FireKeepers Casino

Day 1B of the MSPT FireKeepers Casino – the 11^th venue stop in tour history – in Battle Creek, Michigan attracted a massive 473 runners. Along with 1A’s 285, it brought the total field up to 758 entries with the third and final start still to go.

The big turnout essentially ensures the field will once again eclipse a seven-figure prize pool and break our own record for the largest-ever poker tournament in Michigan state history (current record is 1,067 entries).

After 16 levels of play, just 66 players remained with Justin Lee and his stack of 447,000 leading the way. That is a little ahead of Steven Williams, who bagged the Day 1A lead with 426,000.

Others to bag big stacks are two-time MSPT champ Jason Zarlenga, Bob Buyce (411,000), Aaron Soulliere (335,000), and Lewis Gardner (317,000), who round out the top five.

Others to advance were two-time MSPT champ Greg Himmelbrand (280,000), MSPT Season 2 Canterbury Park champ Kou Vang (200,500), MSPT Season 7 FireKeepers champ Aaron Massey (158,000), current Kimo Sabe Mezcal Season 9 POY points leader Aaron Johnson (119,000), MSPT Season 7 Meskwaki champ Keith Heine (116,500), and two-time MSPT champ Jeremy Dresch (105,500).

Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to find a bag. Among those to hit the rail were former Detroit Lions TE Eric Stocz, MSPT Season 5 Player of the Year Mike Deis, Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 POY Chris Meyers, and former champs Nathan Trenkamp, Carter Myers, Satish Thakur, Ahmed Taleb, Tom Midena, Rodger Johnson, Ryan Dykhouse, and Mike Shanahan.

Thus far 100 players (34 from 1A, 66 from 1B) have punched their ticket to Sunday’s Day 2. Registration is now open for Day 1C, which will begin at Noon local time on Saturday. It’s going to be busy, so we encourage players to register early.

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play five more hands before bagging and tagging on Day 1B. Stay tuned for a list of chip counts as well as a recap of the day’s action.

We picked up the action with around 25,000 in the pot and a flop of .

Joe Niskar (pictured middle) moved all in for 21,500 from the small blind and Lewis Gardner (right) called from the big. Schuyler Thornton (left) then jammed for 104,500 from the button and Lewis, who had the big stack, shot out of his chair.

“Wow, I don’t think I can fold,” he said. Indeed, he made the call.

Gardner:
Thornton:
Niskar:

The river was of no consequence and Gardner held to score the double elimination.

Lewis Gardner - 320,000 (80 bb)
Joe Niskar - Busted
Schuyler Thornton - Busted

Steve Alexander (pictured left) raised to 8,000 on the button only to have current Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 9 Player of the Year points leader Aaron Johnson (right) three-bet all in for 40,000 from the small blind.

“My gut’s telling me to call,” Alexander said before doing so.

Alexander:
Johnson:

Johnson was best but Alexander held two live cards. The flop gave both players a flush draw, but of course Johnson was best in that department. Neither the turn nor river helped Alexander and he sent some chips over to a dangerous opponent.

Aaron Johnson - 90,000 (23 bb)
Steve Alexander - 155,000 (39 bb)

Casey Carroll raised all in for 56,500 from the button and Anthony Restaino called out of the big blind.

Carroll:
Restaino:

It was a flip and Carroll was just looking to hold to stay alive. The flop was safe enough, but then disaster struck when the dealer burned and turned the . The river was no help to Carroll and he took his leave in the penultimate level of Day 1B.

Anthony Restaino - 160,000 (53 bb)
Casey Carroll - Busted

Chip Leader Coaching (CLC), founded in 2016 by WSOP bracelet winners Chance Kornuth and John “KasinoKrime” Beauprez, is a training program geared toward multi-table tournaments (MTTs). The business model is unique in that students don’t pay unless they make money.

CLC has grown to include coahes such as 2015 WSOP Main Event champ Joe McKeehen, Ryan Leng, Ryan Jones, and Ryan Laplante, who oversee more than 40 students. MSPT champ and WSOP bracelet winner Nick Jivkov is also involved in the business side of CLC.

The only way to gauge whether or not a training course works is by results, and in case you haven’t noticed, the CLC team has been putting up some big ones. In February alone, the CLC Squad notched more than $1.4 million in tournament earnings. Amazingly, they combined for $1.45 million in March!

They then kept the ball rolling with another solid performance in April, which you can read about by clicking here.

“Our coaches are really mentors who are personally vested in their student’s progression as a player and are willing to connect them with the resources and guidance that drives consistent, long-lasting success in tournament poker,” Beauprez said in an interview with our media partner CardsChat. “Our philosophy is simple. We’re held accountable for the quality of our coaching because instead of asking for a monthly subscription, we take a small percentage of winnings.”

For more information visit CLCpoker.com

Players are off on their last ten-minute break of the night. When they return, they’ll play two more levels before bagging and tagging.