MSPT Poker Bowl V Main Event
Day 1a Completed
MSPT Poker Bowl V at Venetian Las Vegas
MSPT Poker Bowl V Main Event
Day: 1a
Vilchez Takes Staggeringly Large Stack into Day 2
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Day 1a has ended at Mid-States Poker Tour Poker Bowl V at Venetian, and one player shined far brighter than all the rest during the 15 levels of play.
Jesse Vilchez turned a 25,000 starting stack into 1,157,000, a staggering total gives him more than 10% of the chips in play thus far. It's easily more than double the number bagged by second-place Amy Patel, who finished with 486,000.
Hailing from Michigan, Vilchez has made a habit of late cashing MSPT events at Venetian. He finished third in November in the $1K event for $91,502, then he got 77th in the $1,600 for $4,961. Overall, he's got $757K in live cashes.
Today, he simply victimized Phil Gioia in two massive spots. First, he doubled up with top pair of queens when Gioia couldn't get away from pocket tens and a live gutter on the turn. That gave Vilchez a huge stack of more than 100 big blinds, but so large was Gioia's own stack that he remained the tournament leader.
No matter, as the next pot would shift all of the chips to Vilchez. He three-bet in late position against Gioia's open then was happy to call off his entire stack with pocket aces. Gioia had eights and didn't improve, sending nearly all of his chips over and leaving Vilchez the overwhelming leader.
Overall, about 45 players advanced out of 412 entries, which enabled the tournament to breeze past the $350K guarantee by building a prize pool of almost $400K on the first starting flight alone.
Some others who made it through included MSPT stalwart Rich Alsup, former WSOP Main Event champ Ryan Riess and Blake Whittington, who has already booked two wins in side events this series.
Among those running dry on chips were Jordan Cristos, Pat Lyons, Mike Shin, Katie Lindsay and James Carroll, coming off a six-figure score here in the last MSPT on site just a month ago.
They'll all have another chance on Day 1b, which is set for 11 a.m. on Friday.
End of Day 1a Counts (full)
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,157,000 | 47,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
486,000 | 486,000 |
|
|
||
|
355,500 | 55,500 |
|
|
||
|
353,000 | |
|
|
||
|
349,000 | 74,000 |
|
|
||
|
340,000 | 165,000 |
|
|
||
|
322,500 | -2,500 |
   |
||
|
278,000 | -37,000 |
|
|
||
|
278,000 | 278,000 |
 |
||
|
|
277,500 | 277,500 |
|
|
||
|
|
271,500 | 71,500 |
|
|
||
|
265,000 | 265,000 |
|
|
||
|
263,000 | 33,000 |
|
|
||
|
263,000 | 263,000 |
|
|
||
|
254,500 | 24,500 |
|
|
||
|
251,500 | 251,500 |
|
|
||
|
|
239,000 | 239,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
237,000 | 158,000 |
|
|
||
|
219,000 | -46,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
210,000 | 210,000 |
|
|
||
|
205,500 | 205,500 |
|
|
||
|
204,500 | 114,500 |
|
|
||
|
|
203,000 | 203,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
202,000 | -98,000 |
|
|
||
|
200,000 | 200,000 |
|
|
||
Vilchez Unstoppable
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Jesse Vilchez opened for 14,000 in the small blind and the big blind defended. On a 
flop, Vilchez continued big for 29,000 and the big blind went into the tank. Vilchez kept up a monologue while his opponent thought, but we didn't hear anything he said. Finally, the big blind shoved in for about 85,000 and Vilchez beat him in the pot.
Vilchez: 
Opponent: 
The board ran 
, 
and Vilchez collected the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,110,000 | 110,000 |
|
|
||
Final Six
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Each table will play six more hands.
Zarco Lucky on River
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
A player on the button was all in for about 50,000 with 
and had Javier Zarco's 
dominated. The board ran out just fine for the all-in player until the river, when Zarco found a nine to bust him.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
265,000 | 70,000 |
|
|
||
Vilchez Wins Biggest Pot of Tournament Thus Far
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
We came upon the aftermath of a truly titanic pot between Jesse Vilchez in the cutoff and Phil Gioia on his right. The stack of Vilchez was being counted down, and it was in the neighborhood of 500,000. He had 
in front of him, with the board having run 
.
As the chips were being pushed to Vilchez, a player said Gioia had shown down 
, having raised and then shoved all in over Vilchez's three-bet.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,000,000 | 542,000 |
|
|
||
|
20,000 | -480,000 |
|
|
||
Level: 15
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Zarco Shoves on Saechao
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
With 
on board, Kao Saechao bet 15,000 from early position, a small wager into the 50,000 or so in the middle. Javier Zarco responded by moving all in for about 55,000 more.
Saechao went deep into the tank before flicking in 
. Zarco patted the felt but didn't show.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
195,000 | 35,000 |
|
|
||
|
55,000 | -1,000 |
|
|
||
Updated Chip Counts
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
500,000 | 5,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
458,000 | 101,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
325,000 | 150,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
300,000 | 25,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
300,000 | 47,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
275,000 | 123,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
230,000 | 181,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
175,000 | 131,000 |
|
|
||
|
150,000 | -130,000 |
|
|
||
|
110,000 | 50,000 |
|
|
||
|
90,000 | 27,000 |
|
|
||
|
80,000 | -20,000 |
|
|
||
|
68,000 | 8,000 |
|
|
||