Canterbury Park

It was a day of wild play, massive showdowns and stunning eliminations but when all was said and done Michael Esquivel won a huge pot at the end of the night to emerge as the top stack in Day 1B of the MSPT 157 Main Event at Canterbury Park.

Esquivel bagged 388,000 chips to lead the flight and take over the overall chip lead for the tournament. Andy Tran settled for second place finishing the evening with 251,000. Mark Hodge put away 214,500 to finish third followed by Blake Bohn with 213,500 in fourth and Joe Matheson rounded out the top five with 187,000. Other notables getting through the flight include Dan Favreau (170,000) and current Season 10 Player of the Year points leader Mike Shin (91,500).

Many of MSPT’s top players and champions could not find their way out of tonight’s flight including MSPT Hall of Famers Aaron Johnson, Kou Vang and Rich Alsup plus past MSPT Main Event winners Peixin Liu, Mark Sandness, James Gibson, Jonathan Kim, Ben Marsh, Josh Meyer, Matthew Kirby, Jason Sell, Dan “DQ” Hendrickson, Andrew Rubinberg, Rob Wazwaz and Jesse Rockowitz. Also missing out today were Reg Powell, Steve Wazwaz, DJ Buckley, Jon Hanner, Eric Eelkema, Mario Hudson and Umut Ozturk.

For Day 1B 164 entries were recorded and with the 109 entries from Day 1A, the tournament now stands at 273 total entries. 25 players navigated their way through tonight’s action and along with the 13 players who previously advanced, 38 players are now headed to Sunday with one more flight to go.

Day 1C will be the final starting flight of the tournament and kicks off Saturday at 12 PM Central. We’ll have full coverage for you right here on msptpoker.com throughout the day. Everyone who advances from the three starting flights will be back in action on Sunday at 11 AM to play for the title. We will also have the live stream of the final table broadcast on twitch.tv/msptpoker.

Congratulations to everyone who advanced to Day 2 and we’ll see you back here tomorrow at noon!

Last night, Day 1A reached its ultimate end with 17 minutes remaining before the clock would have run out on Level 15. So with 27 minutes remaining today, the final number of hands was determined. By a random draw, it was decided that 3 more hands would be played.

And on the third hand, Michael Esquivel reached a massive 380,000 total.

Robert Michener and Michael Esquivel were the competitors, both of whom had hefty stacks. Michener raised first from early position, but then Esquivel raised to 22,000 from the button, and Michener asked to hear the official raise number. Esquival did not respond in any way, causing a bit of a slowdown as Michener had to ask the dealer for assistance. Regardless, Michener called and action went to the flop.

Michener checked, Esquivel wagered 20,000, and Michener called.

Michener checked, Esquivel bet 40,000, and Michener called.

Once more Michener checked. Esquival shipped his remaining 103,000 into the middle. After a brief think, Michener asked for an official count from the dealer. Once he verified the number, he called.

Esquivel:
Michener:

The monster final hand sent 380,000 in tournament chips towards Esquivel, rocket propelling him into the overall lead, while Michener will lose the lion’s share of his chips but still bag a Day 2 appearance with 34,000.

Joe Matheson raised to 10,500 from UTG+1 with blinds at 2k/4k/4k. He was called by Dilip Das and then re-raised to 35k by Nate Baum on the button. Matheson, with an additional 60k behind, debated his action before declaring, “All-in.” Das folded, but Baum made the call, having Matheson covered.

And a classic race ensued… Matheson tabled and was up against the of Baum. This time the over-cards won the race as the board completed giving Matheson the double right as the action nears and end at Day 1B. Matheson now has about 155,000 (39 bb).

Action folded around to Greg Rahn in the cut-off who went all-in for his final 32,500 (11 big blinds) with but he unfortunately ran into the held by Tony Hartmann in the big blind. Rahn was unable to hit and was eliminated as the board ran out . Hartmann added some important chips as the end of Day 1B approaches.

From the button, Peixin Liu raised to 5,500 and was re-raised to 16,500 by Andy Tran from the small blind. Liu made the call and the gentlemen saw the flop of .

Both players checked the flop bringing the on the turn. Tran led out 18k and was called by Liu.

On the river Tran checked to Liu who bet all-in. Liu had 68k which was more than the 60k that Tran had in his stack. After several moments of deliberation, including counting out his stack, Tran made the call.

Liu congratulated Tran, “Good call” as he tabled . Tran was excited about making the big call for his tournament life with .

Liu was left with 8k and eliminated shortly thereafter.

Tran soared up to nearly 200k (80 bb).

Robert Michener has quietly been putting together a heck of a run here in Day 1B.

This he was squaring off with Michael Esquivel on a board and faced a 20,000 chip bet from him. Michener responded with a raise to 45,000. Esquivel twirled around showing he was folding two pair and mucked his hand. Michener pulled in the pot and raised his chip count up to 239,500 as we close out Level 13 with 29 players still alive.

The action folded around to Randy Bullen on the button. Bullen raised all-in for 32,000 with and was called by the big blind of Andy Tran with .

The board ran out eliminating Bullen and adding to Tran’s stack, which is now about 190,000 (76 bb).

The eliminations are coming at such a rapid pace it’s getting harder and harder to keep up tonight.

This time it was Freddie West risking his remaining 65,000 chips against Dilip Das. Das led with against the of West. Things got even worse for West on the flop and the board ran out ending West’s run in Day 1B. Das goes to 205,000 chips and takes the flight down to 31 players as play continues this evening.

Former MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge and one of today’s regular chip leaders Andy Tran are both near the top of the overall leaderboard, seated next to one another at Table 3. In a recent hand Hodge picked up a nice pot from the Eau Claire native.

We cut to the action already in progress on the flop of , with a pot that has about 20,000 in it already and only the two contenders. Tran, first to act, checks to Hodge who bets 8,000 and Tran calls. The turn brings , and after both players choose to check that card the river brings . This elicits a 25,000 chip wager from Tran. Hodge mulls it over, verifying the bet size, before calling. Tran elects to muck his hand without showing, meaning Hodge need not show his hand either, and scoops the pot.

Hodge now has close to 200,000 in chips, while Tran, despite losing a hefty sum, maintains a six-digit stack as well.