Day 1A of the MSPT Golden Gates Main Event attracted 113 runners to Black Hawk, Colorado. By the end of the night, just 14 remained with Oregon’s Max Young and his stack of 353,500 leading the way.
Young, a three-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner, is seeking his third MSPT cash. Back in November, he finished 45th in the MSPT here at Golden Gates for $2,203, and a week later he placed sixth in the 2017 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino for $26,460.
Others to bag big stacks were Aaron Frei (291,500), Matt Livingston (240,500), and Vincent Moscati (213,500).
They were joined by the likes of Griff Malatino (151,000), Chris Barrett (135,500), Stephen Zipprich (121,000), Jim Casement (83,000), Jason Vanstrom (69,000), and Danny Gonzalez (61,000).
Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to find a bag. Among those to try and fall were Iowa’s Scotter Clark, former MSPT Golden Gates Regional Champ Bobby Sanoubane, “Big” Al Hedin, MSPT Golden Gates Regional runner-ups Drew Schulz and Tom Bouziden, Minnesota’s Brian Berthiauem, Illinois’ Cody Brinn, former champ Kane Lai, and World Series of Poker bracelet winner Adam Friedman.
Two flights still remain for the Main Event. Day 1B will kick off at Noon local time on Friday, and 1C at the same time on Saturday. Among those we expect to see in upcoming action are Travis Northrope, Umut Ozturk, former champ Fred Garcia, and Bobby Faecher, who last weekend won the MSPT Golden Gates Regional Event for $31,381.
We’ll be here every step of the way to capture all the action, so be sure to check back throughout the weekend.