MSPT Grand Falls $1,100 Main Event Day 1b | MSPT Grand Falls $1,100 Main Event (Jan. 2021)

01-23-2021 20:10 UTC-5

Break Time

Anthony Thompson

Level 6 : 300/600, 600 ante

Three more levels have come and gone, which means the field has been sent on a 10-minute break.

Level: 7

Blinds: 400/800

Ante: 800

01-23-2021 20:22 UTC-5

"Red Bull Robbie" Brings Big City Experience to Grand Falls

Anthony Thompson

Level 7 : 400/800, 800 ante

Back in the day, Robbie Thompson was a staple at the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Not only that, he was a fixture on the poker circuit.

So how did the man, who hails from nearby Egan, South Dakota (Pop. 720) and still lives in the same house he did when he was just three years old, get to such a spot in the poker world?

In 1993, Thompson, who used to work manual labor, took a job as a blackjack dealer.

“After a couple years in the pit, I made my move to poker,” Thompson previously said in an interview with CardsChat. “I was leaving my shift one day and my manager asked if I would deal poker that night. She knew that I played, so without any training I sat in the box to a 7-Card Stud hi-lo game and the rest is history.”

Eventually, around 2002, Thompson became a traveling dealer and worked his first WSOP in 2004. Two more years of experience saw him dealing the WSOP final table, and from there it was off to gigs on the European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour. In 2008, he had his chance to become the final table announcer of the WSOP.

In 2017, things came full circle when Thompson got off the road and Renee Thomas, the poker room manager at Grand Falls, offered him a job. As it happened, she was the aforementioned manager who gave him his start 25 years earlier.

Thompson has been using his big-time experience here at the Grand Falls poker room ever since.

Tags: Robbie Thompson

01-23-2021 20:33 UTC-5

Updated Chip Counts

Anthony Thompson

Level 7 : 400/800, 800 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Ron MacDiarmid	132,400 50,000	50,000
Darrell Prevail	115,600 15,600	15,600
Ha Nguyen	96,700 55,400	55,400
Ty Johnson	87,000 27,000	27,000
Eric Norvell	82,400 -7,600	-7,600
Dan Bekavac	61,300 44,800	44,800
Phil Gioia	59,700 41,600	41,600
Kyna England	54,300 29,300	29,300
DJ Buckley	41,000 16,000	16,000
Alison Weiss	37,000
Chan Pelton	37,000 12,000	12,000
Dan Lowery	32,600 20,700	20,700
Ryan Phan	27,100 -7,100	-7,100
Max Havlish	24,000 3,000	3,000
Jonathan Kim	21,300 11,500	11,500
Jimmy Zeledon	19,000 -800	-800
Eric Polson	14,300 -16,700	-16,700
Steve WazWaz	12,300 7,300	7,300

01-23-2021 20:47 UTC-5

More Updated Chip Counts

Anthony Thompson

Level 7 : 400/800, 800 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Keith Kemper	97,600
Aaron Raap	90,200 -6,500	-6,500
Mark Alinder	72,300 43,600	43,600
Scott Konze	66,200 39,800	39,800
Matt Alexander	61,300 25,900	25,900
Johnny Flores	57,600 45,300	45,300
Tyler Klumb	50,700 7,200	7,200
Tim Dorzweiler	43,200 -5,400	-5,400
Rob WazWaz	40,000 19,800	19,800

Swadeep Mishra	25,600 8,400	8,400
Terrence Reid	23,100 -1,400	-1,400
Josh Meyer	20,000 -4,300	-4,300
Jason Seitz	19,200 -13,200	-13,200
Tim Garles	17,000 -8,000	-8,000
Kou Vang	14,000 -1,500	-1,500
Keith Heine	11,000 2,900	2,900

Level: 8

Blinds: 500/1,000

Ante: 1,000

01-23-2021 21:01 UTC-5

Most MSPT Main Event Final Tables in History

Anthony Thompson

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Since its inception in 2009, the MSPT has done a great job keeping track of player stats. As a result, 11 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 eight MSPT Main Event final tables in tour history:

Place	Player	Hometown	Main Event Final Tables
1	Richard Alsup	New Hope, Minnesota	12
2	Kou Vang	Maplewood, Minnesota	10
3	Blake Bohn	Eden Prairie, Minnesota	9
4	Rob WazWaz	Minneapolis, Minnesota	9
5	Jason Bender	Keota, Iowa	9
6	Aaron Johnson	Red Wing, Minnesota	9
7	Jeremy Dresch	Fridley, Minnesota	8
8	Everett Carlton	St. Paul, Minnesota	8
9	Joe Matheson	Monticello, Minnesota	7
10	Dan "DQ" Hendrickson	Faribault, Minnesota	7

01-23-2021 21:12 UTC-5

Oppelt Dusts Opponent

Anthony Thompson

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Ty Johnson opened with a raise from middle position, Daryl Oppelt three-bet from the next seat over and the button player four-bet jammed for 11,200.

Action folded to the big blind player who called, Johnson folded and Oppelt called bringing the three players to the flop.

Action was checked to Oppelt who moved all in and the big blind player quickly folded.

Daryl Oppelt:
Opponent:

Oppelt was ahead after flopping top two-pair and the turn left his opponent drawing dead. Once the meaningless completed the board Oppelt collected the pot and sent his opponent packing.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ty Johnson	78,000 -9,000	-9,000
Daryl Oppelt	45,000

Tags: Ty Johnson Daryl Oppelt

01-23-2021 21:29 UTC-5

Nguyen Out Flops Raap for Double

Anthony Thompson

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Aaron Raap limped in from early position and Ha Nguyen raised to 3,000 from the cutoff. Phil Gioia called from the button as did the big blind player and Raap came along as well bringing the four players to the flop.

Action was checked to Raap who fired out 4,000 and Nguyen raised to 14,000. Gioia folded along with the big blind player and Raap three-bet to 34,000. Action was back on Nguyen who jammed for 66,800 and Raap snap-called.

Aaron Raap:
Ha Nguyen: