Potawatomi Casino

Day 1B of the 2017 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship, which for the first time is being held at Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, drew 390 runners, which along with 1A’s 311 entries brought the total field up to 701 entries.

That surpassed February’s 677 entries from the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event to become the largest major poker tournament ($1,000+ buy-in) in Wisconsin history. It also made it the largest MSPT Potawatomi in history surpassing the previous record of 635 entries set back in the Spring of 2016.

The large turnout means the top 72 players will get paid a minimum of $2,239, while the eventual winner will walk away with a $139,086 first-place prize.

After 14 levels of play on Saturday, the field was whittled down to 71 players with Adam Dembowski and his stack of 437,500 leading the way. That is a good bit ahead of Day 1A chip leader Jill Bryant, who made it through with 339,000.

Dembowski has two tour cashes on his poker résumé. Back in April 2015, he placed 38^th in the MSPT Potawatomi for $2,704, and last season he took 102^nd in one of our $350 Regional Events for $678.Dembowski is also fresh off winning his first WSOP Circuit gold ring, which he did at Horseshoe Hammond back in October.

Others to bad and tag on 1B were Adam Westell (374,500), Nik Stone (190,500), MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup (181,000), Rob Wazwaz (153,500), reigning MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champ Andy Rubinberg (126,500), MSPT Season 6 Player of the Year Mark Hodge (67,500), 2016 MSPT Michigan State Poker Champion Brett Blackwood (47,500), and inaugural MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champ Ben Wiora (47,000).

Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to survive the night. Among those to try and fall were reigning MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champion Andy Rubinberg, WSOP bracelet winner John Reading, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, MSPT Season 4 Player of the Year Pat Steele, #MSPT100 winner Jason Ramos, and two-time champ MSPT Jeremy Dresch, and Keith Heine, who currently sits second on the Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year Leaderboard.

The surviving 125 players from the two starting flights (71 players from 1B, 54 from 1A) will return at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Day 2 will play down to a winner, and of course we’ll be there to capture all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor. Be sure to join us then!

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play four more hands before bagging and tagging on Day 1B. Stay tuned for a list of chip counts, a recap of the day’s action, and the Day 2 seat draw.

Garrett Riley got his stack of 29,000 all in preflop and was in prime position to double through HPT champ Casey Carroll.

Carroll:
Riley:

Carroll needed some help, but he came up empty as the board ran out a dry .

Carroll was left with 3,400 after the hand, but those chips disappeared a short time later.

Garrett Riley - 60,000 (25 bb)
Casey Carroll - Busted

Rick Syverud raised to 5,000 from early-position, and was three-bet to 13,500 by Adam Dembowski in middle-position. John Schroeder pumped things up with a four-bet to 28,500, which was enough to get Syverud out of the way, but Dembowski made the call.

The flop saw Schroeder tank for about a minute before betting 30,500. Dembowski thought briefly, then softly said, “All in,” which was snapped off by Schroeder.

Dembowski:
Schroeder:

Dembowski flopped top pair, but ran smack into Schroeder’s flopped Broadway straight.

The on the turn had someone say “Hearts!” and lo and behold, the spiked on the river to give Dembowski an unlikely flush and a miracle winner!

“F***!” Schroeder said as his tournament was ended. Demowski pumped his fist and said, “Yes!” as he jumped to over 350,000 as the end of Day 1B approaches.

Adam Demowski - 360,000 (180 bb)
John Schroeder - Busted

In the last hand of Level 13, Joseph Pusuteri four-bet all in for 38,900 and Daniel McGown, who had three-bet him, quickly made the call.

McGown:
Pusuteri:

Pusuteri was in a world of hurt, but as you’ve surely deduced from the title, he got lucky to stay alive after the board ran out .

Daniel McGown - 110,000 (55 bb)
Joseph Pusuteri - 80,000 (40 bb)

Tammi Endemann and John Rumishek ended up all-in on a flop, the former for her last 57,700.

“You have aces?” Rumishek asked Endemann, who shook her head.

Endemann:
Rumishek:

“That’s what I get for being tricky with kings,” he lamented.

The was of no consequence, and the actually improved Endemann to a full house, securing her a big double.

“Sorry, I like you...not the sweatshirt, but I like you.” Endemann said, referencing Rumishek’s Pittsburgh Steelers sweatshirt.

Tammi Endemann - 160,000 (80 bb)
John Rumishek - 40,000 (20 bb)

We missed the preflop action, but we do know that both Zach Graydon and Daniel Stickel got all in against Sorin Marinca.

Stickel:
Marinca:
Graydon:

Stickel got it in with the best hand, and it actually held after the board ran out a clean . With that, Stickel more than doubled while Graydon hit the rail.

Sorin Marinca - 84,000 (42 bb)
Daniel Stickel - 80,000 (40 bb)
Zachary Graydon - 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 1B.