Nguyen Holds Big Lead Among 21 Players Advancing from Day 1b of the MSPT Main Event at Sycuan Casino Report
Huy Nguyen of Huntington Beach, California is the chip leader at the end of Day 1b of the Mid-States Poker Tour(MSPT) $1,110 Main Event, part of the Showtime Series at San Diego’s Sycuan Casino Resort. There were a total of 156 runners for the second of three flights this weekend, and 21 players will move on to Sunday’s Day 2 finale to compete for a prize pool that looks to burst through the $300,000 guarantee.
Nguyen bagged 157 big blinds and he will return for Day 2 in search of his first MSPT Main Event title after making a deep run at the Venetian in October of 2021. That 12th place finish was good for $21,421, and Nguyen will look to improve on that Sunday. Other players moving on to Sunday’s Day 2 include Scott Subak, Shane Murphy, Eric Liu, and Igor Keselman.
Day 1b Leaderboard
| Place | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huy Nguyen | 628,000 | 157 |
| 2 | Scott Subak | 415,000 | 104 |
| 3 | Eric Liu | 349,000 | 87 |
| 4 | Christopher Skinner | 320,000 | 80 |
| 5 | Shane Murphy | 299,000 | 75 |
| 6 | Igor Keselman | 201,000 | 50 |
| 7 | Kalvinci Ewing | 182,000 | 46 |
| 8 | Brett Parise | 176,000 | 44 |
| 9 | Marlou Heiland | 162,000 | 41 |
| 10 | Armando Mesina | 156,000 | 39 |
Day 1b Action
Nguyen held the chip lead for most of the later stages of the evening, but he put some space between himself and second-place Subak when he took out Tom Hammers in one of the biggest pots of the night.
Liu also dominated the late levels, spiking a flush near the end of the night to move above 300,000. Anthony Pitesa made Day 2 thanks to a late double through Brett Parise, who also qualified for Sunday’s finale.
Christopher Skinner picked up pocket aces late in the day to take out an opponent with big slick. Skinner finished with more than 300,000 on the day after nearing the 400,000 mark just before the last level. Dantram Huynh spiked quad sixes on the river for a big double. Huynh failed to qualify for Day 2, but she will have one more opportunity on Saturday’s Day 1c. Players advancing from all three flights will meet on Sunday for the Day 2 finale.
Day 1c will kick off tomorrow at 3 p.m. PST. Players will start with 25,000 in chips and play 40-minute levels. Registration is open until the beginning of Level 13 and players have unlimited rebuys until that point. Day 1c will play until there is 10:00 left in Level 14, or until 12% of the field remains, whichever comes first.
Be sure to keep it here all weekend long for live updates with the PokerNews team from the MSPT Main Event at Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego.
and Nguyen made a set of aces to send Hammers to the rail in the last level of the evening.
and Pitesa's jacks held to score a double and a big pot as the tournament nears its last level of the night.
and Skinner's aces held to knock out another player. Skinner is nearing the 400,000 mark late in Day 1b.
. Her opponent had 
. 
, giving Huynh quad sixes for a big double late in Day 1b action.
and both players checked to see