5

Jason Bender Leads 17 Survivors After Day 1a of MSPT Riverside $1,100 Main Event

Anthony Thompson

Level 15 : 3,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

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.

Tags: Aaron Johnson Angelo Tsilibiris Bradley Jansen Darren Williams Godson Wright Jason Bender Jason Bender Leads Joe Landazzi John Sun Ken Baime Kevin Berthelsen Phil Mader Rob Chiappone Taylor Howard Tim Garles

03-18-2022 01:02 UTC-5

Hall Sets Up Rice for Double

Anthony Thompson

Level 15 : 3,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

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
Nick Hall	220,000	112,000
Loren Rice	60,000	-60,000

Tags: Nick Hall Loren Rice

03-18-2022 00:28 UTC-5

Sun Jams into Berthelsen's Aces

Anthony Thompson

Level 14 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

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
Kevin Berthelsen	230,000	30,000
John Sun	Busted

Tags: John Sun Kevin Berthelsen

03-17-2022 23:18 UTC-5

Goepel Sets Up Echols for Elimination

Anthony Thompson

Level 12 : 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

Darnell Echols open-jammed for 46,000 from the hijack and Dan Goepel gave Echols isolation after he three-bet over the top for 160,500.

Darnell Echols:
Dan Goepel:

Echols didn't like what he saw, and things got worse after a lady appeared in the window on the flop.

The turn left Echols drawing dead and he took his exit after the completed the board on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dan Goepel	210,000	50,000
Darnell Echols	Busted

Tags: Dan Goepel Darnell Echols

03-17-2022 22:41 UTC-5

Chiappone Sends Two Packing in a Cooler

Anthony Thompson

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The cutoff open-jammed for 33,000, Rob Chiappone came over the top from the small blind and the big blind called off their 45,000 stack.

Cutoff Player:
Big Blind Player:
Rob Chiappone:

Each player held a premium hand, but Chiappone held the best one and the runout sent both his opponents to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
Rob Chiappone	170,000

Tags: Rob Chiappone

03-17-2022 22:14 UTC-5

Rice Delivers Knockout Blow to Jansen with Quad Aces

Anthony Thompson

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Action on the table folded to WSOP bracelet winner Bradley Jansen who raised all in for a rough starting stack from the button and Loren Rice snap-called from the big blind.

Bradley Jansen:
Loren Rice:

Jansen didn't like who what he saw as Rice woke-up with ace in the big blind and the flop didn't change a thing.

The turn left Jansen drawing dead as it gave rice a set of aces and the dealer dropped the on the river just for good measure.

Player	Chips	Progress
Loren Rice	130,000
Bradley Jansen	Busted

Tags: Loren Rice Bradley Jansen

03-17-2022 22:05 UTC-5

Williams Drops One with Cowboys

Anthony Thompson

Level 10 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Darren Williams raised to 6,000 from under the gun and found two callers that saw a flop.

Williams continued for 15,000 only to have the cutoff raise all in for 49,000.

The button player quickly folded their hand while Williams snap called.

Opponent:
Darren Williams:

Both players held an over pair in their hand, but Williams held the better one and neither the turn nor the river changed a thing as he eliminated his opponent from the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Darren Williams	235,000	85,000

Tags: Darren Williams

03-17-2022 20:38 UTC-5

Sailor Out Kicked by Lin

Anthony Thompson

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

There was heads-up action after a flop between Brad Sailor from the cutoff and Zhicheng Lin from the button.

Sailor moved all-in for 14,400 and Lin took some time in the tank before making the call.

Brad Sailor:
Zhicheng Lin:

Both players flopped top pair and Sailor had kicker issues but also held a heart flush draw.

The did pair the board on the turn bringing possible chop outs but the completed the board on the river and Sailor made his exit from the tournament field.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zhicheng Lin	125,000	125,000
Brad Sailor	Busted

Tags: Brad Sailor Zhicheng Lin

03-17-2022 20:28 UTC-5

Howard Doubles Through Fielder

Anthony Thompson

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

There were three players that saw a flop and action was checked to Taylor Howard who fired out 5,500 from under the gun.

Action was on Jeff Fielder, who raised to 30,000 from late position and he got a quick fold from the big blind while Howard called off his 27,700 stack.

Taylor Howard:
Jeff Fielder:

Howard was ahead after flopping two-pair but had a sweat after the turn gave Fielder an open-ended straight draw.

Luckily for Howard, the river was a brick, and he collected his double-up.