FireKeepers Casino

The first of three starting flights in the MSPT FireKeepers Main Event drew a whopping 250 entrants, which crushed the previous Day 1A record of 195. It also puts the field on pace to surpass last fall’s record of 884 total entrants; in fact, it looks as if the field is primed for 1,000+ runners and a $1,000,000 prize pool!

After 14 levels of play on Day 1A, just 48 players remained with Brian Eklund and his stack of 238,000 leading the way.

Also bagging was three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto (168,500), who is pictured above. Carodenuto flew in from Minnesota earlier in the day with MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup and Todd Breyfogle, neither of who bagged.

Others who made it through were Michigan’s Adam Lamphere (174,000), who has the incredible distinction of cashing seven of the eight MSPT Main Events held here at FireKeepers; MSPT Season 4 Ho-Chunk Champ Josh Reichard (45,000); and MSPT Season 7 Meskwaki champ Keith Heine (187,000), who is currently on top of the Season 8 Player of the Year race with 2,200 points.

Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to survive. Among those to fall on Day 1A were MSPT Season 4 Player of the Year Pat Steele, 2016 MSPT Iowa State Poker Champ John Sun, inaugural MSPT FireKeepers champ Tom Midena, #MSPT100 winner Jason Ramos, and both Cy Church and Brett Blackwood, who finished as runner-up and winner of the last MSPT FireKeepers.

Day 1B will kick off at Noon local time on Friday, and it’s already shaping up to be bigger as approximately 150 satellite winners are already signed up. Join us then as we bring you all the action straight from the tournament floor of the FireKeepers Casino Poker Room.

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play four more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. Stay tuned for a recap of the Day 1A action along with chip counts.

Warren Janney opened for 5,500 from early position and a player in late position called. Fernando Gonzalez then three-bet all in for around 65,000 from the button, both blinds folded, and Janney called off for 60,500 total. The other player folded and Gonzalez was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Janney:
Gonzalez:

The gave Gonzalez a gutshot straight draw, but it didn’t come in as the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river.

Warren Janney - 125,000
Fernando Gonzalez - 3,500

In the first level on Day 2 of MSPT Canterbury Park, which drew a record 475 entrants, the blinds were 1,500/3,000/500 and 83 players remained with 45 of them getting paid.

Luke Mernin (98,000) opened for 7,000 and Jason Ramos (290,500) called from middle position. Dan Vandevoort, who started the day as the second shortest stack, then moved all in for 34,000 from the button. Robert Ogorman proceeded to move all in over the top for 82,000, and Mernin hit the tank for a couple minutes before calling to put both players at risk. Ramos folded and all three players turned up their cards.

Vandevoort: A♣A♥
Ogorman: 10♠10♦
Mernin: A♠K♠

Vandevoort held the goods, and maintained his lead on the 6♣3♦J♠flop. The 8♠ turn put a big sweat out there as Mernin picked up a spade flush draw, but he missed it when the Q♣ blanked on the river. Mernin was left with 16,000 after the hand, but he went bust a short time later.

We caught up with poker pro and author Jonathan Little to get his take on how this hand played out.

MSPT: What do you think of Ogorman’s four-bet jam with pocket tens in this spot?

Little: Ogorman is certainly in a difficult spot with his pocket tens, but I think going all in is perfectly acceptable given he only has 27 big blinds. The only way you can realistically justify folding is if he knows either the initial raiser or the pusher are overly tight, putting pocket tens in marginal shape. If both players are getting in with reasonable ranges, you have to be willing to gamble. Also notice that the only time he is in a terrible situation is when the initial raiser has a premium hand. When he is only against the 34,000 all in, he is getting great pot odds and if he loses, he will still have about half his stack remaining.

MSPT: How do you feel about Mernin’s call with ace-king?

Little: It is difficult to assume how players will play shortly after doubling up from a tiny stack as Vandevoort had done. Some players will play tightly to "protect" their newly found chips while others will still feel short and will be blasting all in with a wide range thinking that they are now "free rolling". Without an actual read, you should not assume much about your opponents' strategies and instead try to play a fundamentally sound strategy yourself.

Facing two all ins, A♣A♥ is in a tough spot, but I typically call off in this situation if I think both players play well (because their ranges both include a few hands ace-king dominates). Similar to Ogorman's spot with tens, if Mernin knows either player is overly tight, folding becomes a fine option. Also notice that the only time he gets wrecked is when he loses to the 82,000 all in.

While you should rarely be thrilled to call off in this spot, if you pass up on too many situations like this, you will find that you have a difficult time accumulating chips unless the tournament is filled with players who have significant flaws in their strategies.

For more on Little, follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle. You can also receive a FREE copy of his eBook by simply entering your email at JLpoker.com/mspt.

With on the flop, George Janssen checked, Nathan Geise bet 17,100, and Janssen jammed all in.

Geise, who had fewer chips, made the call and was ahead with versus .

The on the turn didn’t help Janssen, but the on the river gave him a bigger two pair and all of the chips.

George Janssen - 170,000
Nathan Geise - Busted

In the very next hand after doubling up, Joe Barnard raised to 4,500 from the the cutoff and Keith Heine called from the button. Tim Dock then three-bet all in for 34,800 from the small blind and Barnard thought long and hard before making the call, which prompted Heine to snap-folded.

Barnard:
Dock:

It was a flip, but not after the flop came down to give Barnard top two pair. The turn gave Dock an open-ended straight draw, and he hit it after the spiked on the river.

Timothy Dock - 75,000
Joe Barnard - 10,000

We missed the preflop action, but we do know Joe Barnard got his stack of 20,000 all in against James Crawford.

Barnard:
Crawford:

Barnard was way out in front, and he improved on the flop, though Crawford did pick up a gutshot to a jack.

The turn gave Crawford a flush draw to boot, but he missed the bricked on the river.

Joe Barnard - 45,000

Gary Farhat and MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup got all the chips in the middle preflop.

Alsup was behind and at risk with verus .

With a king in the window, it was looking like an easy double for Alsup, but a queen on the river sent him out the door.

Gary Farhat - 86,600
Richard Alsup - Busted

Players are now on their last 10-minute break of the night. When they return, they’ll play two more levels before bagging and tagging on Day 1A.