Ameristar Casino St. Charles

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 17 $1,110 Missouri Poker State Championship at the Ameristar Casino has come to a close after seeing 43 entrants kick things off.

Almost a full day of action was played to completion, with the hard stop of five players being reached with 38:15 remaining in Level 15.

The final levels were full of action, which saw MSPT Champ Charlie Dawson secure one of the largest pots with a set of queens, which propelled him to the top of the chip counts with 458,000.

Closing the night second in chips was Season 16 Player of the Year Jake Long, who secured the final elimination of MSPT Champ Anthony Kastelic to take 401,000 into Sunday’s Day 2.

Following behind Long was Mark Lafata, who put 247,000 in his bag to end the night, while David Short (77,000) and Matthew Spiker (71,000) were the only others to find a Day 2 berth.

Among those to try and fall on Day 1a included Event #1 winner Thomas Hannan, Cory Bogert, Ryan Tepen, Steven Dill, and Joseph Herboth, just to name a few.

Those players, as well as any newcomers, have two more starting flights to jump back into action.

Day 1b will kick off at 2:00 p.m. local time on Friday, March 27^th, while the third and final flight, Day 1c, will take place at the same time on Saturday, March 28^th.

The surviving players from each flight will then return at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday to play down to a winner.

Join us tomorrow as we continue to bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor at Ameristar Casino!

MSPT Season 17 Missouri Poker State Championship Remaining Schedule

Make sure to stay tuned here to find out who makes it through to Sunday’s Day 2!

Photo: Jake Long

MSPT Champ Anthony Kastelic tossed out his last 41,000 from the button, and Season 16 Player of the Year Jake Long looked down at his cards from the big blind, shrugged his shoulders, and tossed out a call.

Anthony Kastelic:
Jake Long:

Kastelic was ahead holding an ace, but the flop gave Long top pair to take the lead.

The then paired the board on the turn, leaving Kastelic needing an ace on the river to stay alive, but the completed the board and ended his night on the bubble.

Jake Long - 401,000
Anthony Kastelic - 0

Photo: Charlie Dawson

MSPT Champ Charlie Dawson raised under the gun, and Matt Spiker defended his big blind to see a flop.

Spiker check-called a continuation bet from Dawson, bringing about the turn.

This time, Spiker check-raised to 70,000 after Dawson fired out a 20,000 bet, and Dawson called to see the complete the board on the river.

Spiker then led out with a 85,000 bet, and Dawson looked him up.

was then tabled by Spiker, showing a set of eights, but it was no good, as Dawson rolled over for a set of ladies to scoop the pot.

Charlie Dawson - 471,000
Matt Spiker - 130,000

Over the past week, players have been inside the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, MO, duking it out for their MSPT Season 17 Missouri Poker State Championship!

In Event #5: $300 Pot-Limit Omaha, 125 four-card specialists took to the tables, generating a $30,625 prize pool that was paid out to the top 15 players.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Chad Buzinski (10^th Place - $628), David Kowalski (11^th Place - $628), MSPT Champ Chris Audrain (12^th Place - $628), Satar Al-Sadoun (13^th Place - $483), Austin Schaal (14^th Place - $483), and Robert Keeling (15^th Place - $483)

Walking away the victor was St. Louis native Mike Estes, who secured the outright win to go along with his first Gold Card!

Final Table Results

Photo: Mark Lafata

There was all in action preflop between Mark Lafata from late position and MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard from the cutoff, with Reichard holding the effective stack.

Josh Reichard:
Mark Lafata:

Reichard rolled over the inferior made hand and wasn’t able to find a lucky seven on the runout, ending his night.

Mark Lafata - 267,000
Josh Reichard - 0

Photo: Charlie Dawson

MSPT Champ Charlie Dawson raised from middle position and then called Cory Bogert’s three-bet jam from the big blind.

Cory Bogert:
Charlie Dawson:

Bogert rolled over a dominated hand, and the runout ended his night.

Charlie Dawson - 298,000
Cory Bogert - 0

Level 13 has started, meaning registration for Day 1a of the MSPT Season 17 $1,110 Missouri Poker Championship at the Ameristar Casino is officially closed.

The first starting flight tallied 43 runners, and the plan is to play until 11% of the field (rounded up to 5 players) is reached, with the tournament clock showing 9 players remaining.

Photo: Cory Bogert

Dino Galic tossed out his last 25,000 from the hijack, and Cory Bogert went over the top from the small blind, giving him isolation.

Dino Galic:
Cory Bogert:

Galic was behind holding a live suited connecting hand, but the flop put him in a deep hole after it gave Bogert top two pair.

The turn then stuck a dagger in Galic, as he was left drawing dead to the river.

Cory Bogert - 72,000
Dino Galic - 0