For the eighth time, the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) has partnered with Silverado-Franklin Casino for the 2023 MSPT Deadwood Shootout, and the first of two starting flights closed with 160 total entries.

A full 15 levels were played to completion as just 19 players bagged and tagged with Steve Chastain leading the pack with 541,000. Chastain steadily built a stack throughout the day but got on a late-night heater to be the only player to bag north of 500k.

Minnesota native Tom Hammers was able to win a race late to put 382,000 on his slip to end the night which was good enough for second in chips while Dave Ouellette (325,000), Michael Estes (310,000), and Mark Ihringer (305,000) all bagged over 300k and round out the top five stacks.

Others to punch their tickets into Day 2 include Mikiyo Akoi (271,000), defending MSPT South Dakota State champ John Schroer (247,000), Dennis Stevermer (194,000), and DJ Buckley (119,000).

Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to make it through the night. Among those to fire and fall in Friday’s flight were MSPT Hall of Famer’s Aaron Johnson & Matt Kirby, MSPT champ Alan Curl, Billy Etherington, and Lawrence Vigil.

Day 1b will get underway at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 12 (approximately 11:40 p.m.).

The MSPT.com live reporting crew will be on hand to capture all the action, so be sure to join us then.

2023 MSPT Deadwood Shootout Remaining Schedule