Reichard And Himmelbrand Cruise To The Top of Day 1b
After just over 12 hours of play, The second flight of The Mid-States Poker Tour $1,600 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event came to a close with just 60 out of the initial 432 entrants remaining.
Twelve-time WSOP circuit ring winner, and Wisconsin native, Josh Reichard ended up bagging the chip lead with 769,000 chips, most of which were acquired on the last hand of the night when he made two-pair with kings and queens against one of the big stacks at his table.
On top of his many circuit rings, Reichard has become a staple of the Mid-States Poker tour, with six final tables and twenty-three cashes. He looks to make this MSPT Venetian his first win, and has put himself in prime position for a deep run.
One player looking for their third MSPT win is New York native Greg Himmelbrand who bagged second in the flight with 655,000. Himmelbrand won the Maryland Live! In 2015 for $72,910 and MSPT Milwaukee in 2018 for a score of $125,958. Himmelbrand spent the majority of the day at the top of the chip counts and until the final hand of the night, was the overall flight chip leader. Only four players in MSPT history have won three or more MSPTs and Himmelbrand looks to make it five.
| Player | Chip Count |
| Josh Reichard | 769,000 |
| Greg Himmelbrand | 655,000 |
| Therry Quintin | 621,000 |
| Edmond Brooks | 500,000 |
| Kevin Ayow | 419,000 |
| David Chocheles | 415,000 |
| Michael Dyer | 377,000 |
| Darryll Fish | 357,000 |
| Judith Bielan | 350,000 |
| Oscar Gutierrez | 348,000 |
Others that managed to find bags include WSOP 2018 Main Event 3rd Place finisher Michael Dyer (377,000), Darryll Fish (357,000), Ralph Massey (220,000), Jerod Smith (117,000), and all-time MSPT earner Rich Alsup (119,000). Players who did not bag this flight included Alex Foxen, Dan Bekavac, Kyna England, and WSOP bracelet winner Kathy Liebert. The players will have their final opportunity to make Day 2 on Wednesday June 11th at 11:10 AM for Flight 1c.
The remaining 60 players will join what remains of Day 1a and what will remain of Day 1c on Thursday June 9th at 11 a.m. with blinds returning at 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante. The players will play down to get a piece of the $2,000,000 guaranteed prizepool.
Day 1c kicks off tomorrow at 11:10 a.m. at Venetian Resort Las Vegas with players beginning with 30,000 starting chips and blinds beginning at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding this tournament.
and Gimbel check-called a bet of 9,000 from Reichard. 
saw action check to Reichard once more who bet again, this time to the tune of 32,000 which Gimbel again called. 
saw Gimbel check once more to Reichard who moved all-in for 61,000 effective, sending Gimbel into the tank. After some time, Gimbel tossed in the call and both hands were tabled. 
which ran out a straight for Dhuper to take the main and triple up, while Fish won a massive side pot between himself and Tran.
and Gimbel's sailboats held strong for the pot.
giving no help to the ace-nine offsuit and Fish's stack rose to over 200,000.
and Massey moved all-in for 38,000 effective which sent his opponent into the tank. After roughly three minutes, another player at the table called clock and the cutoff player had thirty seconds to act on their hand. 
to the dealer and the rest of the table. He mucked his hand and the other player's holdings were revealed. 
and Richards was eliminated in a brutal fashion by Conners' quads.
which gave Soriano a pair of kings and the 2020 MSPT Venetian Champion left the tournament area.
