MSPT Riverside Casino

A lengthy day of 15 levels has wrapped up at Mid-States Poker Tour Riverside with 48 of 354 entries making it through to Day 2. And one chip count far outdistanced the rest.

Jeff Grimes managed to turn his 25,000 starting stack into a staggering 809,000 by night's end. His heater kicked into high gear during the final two hours. He was in a neck-and-neck race with Nick Pupillo for the chip lead with both players pushing toward 500,000.

Then, Grimes picked up aces on the very last hand and busted a player who had kings. That was enough to rocket him well past Pupillo — who finished in second with 495,000 — and the rest of the competition for a stack that's rarely been seen at the end of an MSPT Day 1.

Some other players who made it through included Kevin Berthelsen, Alex Ziskin, Andy Rogowski, Jorden Helstern, Byron Ziebell, Keith Heine, Rob Wazwaz and Kou Vang.

Some who took shots and missed included Eddie Blumenthal, Steve Buell, Jeff Fielder, Mike Lang, Ryan Phan and Phil Mader.

They'll all have chances to run it back and do better on Saturday, when Day 1b will see the prize pool continue to swell, surely well past $500,000 if the excellent turnout thus far is any indication. Come right back to PokerNews for more coverage starting at 3 p.m.

With 150,000 or so in the pot, Jaymz Larson moved all in from the small blind for 118,000. The board read and Larson's opponent in the hijack called.

Larson turned over for a flush. His opponent mucked what the dealer revealed to be .

After an open to 10,000 by Keith Heine and a shove worth 60,000 from Terence Reid in the hijack in one of the last hands at the previous level, Kou Vang cold-called in the small blind. Heine shook his head and folded.

Reid:
Vang:

Reid nailed the in the window and it was followed by to keep his set a winner.

Two players were all in for about 60,000 each holding and but in need of help against the of Tucker Stone. The community didn't improve anyone's hand, leaving the nines best, and Stone collected two stacks to force a table break and join Nick Pupillo and Jeff Grimes near the top of the counts.

Sarah Stefan got the last 43,000 in from the hijack and was called by the button.

"Ace-king one time?" she asked, turning over .

She was pleased to see but not so pleased to see a flop that made her a small underdog. The on the turn kept things very close but Stefan managed to find a brick on the river to survive.

Nick Pupillo and Jeff Grimes both have surpassed 400,000 in chips and are sitting at around triple the average stack. They appear to be in a two-horse race for the chip lead at this juncture.

Ken Auker shoved for 35,000 under the gun and Kevin Berthelsen made it 75,000 on his left. Everyone else folded.

Auker:
Berthelsen:

The board brought nothing for Auker.