$

Awarded to date

Grand Falls Casino

March 10 - 12, 2023

 
  • Level: 15
  • Blinds: 3000 / 5000
  • Ante: 5000
Scramble for the Top Spot Sees Dave Swenson Lead 27 Advancing Players
Created (3/11/2023 2:01:56 AM by Anthony Thompson)

The first day of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Grand Falls $1,110 Main Event drew 197 entries to kick things off, almost surpassing the tournament's $200,000 guaranteed prize pool with one flight still to go.

Plenty of big names made their way to Grand Falls Casino, creating a star-studded field with a room full of MSPT champs and Hall of Famers.

With chips flying and players dropping throughout the day, play slowed down after the final break and a full 15 levels were played until completion.

Once players put their chips into the bags, it was Dave Swenson leading the pack with 369,000, edging out Kevin Berthelsen (341,000), and Josh Fordyce (334,00) for the top spot.

Rounding out the top five stacks were Luke Hewitt (306,000) & Dalton Smith (289,000), while MSPT champ’s Aaron Johnson (241,000), Chris Burke (235,000), and Dan DQ Hendrickson (126,00), all found a Day 2 birth.

All who did not bag will have one more flight to try and do so, with that being held tomorrow Saturday, March 11th at 3 p.m. local time.

As usual, the live reporting team will be back at it then, so be sure to come back and see who else adds their name to Sunday's Day 2 roster.

  • Level: 15
  • Blinds: 3000 / 5000
  • Ante: 5000
End of Day 1A Chip Counts
Created (3/11/2023 1:58:16 AM by Anthony Thompson)

Player NameChip CountPreviousProgress
Dave Swenson369,000345,000
Kevin Berthelsen341,000315,000
Josh Fordyce334,000334,000
Luke Hewitt306,000404,000
Dalton Smith289,000289,000
Justin Gish257,000257,000
Aaron Johnson241,000155,000
Terry Williams241,000280,000
Chris Burke235,000245,000
Yi Klassen227,000216,000
Jeremy Ferguson225,000304,000
Robert Urbatsch194,000194,000
Dan Dykhouse163,000163,000
Scott Mahin145,000160,000
TJ Murphy130,000175,000
Dan DQ Hendrickson126,000213,000
Jay Goughnour116,000116,000
Zachary Nickolite106,000106,000
Daryl Oppelt99,000150,000
Dennis Stevermer97,00060,000
Andrew Weber82,000240,000
Rick Lutt80,00080,000
Brady Ellis74,00074,000
Jens Jensen62,00062,000
William Thompson53,00053,000
Wesley Cannon50,00059,000

  • Level: 15
  • Blinds: 3000 / 5000
  • Ante: 5000
Final Five Hands
Created (3/11/2023 1:33:05 AM by Anthony Thompson)

The tournament director has just announced the final five hands of the evening with 28 players remaining.

  • Level: 15
  • Blinds: 3000 / 5000
  • Ante: 5000
Klassen Flushes Swenson in Battle of the Blinds
Created (3/11/2023 1:29:01 AM by Anthony Thompson)

Action folded to Kitkat Klassen who limped-in from the small blind only to call a 15,000 raise from Dave Swenson in the big blind.

The flop was checked to the turn where Klassen led out for 10,000 and Swenson called to see the complete the board on the river.

Klassen continued with her aggression and fired out a 50,000 bet.

Swenson thought for a moment before calling only to muck his hand after seeing Klassen roll over to win the pot with a king-high flush.

Dave Swenson - 345,000
Kitkat Klassen - 216,000

  • Level: 15
  • Blinds: 3000 / 5000
  • Ante: 5000
Williams Takes from Hewitt
Created (3/11/2023 1:17:10 AM by Anthony Thompson)

Luke Hewitt raised to 15,000 from early position and was called by Kevin Berthelsen from the cutoff, along with Terry Williams from the big blind.

The flop was checked by all three players bringing the turn.

Williams check-called a 15,000 bet from Hewitt while Berthelsen folded, and the completed the board on the river.

With three hearts on a paired board, Williams opted to check-call a 20,000 and it turned out to be the right decision.

Hewitt rolled over for air while Williams tabled to win the pot.

Luke Hewitt - 404,000
Kevin Berthelsen - 315,000
Terry Williams - 280,000

  • Level: 14
  • Blinds: 2000 / 4000
  • Ante: 4000
Stevermer Doubles with Two Ladies
Created (3/11/2023 1:04:47 AM by Anthony Thompson)

The hijack opened for 17,000 and then called the 26,000 three-bet jam Dennis Stevermer made from the small blind.

Dennis Stevermer:
Opponent:

Stevermer was ahead holding two ladies and the runout secured his double-up.

Dennis Stevermer - 60,000

  • Level: 14
  • Blinds: 2000 / 4000
  • Ante: 4000
Case Ace Keeps Berthelsen's Main Event Alive
Created (3/11/2023 12:45:51 AM by Anthony Thompson)

Terry Williams raised to 11,000 from middle position only to have the player directly to his left three-bet to 27,000.

Action folded to Kevin Berthelsen who four-bet all in for 127,000 from the big blind and only Williams called.

Kevin Berthelsen:
Terry Williams:

“Oh, nice hand,” Williams said to Berthelsen as a pretty lady appeared in the window on the flop.

The turn was no help to Berthelsen as he needed a miracle on the river to stay alive.

Luckily for Berthelsen, the dealer answered his prayer by dropping the on the river to secure his double-up, and Berthelsen’s opponent who folded preflop let him know, that was the case ace as well.

