$360 MSPT ($150K GTD)
Day 1b Completed
MSPT Black Hawk
$360 MSPT ($150K GTD)
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1b
MSPT Black Hawk
Winner
Buy-in
$360
Prize Pool
$299,400
Entries
998
Level
32
Blinds
150,000 / 250,000
Ante
40,000
Entries
234
Players Left
32
Morrell Leads Day 1b Field at MSPT Black Hawk $360 Regional
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
It wasn't easy, but Jerry Morrell has finished Day 1b of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Black Hawk $360 Regional with the chip lead with a stack of 488,000. A total of 234 entries came to Bally's Black Hawk Thursday for the second of four starting flights and 32 players advanced, with Morrell narrowly leading Barb Visher (477,000) atop the counts.
In the final hands of the evening, Morrell and Visher wound up getting stacks in with Morrell holding ace-king of diamonds and losing to Visher's aces. Visher appeared to vault into pole position for the chip lead as tables balanced and Morrell moved on the very next hand.
Morrell's new table quickly put the ace-king of diamonds back in front of his face, where he wound up playing for stacks once more and winning a coin flip against pocket tens to get right back to where he was before. He then won a small pot at the end of the night, one that proved to be the difference in him being the leader when chips went into bags.
Jeff Heiberg (355,000), Kobie Keir (297,000), and Zach Gutierrez (277,000) rounded out the top five in counts, barely edging out three more players behind that finished the day above a quarter-million. Others to advance included Renato Spahiu (212,000), Noomis Jones (185,000), Randy Needens (126,000), Vincent Moscati (97,000), and Jason Vanstrom (74,000).
Of course, the vast majority of entrants did not advance, with Greg Collins, Tan Hoang, Nate Zoller, Brian Leitch, and Phil Gioia among those who fell short of finding a bag.
Two more starting flights remain for all looking to punch their ticket onto Sunday's Day 2 roster. Fifty-four have already advanced, and all players firing future flights are advised to arrive early as the house will certainly be full for each of the next two days. Registration for Friday's Day 1c opens at 10 a.m. local time, with play beginning at noon once more. As usual, PokerNews will be bringing you updates every step of the way.
End of Day 1b Chip Counts (full)
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Thirty-two players have officially advanced from Day 1b with Jerry Morrell (488,000) just edging out Barb Visher (477,000) for the end-of-day chip lead. Complete chip counts have been provided below, and a recap of the day's action will soon follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
488,000 | 248,000 |
|
477,000 | 12,000 |
|
355,000 | 150,000 |
|
297,000 | 41,000 |
|
277,000 | 122,000 |
|
271,000 | -47,000 |
|
267,000 | 267,000 |
|
262,000 | 262,000 |
|
235,000 | 156,000 |
|
212,000 | -59,000 |
|
202,000 | -28,000 |
|
198,000 | -82,000 |
|
188,000 | 188,000 |
|
185,000 | -75,000 |
|
180,000 | 45,000 |
|
|
173,000 | 173,000 |
|
163,000 | 163,000 |
|
153,000 | 153,000 |
|
135,000 | -117,000 |
|
134,000 | 134,000 |
|
126,000 | -14,000 |
|
|
119,000 | 119,000 |
|
113,000 | 52,000 |
|
97,000 | 32,000 |
|
95,000 | 35,000 |
Play Has Concluded
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Play has finished with an unofficial 34 players currently putting chips into bags. Jerry Morrell has bagged the apparent chip lead of 488,000 after winning a huge pot right before the end of the night with 
to 
to reclaim the chip lead from Barb Visher (477,000).
Complete chip counts and an end-of-day recap will be posted shortly.
Two More Hands
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Ten minutes now remain in Level 15 and the tournament clock has been stopped. Each of the four remaining tables will play two more hands before concluding for the evening with the celebratory bag 'n' tag.
Big Stacks Cede Doubles
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Hand #1: Noomis Jones saw action fold to him on the button and opened to 19,000. Billy Gallegos defended his big blind and action checked through the flop 
. Gallegos fired out 35,000 on the turn 
and Jones called again, bringing the river 
. Gallegos shoved to put Jones all in for his last 80,000 or so, and Jones went deep into the tank before finding a call.
"Nice call," said Gallegos, sending his cards straight to the muck pile from the one-seat upon seeing Jones table 
.
Hand #2: On an adjacent table at the same time, a preflop raising war between Barb Visher and Jerry Morrell saw Visher's stack of more than 200K go into the middle preflop.
Barb Visher: 
Jerry Morrell:
Visher's aces held through the runout to earn the double, and in doing so appears to have taken the chip lead just before the end of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
465,000 | 465,000 |
|
|
280,000 | -135,000 |
|
|
260,000 | 115,000 |
|
|
240,000 | -130,000 |
Gius Dusted
Level 15
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
After losing a pot for 190,000 all-in preflop with 
to 
, Greg Gius got his last 31,000 into the middle preflop against Christian Larsen in a coin-flip situation.
Greg Gius: 
Christian Larsen: 
The flop 
gave Larsen top pair, top kicker, and Gius was unable to catch back up as the turn 
and river 
completed the runout to bring the end of his tournament life in the final level of the evening.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
230,000 | 191,500 |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 15
Blinds: 2,500/5,000
Ante: 5,000
Caro Wins Back-To-Back Pots for Stacks
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Hand #1: A short-stacked player opened to 11,000 in middle position and Justin Caro re-jammed from the hijack. Action folded back to the original opener and he called all in for 41,000.
All-In Player: 
Justin Caro: 
No six came on a runout of 
and Caro earned the pot and the knockout.
Hand #2: On the very next hand, Caro opened to 8,000 and received calls from both blinds, one of which was Mike Hassab. The flop came 
and Mike Hassab check-raised Caro's continuation-bet, with Caro three-betting to 90,000. Hassab then announced he was all in and Caro said he had to call.
Mike Hassab:
Justin Caro:
Caro faded the ace as the turn 
and river completed the runout. Stacks were counted with Caro having 139,000 behind, and Hassab found himself with just 6,000 after paying what he owed.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
318,000 | 318,000 |
|
|
6,000 | -164,000 |
Gutierrez Showers a Shorty; Gallegos Over 400K
Level 14
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
A player shoved for 31,000 under the gun and received action from Zach Gutierrez in middle position, sending the two off to the races.
All-In Player:
Zach Gutierrez:
Gutierrez had his opponent drawing extremely thin after the flop 
, but the player found potential life on the turn as he picked up a backdoor gutshot to Broadway. However, the river 
fell in Gutierrez's favor and he scooped the pot and the knockout as a result.
Meanwhile, Billy Gallegos has just been spotted at an adjacent table with several towers of stacks totaling more than 400,000. He is the current chip leader in the room, with Jerry Morrell's 370,000 trailing closely behind.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
415,000 | 415,000 |
|
|
370,000 | 18,000 |
|
|
155,000 | 20,000 |