Ndoja and Astrauskas March Forward, Johnson and Alsup Advance In Flight 1b
After a record breaking turnout in the first flight of the $1,100 MSPT Main Event At Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek Michigan, the second flight followed suit by seeing a whopping 836 entrants come to play Day 1b. The prize pool guarantee has been now met and sits at $1,422,990 and with one flight still remaining, a near doubling of the prize pool guarantee is nearly certain.
A total of 101 players made Day 2 from this flight and leading the way is Antonio Ndoja who ended the day with 643,000. Ndoja found himself raking in a massive pot at the end of the night when his full house cracked the pocket queens of his opponent. Ndoja is relatively new to the MSPT tournament scene and is looking to make his mark on this massive field.
Top Ten Chip Counts Day 1b
| Rank | Name | Chip Counts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio Ndoja | 643,000 |
| 2 | Arturas Astrauskas | 628,000 |
| 3 | KC Vaughan | 533,000 |
| 4 | Justin Pimpedly | 530,000 |
| 5 | Andrew Fahey | 454,000 |
| 6 | Alex Farcas | 450,000 |
| 7 | Larry Wagner | 418,000 |
| 8 | Michael Puccio | 412,000 |
| 9 | Paul Davison | 403,000 |
| 10 | Paul Choi | 383,000 |
Nipping at his heels and the chip leader for most of the day was Arturas Astrauskas who ended the day with 628,000. The Illinois resident is no stranger to deep runs in tournaments, having cashed in the WSOP Main Event in 2018 as well as multiple WSOP cashes throughout the years. He comes into Day 2 as second overall and will look to add to his over $150,000 in lifetime earnings.
Other players that managed to find a bag at the end of the day included HPT champion Michael Puccio (412,000), Rich Alsup (218,000), Josh Reichard (148,000), Aaron Johnson (139,000) and Aaron Massey (77,000). Each one of them will be looking to add their names to this record-breaking prize pool.
This flight was not good to all, as many MSPT legends fell throughout the day like Pat Steele, Sarah Stefan, Ralph Massey, Rob Wazwaz, Angela Jordison, Greg Himmelbrand, and defending champion Dan Bekavac who found no luck on any of his bullets today. Each one of them will have their chance to re-enter in the final flight.
This Day 1b had 836 entrants as compared to the last iteration’s number of 762. Play will continue for these players on Sunday the 14th at 11 a.m. unless they wish to forfeit their stack and play one of the other flights. Tomorrow’s flight begins at 12 p.m., stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding the next two flights, the final day and the conclusion of the tournament.
saw the big blind check and Golak bet 11,000 which was called. 
checked through and the river 
saw the big blind lead out for 25,000, which Golak called. The big blind turned over 
for a missed flush draw while Golak turned over 
for sevens with a king kicker and he won the pot.
and the small blind bet 3,000. Peterson raised to 13,000 and the small blind moved all in for 43,000 effective. Peterson goes into the tank for a little bit and then calls. 
and Peterson found his way into a double. 
and the early position player bet 10,000, which was met with a raise from Swartz to 25,000 which sent the early position player into the tank. "Nine-seven?" he asked as he pondered his decision. He ended up landing on a call and Swartz tabled 
and Massey turned quad queens to leave his opponent drawing dead and he raked in the pot.
and the big blind checked to Aoki who downsized to 1,600 which the big blind called. 
saw the big blind check once more and Aoki sized up to 5,000 which elicited a quick fold from her opponent. Aoki raked in the pot as she now wields one of the biggest stacks in the room.
and Dennehey check-called a bet of 1,600. 
turn which saw the hijack bet 3,600. Dennehey moved all in for 23,100 and his opponent folded, giving the MSPT champ the pot.
as he raked in the pot.
saw the first position player bet 3,500. The late position player moved all in for 12,600. Richards responded by moving all in for 27,000 effective and the other player called. 
and Richards was able to fade the flush draws her opponents picked up and she moved to over 100,000 in chips.