FireKeepers Casino

The first of three starting flights at the Season 10 MSPT FireKeepers Main Event drew 334 entries, smashing the previous record of 299 from October’s Day 1A for the largest Day 1A flight in venue history! With two more flights to go – 1B and 1C will begin at Noon local time on Friday and Saturday respectively - the $1,000,000 Guarantee is on pace to be crushed, and the previous record field of 1,281 now looks like it may be in danger of being surpassed as well!

After 15 levels of play, just 39 remained, with George Janssen and his 462,500 stack leading the way, just 1,000 ahead of Leland Ropp’s 461,500 in second place. Janssen, who has two prior cashes at MSPT FireKeepers Main Events, will be looking for a much deeper run with his big stack to aid his quest. The rest of the top five includes Season 4 POY Pat Steele (325,000), Brandon Casto (314,500), and Chad Bienz (314,000).

Others who found a bag include Patrick Bernhardt (266,500), Casey Carroll (173,500), three-time MSPT champ Blake Bohn (167,000), Ian Matakis (106,000), and Santa Zawaideh (53,000).

Some of those unfortunate enough to fall short of the end of the day include Season 9 MSPT POY Aaron Johnson, MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang, two-time MSPT champs Dan Bekavac and Jeremy Dresch, former MSPT FireKeepers champs Brett Blackwood and Tom Midena, WSOP Colossus II champ Ben Keeline, and Michigan’s Henry Zou, Derrick Brown, Bruce “The Hammer” Swart, Isaac Kratchman, Michael Dies and Randy Bullen.

Day 1B will kick off at Noon local time on Friday, May 16th. As usual, we’ll be there the entire time to capture all the action straight from the tournament floor, so be sure to join us then.

Action started when Josh Marvin raised to 10,000 pre-flop from the hi-jack. It folded around to Jim Courtney in the big blind, who elected to defend.

The dealer spreads , and Marvin c-bets 13,000.

Jim asked the dealer how much, and then called the bet.

The dealer pulled the bets in and turned the .

Courtney then decided to lead out for 20,000

Marvin checked his whole cards and moved all in for his last 87,500.

Courtney said “Oh man, I gotta double you up now?” Then asked the dealer to count it down.

Courtney tanked for a full minute, and then called off.

Marvin:

Courtney:

“What took you so long Jimmy?” Marvin asked.

“I needed to make sure you didn’t make broadway with AQ.”

The river brought the , and Marvin headed for the rails, while Courtney raked in a late night monster to get over 300,000.

Courtney - 308,000 (77 BB)

The remaining field will play two more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. Stay tuned for a full recap of the day’s action.

James Miller jammed for 29,500 from UTG+1, and Craig Jackson made the call in the hijack.

Miller:
Jackson:

Miller failed to improve on the board, and he fell a few minutes short of a Day 2 bag.

Craig Jackson - 240,000 (60 bb)
James Miller - Busted

Action got folded around to Tyler Davila, who limped into the hand. Big blind, George Janssen, opened the option back up by raising to 13,000. Davila, taking a moment before he eventually shoved all in for 60,500. Janssen didn’t rush to make his decision before finally throwing a chip in the circle while saying “I hope you don’t have a big pair.”

Davila:

Janssen:

Janssen got reassurance that his read was right before the board ran dry for Davila as it showed

Davila said “Nice hand” as he turned to leave the tournament.

Janssen - 340,000 (113 BB)

Leland Ropp started off action with a 12,000 bet, getting Neil Strong, in late position, along with small blind, Patrick Bernhardt to make the call

Bernhardt chose to check dark, leaving Ropp open to a decision as the flop came out

Ropp exercised his check option while Strong bet 20,000, getting a caller from Bernhardt. Ropp took the check-raise to make it 80,000. Strong went all in for less. Bernhardt took his time as he tanked in confusion, eventually to fold his hand face up showing

Strong:

Ropp:

Strong missed all outs with the turn and river being

Bernhardt slapping himself for folding the winning hand while Strong gets eliminated.

Leland Ropp: 350,000 (116 BB)

Patrick Bernhardt: 190,000 (63 BB)

Neil Strong: Busted

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Jake Baumgartner got his last 30,000 in with versus the of Ian Matakis. The board ran out and Jake headed for the door. We are sure to see more of him tomorrow.

Matakis - 110,000 (44 BB)

Joel Tasman from Grand Rapids opened to 5,500 from UTG. It folded around to the small blind, who re-raised to 18,000. Tasman elected to flat with and we headed to the flop.

Flop:

The small blind open shoved, and Tasman snapped it off. The small blind showed and the board ran out . Tasman put the smile on while he raked in a huge double

Tasman - 140,000 (56 BB)