Action folded to Jun Kim who raised to 8,000 on the button only to call a 36,000 raise from Loki Abboud from the small blind.
The 
flop saw Abboud continue for 16,000 and Kim called bringing the 
turn.
Abboud fired out a healthy 50,000 and the price was too steep for Kim as he mucked his hand.
While PokerNews is here offering live updates for the $1,100 Main Event, we’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you about some of the side events that have taken place out over the past week for the Winter Poker Classic here at Running Aces Casino.
In Event #8: $250 NLH Hump Day, 111 runners created a $22,200 prize pool that was paid out to the top 12 players.
Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Jay Goughpoor (10th - $466), Jen Repp (11th - $466), and Cody Lindquist (12th - $466).
In the end, it was Mark Dufner who collected every chip in play to capture the MSPT Winter Poker Classic Trophy, along with a $4,487.
| Place | Player | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Dufner | $4,487* | |
| 2 | Yer Vang | $3,573* | |
| 3 | Ahmed Matan | $3,315* | |
| 4 | Alan Baker | $3,024* | |
| 5 | Jeff Lehooillier | $2,963* | |
| 6 | Tony Byers | $1,154 | |
| 7 | John Gulik | $932 | |
| 8 | Daryl Knoell | $755 | |
| 9 | Mark Larson | $599 |
*denotes chop
A player from middle position raised to 11,000 and action folded to Matt Wolff who three-bet to 24,000 from the small blind.
Action folded back to the initial raiser who called to see a 
flop.
Wolff continued for 23,000 but the price was too steep for his opponent as they mucked their hand and Wolff tabled 
before he scooped the pot.
There was heads-up action after a 
flop between Loki Abboud from under the gun and Umut Ozturk from the big blind.
A series of raises saw Ozturk get his 150,000 stack in the middle and Abboud called holding more.
Umut Ozturk: 
Loki Abboud: 
Both players held over pairs to the board, but Abboud held the better one, and neither the 
turn nor the 
river improved Ozturk's hand as he was eliminated from the Day 1a field.
Level: 14
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Since its inception in 2009, the MSPT has done a great job keeping track of player stats. As a result, 13 years on they have one of the best player databases in the industry.
On their "Leaderboards" page, the MSPT tracks such things as Career Earnings, Main Event Cashes, Main Event Final Tables, Main Event Titles, Total Cashes, Most Cashes/Final Tables in a Season, Most Final Tables All-Time, and much more.
Several players in today's field are looking to climb on the leaderboard for "Most MSPT Main Event Final Tables."
Here's a look at the top ten MSPT Main Event final tables in tour history:
| Place | Player | Hometown | Main Event Final Tables |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Alsup | New Hope, Minnesota | 14 |
| 2 | Rob WazWaz | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 13 |
| 3 | Kou Vang | Maplewood, Minnesota | 11 |
| 4 | Blake Bohn | Eden Prairie, Minnesota | 9 |
| 5 | Jason Bender | Keota, Iowa | 9 |
| 6 | Aaron Johnson | Red Wing, Minnesota | 9 |
| 7 | Adam Friedman | Gahanna, Ohio | 9 |
| 8 | Nick Pupillo | Addison, IL | 8 |
| 9 | DJ Buckley | Eden Prairie, Minnesota | 8 |
| 10 | Josh Reichard | Janesville, WI | 8 |
Luke Struck raised to 8,000 from under the gun and was called by Marc Harrell directly to his left, along with Mike Wilklow from the big blind.
The 
flop was checked to Harrell who fired out 11,000 and only Wilklow check-called to see the 
pair the board on the turn.
This time, Wilklow check-raised to 40,000 after Harrell fired out 15,000 and Harrell quickly mucked his hand.
While PokerNews is here offering live updates for the $1,100 Main Event, we’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you about some of the side events that have taken place out over the past week for the Winter Poker Classic here at Running Aces Casino.
In Event #7: $300 NLH Tag Team, 411 runners created a $47,265 prize pool that was paid out to the top 21 teams.
Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Daniel & Dennis Stevermer (11th - $898), MSPT's own Bryan Mileski & Ben Valder (16th - $614), DJ Buckley & Justin Barnum (18th - $614), and Dan Favreau & Alan Baker (20th - $568).
In the end, it was David Suenson & Jeff Christenson who collected every chip in play to capture the MSPT Winter Poker Classic Trophy, along with a $12,287.
| Place | Player | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Suenson | $6,144 | |
| Jeff Christenson | $6,143 | ||
| 2 | Tyler Stevenson | $3,805 | |
| Dillon Somnis | $3,805 | ||
| 3 | Scotty Hendrickson | $2,741 | |
| Kelly Hendrickson | $2,741 | ||
| 4 | Christian O'Neil | $2,009 | |
| Matt Ustby | $2,009 | ||
| 5 | Brett Reichard | $1,489 | |
| Josh Reichard | $1,489 | ||
| 6 | Bob Melde | $1,158 | |
| Arlo Strozewski | $1,158 | ||
| 7 | Bob Miles | $874 | |
| Bill Kachel | $874 | ||
| 8 | Christian Francis | $685 | |
| Patrick Francis | $685 | ||
| 9 | Devin Vang | $543 | |
| Steve Vang | $543 |
Registration for Day 1a has closed with 238 total entries with 49 players remaining.
The plan is to play through Level 15 unless the field reaches 12% of the filed (28) players, whichever comes first.
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