The MSPT’s Return to Chicagoland kicked off Thursday with the first of two starting flights in the $1,100 buy-in, $200K GTD MSPT Majestic Star Casino. Day 1A brought 135 entries to Majestic Star, well on the way to crushing the guarantee, and after 15 levels of play only 18 remained with Fargo, North Dakota native Barry Schmiess and his stack of 343,000 in command. Schmiess boasts over $150,000 in career tournament earnings according to Hendon Mob, and a career-best cash of $53,247 in the 2017 WSOP Main Event. Schmiess will be looking for his third career MSPT cash.

More big stacks include Jason Mangold (303,000), Matt Weller (295,000), Chad Wiedenhoeft (256,000), and PokerNews Reporter Mo Nuwwarah (214,500). Some other players to find a bag include Bryan Skreens (179,000), former WPT Five Diamond champ Ravi Raghavan (129,500), Mike Shin (68,000), and Michael VanderWoude (50,000).

Some of those unfortunate enough to fall short of bagging include former MSPT Michigan State Poker champ Mike Shanahan, former MSPT Meskwaki champ Taylor Howard, ten-time WSOP Circuit Ring winner Josh Reichard, Season 10 MSPT Cleveland Poker Open final tablist John Mingus, two-time MSPT champ Andy Rubinberg, former MSPT Iowa State Poker champ Carter Myers, Gary Herstein, and Michigan’s Steve Anderson, who fell in one of the last hands of the night to Weller.

Those players, as well as any newcomers, have one more chance to jump back in action. Day 1B will kick off at 3pm local time on Saturday, and the surviving players from each flight will then return at 11 a.m. on Sunday to play down to a winner. Some of those expected to try their luck at taking down an MSPT title include Colorado’s Ryan Dodson, former MSPT Majestic Star champ Ken Baime, and local legend Howard Hankin.

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