$360 MSPT ($150K GTD)
Day 1a Completed
MSPT Black Hawk
$360 MSPT ($150K GTD)
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
MSPT Black Hawk
Winner
Buy-in
$360
Prize Pool
$299,400
Entries
998
Level
32
Blinds
150,000 / 250,000
Ante
40,000
Entries
151
Players Left
22
Rodriguez Leads Big on Day 1a of the MSPT Black Hawk $360 Regional
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
The first of four starting flights to the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Black Hawk $360 Regional set quite the pace for what should shape up to be an impressive weekend, drawing 151 entries on a Wednesday afternoon. Fifteen levels later, 22 players remained with a familiar face to Bally's Black Hawk in James Rodriguez (675,000) bagging a massive chip lead.
"J-Rod" got through on one bullet for the day, joining before the first break of the day and quickly chipping up to more than double the 25K starting stack. Two hours later, he chipped up a bit more and then caught some heat to take one of the top stacks in the room into the dinner break.
From there, Rodriguez challenged the chip lead in the room before playing what wound up to be the largest hand of the night, eliminating Barry Faecher with pocket aces to king-queen on a king-high board in a blind-versus-blind battle. When the hand was finished, Rodriguez found himself with more than 700,000 and built that up a bit more before doubling up Yohannes Ambaye just before the end of the night to end with 675,000.
Daniel Sandoval (374,000), Rod Siegfried (342,000), Jordan Walker (336,000), and Alex Kotliarsky (285,000) rounded out the top five, with other notables such as Clay Wilson (235,000), Ben Keeline (227,000), and Aaron Thomas (85,000) also making it through.
Plenty of others did not advance, including Aaron Frei, Terry Wheeler, Greg Colins, Greg Gius, and Ryan Hopp. Along with all others not included in the Day 2 roster, they will have three more flights to take shots at finding their way into Sunday's Day 2.
Day 1b is next up at noon local time on Thursday. Big turnouts are expected, and increasingly so with each passing flight, so be sure to come up early and enter ahead of time. Registration will be open at 10 a.m. and PokerNews will be in to bring you action from the time cards are in the air until chips go into bags.
End of Day 1a Chip Counts (full)
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
675,000 | -30,000 |
|
374,000 | 209,000 |
|
342,000 | -28,000 |
|
336,000 | 25,000 |
|
285,000 | 118,000 |
|
|
235,000 | 19,000 |
|
227,000 | 134,000 |
|
136,000 | |
|
131,000 | 76,000 |
|
|
111,000 | |
|
111,000 | 39,000 |
|
|
111,000 | |
|
|
100,000 | |
|
|
88,000 | 23,000 |
|
85,000 | -125,000 |
|
80,000 | 36,000 |
|
69,000 | |
|
61,000 | -19,000 |
|
58,000 | -16,000 |
|
|
56,000 | -36,000 |
|
|
55,000 | -87,000 |
|
|
46,000 |
Play Finished
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Two eliminations occurred over the last four hands, meaning 22 players have advanced to Sunday's Day 2 from the initial Day 1a flight. James Rodriguez leads the field with a stack of 675,000.
Complete end-of-day chip counts will be posted shortly with an end-of-day recap to soon follow.
Four More Hands
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Ten minutes now remain in Level 15 and the tournament clock has been paused. The floor has announced four hands will be played on each of the remaining tables to conclude play for the night.
Twenty-four players currently remain.
The Ladies Love Jordan Walker
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Rod Siegfried opened to 15,000 in early position and was called by the cutoff before Jordan Walker re-jammed in the small blind. Siegfried asked for a count, having the 15,000 from each player pulled in before an additional 129,000 was announced as the remainder to call. Over a minute passed before he found a fold, with the cutoff quickly calling thereafter.
Jordan Walker: 
Cutoff: 
Walker stood up to catch the runout just in time to see a queen in the window, prompting a hesitant fist pump as 
hit the board. He only needed to fade a running flush as his opponent held no club in his hand, and the turn 
left his opponent drawing dead to the river 
where his double became official.
"Good fold," said Siegfried to himself from across the table, tapping himself on the back with a smile.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
370,000 | 80,000 |
|
|
311,000 | 173,000 |
"If You Fold, I'll Show"
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Action folded to James Rodriguez in the small blind and he raised to 15,000. Barry Faecher defended his big blind.
The dealer fanned a flop of 
and Rodriguez checked to Faecher, who bet 25,000. Rodriguez check-raised to 75,000 and Faecher called. Rodriguez then shoved for roughly an effective pot-sized bet on the turn 
.
"If you fold, I'll show," said Rodriguez shortly thereafter. Faecher went into the tank for almost a minute.
"I'll call," said Faecher.
Barry Faecher: 
James Rodriguez: 
Faecher was audibly displeased upon seeing Rodriguez's aces and failed to improve further on the river 
, bringing about his elimination as Rodriguez took down the largest pot of the tournament thus far, making him the clear chip leader with about 15 minutes of play left in the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
705,000 | 364,000 |
|
Busted |
Rodriguez With 350K; Frei Busts to Faecher
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
James Rodriguez and Barry Faecher have both been spotted having added chunks to their stacks in recent times. According to the pair, Faecher's bump came after Aaron Frei open-jammed 65,000 on the button with 
and ran into Faecher's 
in the big blind.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez picked up in the big blind in another hand and saw a raise and two calls in front of him. He three-bet and saw the original opener four-bet jam with 
to send the entirety of his stack in the direction of "J-Rod" as the final level has begun with 27 players remaining across three tables.
Play will continue until 10 minutes remain in Level 15, at which point two-to-five hands will be played before reaching the end of the night. Should nine more eliminations occur before that time, then a hard stop will come into play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
341,000 | 126,000 |
|
|
252,000 | 91,000 |
|
Busted |
One Last Round of Photos from Day 1a of the MSPT Black Hawk $360 Regional
Level: 15
Blinds: 2,500/5,000
Ante: 5,000