Golden Gates Casino

Day 1B of the MSPT Golden Gates Main Event saw 153 runners come to Black Hawk, Colorado, which along with Thursday’s 113 entrants brought the total field up to 266 entries with one flight still to go.

By day’s end, just 19 remained with World Series of Poker bracelet winner Adam Friedman and his stack of 354,000 out in front. That is a single T500 chip ahead of Max Young, who led the 14 Day 1 survivors with 353,500.

Friedman, who hails from Ohio, has $2.2 million in lifetime earnings, which includes $269,037 for winning the 2012 WSOP Event #15: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo. Other highlights on his poker résumé include $235,390 for placing 43^rd in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, $200,440 for taking sixth in the 2014 WPT LA Poker Classic, and $147,940 for winning the 2006 Midwest Regional Poker Championships.

As far as the MSPT is concerned, Friedman, who often does commentary for our final tables, has eight cashes for $133,649, including three final tables. He’s placed third on two separate occasions – first at the Season 5 FireKeepers for $45,000 and at the start of Season 9 at JACK Cleveland Casino for $52,976. He also took fourth in the Season 7 Canterbury Park for $24,699.

Friedman doesn’t play a ton of tournaments – he prefers high-stakes mixed games – but he’ll do his best this weekend to capture a long-awaited MSPT title.

Others to bag big stacks were Tim Acker (282,500), Ian Sylvester (273,000), Svetlana Martie (256,000), and reigning champ Jason Beasley (240,000), who round out the top five.

The big stacks were joined by Dash Dudley (196,000), Phil Mader (195,500), Will Mietz (105,000), Daniel Lim (98,000), Michael McCloud (75,000), and the short-stacked Andreas Ramadanis (40,500).

Not everyone was able to bag today, however. This event’s defending champ Fred Garcia, as well as Keith Block, Joseph Michael, and Osama “Sammy” Aweida, who finished second, third, and fourth respectively at this event last year, all failed to find a bag.

Among others to fall short were “Big” Al Hedin, two-time MSPT champ Jeremy Dresch, last week’s MSPT Golden Gates $360 Regional champ Barry Faecher, MSPT Golden Gates Regional runner-ups Drew Schulz and Tom Bouziden, Illinois’ Cody Brinn, and Iowa’s Scotter Clark.

One flight remains for the Main Event. Day 1C will kick off at Noon local time on Saturday. Among those we expect to see in tomorrow’s final flight are Travis Northrope, Umut Ozturk, Ryan Dodson, and Season 6 MSPT Golden Gates champ Kane Lai.

We’ll be here every step of the way to capture all the action, so be sure to check back tomorrow for the final flight of MSPT Golden Gates!

The remaining players will play three more hands before bagging and tagging on Day 1B. Stay tuned for a list of chip counts and a recap of today’s action.

Jason Beasley raised to 9,000 from the lojack, and Svetlana Martie three-bet to 20,500 from the button. Brian Berthiaume then four-bet jammed for 45,000 from the big blind, which pushed Beasley from the hand, but Martie was waiting with a call.

Martie:
Berthiaume:

Berthiaume was looking for an ace, but only found a queen on the flop. The turn meant Berthiaume needed an ace or king to double, but the ended his day just a few minutes short of a bag.

Svetlana Martie - 260,000 (65 bb)
Brian Berthiaume - Busted

Out 5 mins Before bagging 3rd time doing that in 4 bullets.

— Brian Berthiaume (@BerthiaumeBrian) April 14, 2018

Jordan Turoff raised to 9,000 from the button and then snap-called off for roughly 60,000 when Scott Horvath jammed from the big blind.

Turoff:
Horvath:

Turoff was primed for a late night double and things looked good on the flop. However, disaster struck when the dealer burned and turned the to give Horvath a full house. The river was no help to Turoff and he hit the rail in the last level of the night.

Scott Horvath -160,000 (40 bb)
Jordan Turoff - Busted

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Tim Acker raised to 6,500 from the cutoff, and was called by Wayne Lee on the button and Daniel Lim in the big blind.

All three players checked a flop, and Lim checked the turn as well. Acker bet 7,000, and Lee put in a raise to 22,000. Lim folded, and Acker didn’t waste any time making the call.

The river was checked by both players, and Acker tabled for kings-up, and Lee mucked.

Tim Acker - 255,000 (85 bb)
Wayne Lee - 190,000 (63 bb)

Daniel Lim opened for 8,000 from the hijack and was met by an all-in three-bet to 24,500 by Travis Maly on the button. Both blinds folded and Lim called.

Lim:
Maly:

Maly had the better ace but there was a good chance of a flop. However, the flop gave Lim a flush draw. He wouldn’t get another spade, but the turn was just as good as it paired his deuce. The river changed nothing and Maly headed for the exit.

Daniel Lim - 145,000 (48 bb)
Travis Maly - Busted

Svetlana Martie raised to 7,500 from the cutoff and then called when Andrew Van Dervolgen three-bet all in for 35,000 from the big blind.

Van Dervolgen:
Martie:

Martie was out in front and stayed there as the board ran out .

Svetlana Martie - 135,000 (45 bb)
Andrew Van Dervolgen - Busted

Want to score an MSPT stocking cap for free?

If you’re playing either next weekend’s $1,100 buy-in 2018 MSPT South Dakota State Poker Championship, which will take place at Deadwood’s Silverado-Franklin Casino a week after that, then you will have a chance.

The first 100 players to register the Day 1A flight in that tournament will claim the limited-edition hat, which isn’t available for sale.

From April 20-22, we’ll head north for our first-ever visit to Deadwood, South Dakota. Day 1A will kick off at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 20.

Click here for a look at the full MSPT Deadwood schedule.