Meskwaki Casino

Day 1A of the 2017 MSPT Iowa State Poker Championship at Meskwaki Casino attracted 226 entrants. That’s a venue record for largest first starting flight in 17 visits to the property and puts us on pace to surpass the 466 entries – the largest MSPT Meskwaki ever – from the #MSPT100 earlier this year.

After 14 levels of play, just 43 players remained with Allan “Big Al” Hedin and his stack of 277,500 leading the way. Hedin, who placed 172^nd in the 2016 MSPT Venetian for $3,112, is seeking his second MSPT cash. He has $225,694 in lifetime poker earnings.

Others that bagged big stacks were Joseph Finocchiaro (198,500), Reg Powell (194,500), Jay Philips (184,500 – pictured above), Carter Myers (174,500), and Kathy Hartwick (168,500).

Others who survived the night were Rob Wazwaz (162,000), MSPT Season 7 Meskwaki champ Ken Komberec (149,500), Joe Barnard (106,500), MSPT Season 4 Ho-Chunk champ Josh Reichard (102,500), MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup (74,500), Dustin Dirksen (67,000), and MSPT Season 6 Canterbury Park champ Dan “DQ” Hendrickson (50,000).

Of course not everyone was so fortunate. Among those to hit the rail on Friday were former MSPT champs Daniel Bekavac, Andy Rubinberg Keith Heine, Kou Vang, Blake Bohn, Luke Arora, and Jason Ramos, who won the aforementioned #MSPT100. All of those players and any newcomers will have a chance to try again on Saturday if they so choose.

Day 1B will get underway at 4 p.m. CDT on Saturday with the plan of playing 14 levels. As always, the MSPT crew will be on location to bring you all the latest and greatest straight from the tournament floor.

Players will be playing two more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. Stay tuned for final chip counts and a recap of today’s action shortly.

John Sun opened the action in middle-position for 5,000, getting calls from Joe Finocchiaro in the hijack and the small blind before Josh Reichard three-bet to 25,000. Sun called, Finocchiaro shrugged then called, and the small blind tanked for a bit before calling as well, creating a six-figure pot preflop.

The flop came , and the small blind quickly went all in for his last 9,000. Reichard folded, Sun announced a call, then Finocchiaro snap-jammed for 40,000 and Sun snap-called, creating a 200,000 pot.

Sun:
Finocchiaro:
Small Blind:

Finocchiaro had the best of it with top pair, but had to fade a lot of outs between Sun and the small blind. The and changed nothing, however, and Finocchiaro scooped a mammoth pot in the closing minutes of Day 1A.

Joe Finocchiaro – 200,000
Josh Reichard – 100,000
John Sun – 50,000

Drew Schulz, who has been on the comeback trail, raised to 8,000 under the gun only to have MSPT Season 7 Running Aces champ Luke Arora three-bet all in for 32,800 from the small blind. Schulz thought long and hand before making the call.

Arora:
Schulz:

The flop gave Schulz top two pair, but it also gave Arora a gutshot to a ten. The turn wasn’t what he was looking for and neither was the river.

Meanwhile, Blake Battaglia has also been eliminated from the tournament.

Drew Schulz - 75,000
Luke Arora - Busted
Blake Battaglia - Busted

After MSPT Season 7 Running Aces champ Luke Arora raised to 4,200 from middle position, MSPT Season 8 Golden Gates Regional runner-up Drew Schulz raised all in for 7,800 from the cutoff. Blake Battaglia then jammed all in over the top from the big blind for 30,400 and Arora thought long and hard before making the call.

Schulz:
Arora:
Battaglia:

It was a great spot for Schulz as his two opponents were sharing cards. Schulz was just looking to hold to get back in contention, and he did after the board ran out a safe .

Drew Schulz - 25,500

Josh Reichard called the all-in shove of Jason Ramos for 56,500 chips, which represented the majority of his stack.

Reichard:
Ramos:

There were a few surprised looks upon seeing the hands tabled, but no surprises came on the flop, and when the and finished the board, Reichard, the Season 4 Ho-Chunk Champion, claimed all of #MSPT100 Champion Jason Ramos’ chips.

Josh Reichard – 125,000
Jason Ramos – Busted

Action folded to Rob Wazwaz on the button and he raised to 4,000, which prompted Blake Battaglia to jam for 15,600 from the big blind.

“The only reason I’m calling you is because I saw a guy win $8 million with this hand,” Wazwaz said, referencing the hand Scott Blumstein used last weekend to win the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Wazwaz:
Battaglia:

Battaglia was looking to dodge an ace, and that’s just what he did as the board ran out a safe .

Rob Wazwaz - 145,000
Blake Battaglia - 34,000