Day 1a of the Mid-States Poker Tour Canterbury Park Main Event attracted 184 entries, which nearly met the advertised $200,000 guarantee in the first of two starting flights. After 14 levels of play, just 39 players remained with World Series of Poker bracelet winner Adam Friedman and his stack of 184,500 leading the way.
Adam Friedman
Friedman, who is visiting the Twin Cities for the first time after making the trip up from his home in Ohio, has $1,789,582 in lifetime cashes, which includes $269,037 for winning the 2012 WSOP Event #15: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo after defeating Todd Brunson in heads-up play.
Others who bagged and tagged were defending champ Carl Carodenuto (162,000), two-time MSPT champ Johnny Hayes (135,500), and Minneapolis businessman and poker high roller John Morgan (110,500), MSPT Pro Blake Bohn (109,000), and Justin Thurlow (129,000).
Thurlow, who hails from Cottage Grove, Minnesota, has $145,471 in lifetime earnings and is looking for his fourth MSPT cash. His first-ever came in July of last year when he finished runner-up to the aforementioned Bohn at the MSPT Meskwaki, which was good for $58,442. Thurlow then placed 16th here at Canterbury back in December, which earned him an additional $3,590, and most recently took 12th at the MSPT Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells back in February.
Of course not everyone was so lucky. Among those to fall on Day 1a were reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge, MSPT Running Aces champ Luke Arora, Minnesota Poker Hall of Famer Mike Schneider, and MSPT Potawatomi champ Travis Lauson, who is also out in front in the MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year race.
Lauson fell in Level 11 (600/1,200/200) when he moved all in for his last 25,000 with ace-seven and Peixin Liu, a two-time MSPT champ and the tour's all-time money winner, called him with pocket eights. Liu flopped eights full of sixes and that was all she wrote for Lauson. Liu went on to bag 110,000.
Those who fell on Day 1a will have the opportunity to try again tomorrow, as Day 1b will kick off at 4 p.m. local time. The MSPT Live Blog will capture all the action, so be sure to check back then.