FireKeepers Casino

Day 1B of the MSPT FireKeepers Main Event turned out to be a second straight record-setting affair, as a whopping 582 players hit the felt, bringing the two-day total to 916 after adding Day 1A’s 334 entrants. With the previous record of 1,287 entrants looking to be smashed tomorrow, the question isn’t if the bar will be cleared, it’s how much it’ll be cleared by.

After fifteen levels of play, just 72 remained, with Irbrahim Shoubah and his monster 526,000 stack leading the way. Shoubah cashed in the Season 9 MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship here at FireKeepers in November, finishing in 96th place. With a stack over three times the average, he’ll be setting his sights much higher for Day 2 this time around. Rounding out the top five include Marc Steingold (412,000), Santosh-Kumar Gattagoni (410,500), Matthew Ploof (342,000), and Joshua Marvin (317,500).

Others bagging up for Day 2 include Season 10 MSPT Golden Gates champ Brian Hou (308,000), Craig Casino (250,500), last week’s HPT Ameristar champ Chris Moon (190,500), James Wilson (188,500), Cy Church (175,000), 2018 WSOP Main Event Final Tablist Nicolas Manion (161,000), MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang (158,500), Cooper Wanty (144,500), Dustin Smith (136,000), #MSPT100 champ Jason Ramos (82,000), WSOP Colossus II champ Ben Keeline (76,000), Nick Davidson (69,000), and Season 9 MSPT JACK Cleveland champ Abdul Amer (39,500).

Not everyone was fortunate enough to make it through. Some of those unable to secure a bag include 2009 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada, MSPT POY’s Chris Meyers and Aaron Johnson, former MSPT FireKeepers champs Mike Shanahan, Jason Zarlenga, Aaron Massey and Tom Midena, and former MSPT champs Mike Shin, Rodger Johnson, Satish Thakur, Jeremy Dresch, Andy Rubinberg, Matt Kirby, and Keith Heine, as well as former MSPT FireKeepers final tablists Justin Lee, Aaron Soulliere, and Bryant Miller.

Day 1C kicks off tomorrow at Noon, and registration is currently open for the final flight. Survivors from the Day 1 flights will reconvene on Sunday, May 19th at 11 AM local time and play down to a champion. Be sure to tune in to the blog for all the action straight from the tournament floor!

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

Loyal Melton got his all in hand with 7,500 left in chips. Players folded around to David Blickenstaff, in the big blind, who made the call.

Melton:
Blickenstaff:

Melton got a comfortable flop with

Inconveniently, the board ran cold for Melton and went on fire for Blickenstaff when the turn and river came out .

Melton gave Blickenstaff his blessing before evacuating the room.

David Blickenstaff - 40,000 (10 BB)

Recent MSPT Main Event Champion Brian Hou raised to 8,000 from middle position and was quickly called by the cutoff and Alec Magdan from the big blind.

Action checked through on a flop, and again on a turn card.

The river brought a which prompted Brian to ask “Does anybody want it?” Alec Magdan took him up on his offer and lead out for 12,500 getting both players to fold and adding on to his already monster stack.

Alec Magdan- 350,000 (87.5 bb)

On the turn of a board, Frank Lagodich bet 7,000 from the small blind into a pot of around 30,000. Craig Casino called from UTG+1, and the player next to act folded.

The fell on the river, and Lagodich bet 47,000, two-thirds of his remaining stack. Casino thought for a moment, then called. Lagodich flung his up on the felt, and Casino showed the winner with his .

Craig Casino - 300,000 (75 bb)
Frank Lagodich - 25,000 (6 bb)

Wayne Smith put his 40,500 chip stack to the test when he shoved all in. He was getting optimistic when nearly everyone folded and he almost snatched up the blinds. Santhosh-Kumar Gattagoni put that to an end after he took a moment to glance at his hand, he called with no hesitation.

Smith:
Gattagoni:

Smith was highly disappointed to see a higher pocket pair, still staying optimistic.

The board played out

Both players with a boat, but Gattagoni stayed dominant and Smith left the room.

Santhosh-Kumar Gattagoni - 340,000 113 BB
Wayne Smith - Busted

Day 1B of MSPT @FireKeepers ends with 582 entrants, giving us 916 entrants already, with one more flight set to kick off tomorrow at noon. Just how high will this prize pool get?#canyoufeelit pic.twitter.com/xKNWOvbCfa

— MSPT (@msptpoker) May 18, 2019

Four players went to a flop after making a call of 7,000 to see the .

The UTG+1 bet out another 7,000, getting a call from both Jordan Young and Josh Jetton

The turn came a and the action started to get spicy. It got checked around to Young who took his time to think of the right bet of 23,000. Jetton then made his move with a check-raise all in for 99,500. UTG+1 quickly got out of the way. Young tanked for moment and asked for a chip count before he shoved in his stack.

Jetton:

Young:

Jetton was in desperate need of a club, while Young prayed his hand held. Unfortunately for Young, the river came the and Jetton celebrates.

Jordan Young - 77,000 (25 BB)

Josh Jetton - 260,000 (86 BB)

Jason Trezak raised to 7,000 from the cutoff, and was called by the small blind, as well as Kou Vang in the big blind.

Action checked to Trezak on the flop, and he bet 10,000. Only Vang called.

Vang checked the turn, and Trezak bet 25,000. Vang folded.

Jason Trezak - 130,000 (43 bb)
Kou Vang - 115,000 (38 bb)