Canterbury Park

Day 1b of the Mid-States Poker Tour Season 7 finale at Canterbury Park officially drew 251 runners, which along with Day 1a’s 213 brings the total field up to 464 entrants. That has created a $464,000 total prize pool -- more than double the advertised guarantee -- and will see the top 45 players get paid a minimum of $2,243 with the eventual winner walking away with a $107,659 first-place prize.

After 14 levels of play, just 41 remained with Richard Stevens, who is seeking his first MSPT cash, and his stack of 314,000 leading the way. That is a bit behind the 363,000 of Day 1a chip leader Jim Boone, who will lead the surviving 78 players (37 from Day 1a + 41 1b) when they return at 11 a.m. local time on Sunday to play down to a winner.

Others who advanced from Day 1b were Zeph Baer (286,500), Thomas Dean (280,000), Erick Wright (216,500), Yao “YY” Yin (211,000), Chan Pelton (155,000), Kou Vang (115,000), Minnesota Poker Hall of Famer Mike Schneider (58,500), and married couple Sherry and Tom Hammers, who bagged 46,000 and 28,000 respectively.

The big story of the day was the MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year race. Rich Alsup, who currently sits second on the leaderboard, bagged on Day 1a, so the pressure was on current leader Carl Carodenuto, who has also won the last two MSPT Main Events here at Canterbury Park, and John Sun, who sat in third 500 points behind the leader. Unfortunately, neither player was able to survive the night.

That means all Alsup needs to do to become the MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year is finish in 27^th place or better. He’s got the chips and skill to do it. Plus, he’d no doubt like redemption from last season when he finished second to Mark Hodge in the POY race. Obviously Alsup is a MSPT beast!

Among those who fired on Day 1b but failed to advance to Day 2 were EPT Copenhagen champ Tim Vance, four-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner Daniel Lowery, MSPT Pros Blake Bohn and Matt Alexander, and former MSPT champs Erv Bjerga, Joe Matheson, and Luke Arora, just to name a few.

Once again, cards will be back in the air at 11:00 a.m. for Sunday’s Day 2. You can join us then for our continuing coverage of the MSPT Season 7 finale at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota!

Richard Stevens 314,000
Zephaniah Baer 286,500
Thomas Dean 280,000
Samuel Rubin 240,000
Paul Skjerseth 239,500
Erick Wright 216,500
Todd Fisher 212,000
Yao Yin 211,000
Andrzej Rogowski 172,500
Derrick Findley 170,000
Wayne Layne 160,500
Chan Pelton 155,000
Chuck Costanzo 151,000
Michael O’Brien 150,500
Jason Bender 147,000
Quon Tran 135,000
Russell Spaid 127,500
Krishna Miranda 120,500
Kou Vang 115,000
David Albrecht 114,000
Bill Romer 111,000
Michael Lang 98,500
Loki Abboud 98,000
Matthew Morfitt 87,000
Colin Anderson 80,000
Scott Moses 79,000
Matthew Andrews 71,000
Gregory Kokoschke 68,000
Brent Strittmater 68,000
Scotter Clark 67,000
Ken Pates 59,500
Alan Jeevanathan 59,000
Mike Schneider 58,500
Christopher Chamberlain 53,000
Dan Hendrickson 52,500
Sherry Hammers 46,000
Thomas Walberer 45,000
Max Havlish 42,500
Kenith Cary 28,500
Tom Hammers 28,000
Frank Finley 26,500

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play two more hands before bagging and tagging. Stay tuned for a recap of the Day 1b action, a full list of chip counts, and the Day 2 seat draw.

Last December, Carl Carodenuto won this very event. In April, he returned to defend his title, and then last month he won the MSPT Golden Gates to become the tour’s first three-time champ. Because his first win came in Season 6, Carodenuto only gets credit for the two wins in the Season 7 Player of the Year race, which he currently leads over his good friend Rich Alsup by 100 points.

That means all Alsup, who advanced from Day 1a with a decent stack, needs to do is finish 27th or better to become the MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year!

Carodenuto’s night came to an end at the hands of Jason Bender, who ironically held the lead in the POY race at the beginning of the year.

It happened on a flop when Carodenuto checked and Bender bet 12,000 holding . Another player in the hand folded, Carodenuto check-raised all in for roughly 50,000, and Bender called.

The turn was safe, but then a spiked on the river to give Bender a straight.

With that, Carodenuto’s remarkable season and run at Canterbury Park came to an end. Now, he’ll have to wait and see Alsup’s fate on Day 2. It will be interesting.

Jason Bender - 150,000
Carl Carodenuto - Busted

MSPT Season 5 Running Aces champ Mark Sandness moved all in preflop for 39,000 and both Richard Stevens and Ryan Vogt called.

The flop saw Stevens check and Vogt jam for 80,000. Stevens called and all three hands were tabled.

Stevens:
Vogt:
Sandness:

A jack on the turn sealed it for Stevens and he sent two opponents to the rail while chipping up to over 400,000, which is an extremely rare feat for an opening flight of the MSPT.

Richard Stevens - 430,000

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After Quon Tran opened for 5,600 from the hijack, former MSPT Running Aces runner-up Dennis Stevermer three-bet all in for 27,300 from the cutoff. The button and blinds all folded, and Tran thought for a bit before making the call.

“Good call,” Stevermer said even before seeing the cards.

Tran:
Stevermer:

It was about the best Stevermer could hope for as he was flipping for his tournament life. Well, that was until the flop gave Tran a set. The turn meant Stevermer could double with a seven on the river, but the “seven from heaven” did not appear as the bricked instead.

Quon Tran - 90,000
Dennis Stevermer - Busted

Chris Chamberlain raised to 6,200 under the gun and was met by a three-bet to 18,000 by Mark Sandness in middle position. Action folded back to Chamberlain and he moved all in for 25,400, which Sandness called.

Sandness:
Chamberlain:

Chamberlain was looking to dodge an ace or some other unlucky combination of cards, and he successfully did so as the board ran out .

Chris Chamberlain - 53,000
Mark Sandness - 50,000

A short-stacked Whitney Bell moved in for his last 5,000 and Mark Sandness called from the button. Chuck Costanzo came along from the big blind and then he led out for 6,000 on the flop. Sandness called, the appeared on the turn, and Costanzo checked.

Sandness bet 10,000, Costanzo quickly called, and the completed the board on the river. Costanzo returned to betting, this time tossing out 20,000, and a seemingly frustrated Sandness made the call. At that point, all three hands were tabled.

Costanzo:
Sandness:
Bell:

Costanzo got lucky to river a straight, and he took down both pots while sending Bell to the rail.

Chuck Costanzo - 155,000
Mark Sandness - 75,000
Whitney Bell - Busted

The remaining 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 1b.