Terry Williams - 370,000
Kevin Berthelsen - 282,000

  • Level: 14
  • Blinds: 2000 / 4000
  • Ante: 4000
Weber's Live Cards Prevail
Created (3/11/2023 12:32:12 AM by Anthony Thompson)

Andrew Weber raised to 14,000 from middle position and then called the 28,000 three-bet jam from the hijack.

Opponent:
Andrew Weber:

Weber was behind and the flop wasn’t a great one.

Luckily for Weber, the turn fell the to give him top pair, and the river secured him the elimination.

Andrew Weber - 240,000

  • Level: 13
  • Blinds: 2000 / 3000
  • Ante: 3000
Kings Hold Strong for Burke, Drops Wheeler
Created (3/11/2023 12:18:08 AM by Anthony Thompson)

MSPT Deadwood champ Chris Burke opened for 9,000 from early position only to have Alex Wheeler three-bet to 30,000 from the cutoff.

Action folded back to Burke who fired back with an all-in four-bet and Wheeler called off his 115,000 stack.

Alex Wheeler:
Chris Burke:

Wheeler didn’t like what he saw after the cards tabled but the flop did give him some life.

Unfortunately for Wheeler, both the turn and river were bricks, ending his Day 1A flight.

Chris Burke - 245,000
Alex Wheeler - 0

  • Level: 13
  • Blinds: 2000 / 3000
  • Ante: 3000
Hewitt Hits Three Outer to Drop One
Created (3/11/2023 12:06:43 AM by Anthony Thompson)

The button was all in for roughly 75,000 and Luke Hewitt looked them up from the small blind.

Opponent:
Luke Hewitt:

Hewitt was way behind until the flop paired his queen.

The turn and river were of no consequence to Hewitt’s hand as he eliminated his opponent.

Luke Hewitt - 180,000

 
 
Player Name
City
State
Country
Chips
Progress
MN 
369,000
24,000 
Omaha 
NE 
341,000
26,000 
IA 
334,000
 
IA 
306,000
98,000 
Omaha 
NE 
289,000
 
SD 
285,000
 
NE 
257,000
 
SD 
241,000
39,000 
Aaron Johnson  1x Champ  
MN 
241,000
86,000 
Chris Burke  1x Champ  
SD 
235,000
10,000 
Boone 
IA 
225,000
79,000 
Fargo 
ND 
194,000
 
SD 
163,000
 
SD 
145,000
15,000 
IA 
130,000
45,000 
DQ Dan Hendrickson  1x Champ  
MN 
126,000
87,000 
IA 
116,000
 
SD 
99,000
51,000 
MN 
97,000
37,000 
SD 
82,000
158,000 
Dallas 
SD 
80,000
 
 
 
74,000
 
MN 
62,000
 
Jason Seitz  1x Champ  
MN 
0
Busted 
 
 
0
Busted 
Max Havlish  1x Champ  
MN 
0
Busted 
Beau Wilshire  1x Champ  
KS 
0
Busted 
SD 
0
Busted 
Clive 
IA 
0
Busted 
Blake Bohn  4x Champ  
MN 
0
Busted 
Ervin Bjerga  1x Champ  
Motley 
MN 
0
Busted 
Rank
Player Name
City
State
Country
Amount
Points
1
IA 
$83,109 
1,500 
2
SD 
$51,376 
1,300 
3
SD 
$37,399 
1,200 
4
MN 
$27,577 
1,100 
5
MN 
$20,777 
1,000 
6
MN 
$15,866 
900 
7
Novi 
MI 
$12,466 
800 
8
IA 
$9,822 
700 
9
NE 
$7,178 
600 
10
ND 
$6,044 
500 
11
MN 
$6,044 
500 
12
IA 
$6,044 
500 
13
Omaha 
NE 
$4,911 
400 
14
Jack Do  
SD 
$4,911 
400 
15
SD 
$4,911 
400 
16
Omaha 
NE 
$4,155 
300 
17
IA 
$4,155 
300 
18
SD 
$4,155 
300 
19
Omaha 
NE 
$3,551 
200 
20
MN 
$3,551 
200 
21
Largo 
FL 
$3,551 
200 
22
MN 
$3,060 
150 
23
Fargo 
ND 
$3,060 
150 
24
MN 
$3,060 
150 
25
SD 
$2,644 
100 
26
IA 
$2,644 
100 
27
IA 
$2,644 
100 
28
SD 
$2,267 
75 
29
SD 
$2,267 
75 
30
Boone 
IA 
$2,267 
75 
31
SD 
$2,267 
75 
32
ND 
$2,267 
75 
33
SD 
$2,267 
75 
34
NE 
$2,267 
75 
35
MN 
$2,267 
75 
36
MN 
$2,267 
75 
37
SD 
$2,078 
50 
38
MN 
$2,078 
50 
39
MN 
$2,078 
50 
40
SD 
$2,078 
50 
41
MN 
$2,078 
50 
42
MN 
$2,078 
50 
43
ND 
$2,078 
50 
44
SD 
$2,078 
50 
45
SD 
$2,078 
50 
LEVEL INFO
Level
15
Blinds
3000 / 5000
Ante
5000
TOURNAMENT INFO
Entries
197
Players Remaining
27
Average Chip Stack
182,407
Total Chips
4,925,000
TOP 10 CHIP COUNT
RANK
PLAYER
CHIPS
369,000
341,000
334,000
306,000
289,000
285,000
257,000
241,000
241,000
10 
235,000
SEASON TOP 10 POY POINTS
RANK
PLAYER
POINTS
5,688
5,575
3,950
3,500
3,242
3,100
3,091
3,050
2,900
10 
2,850