Meskwaki Casino

MSPT Meskwaki Season 3 Champ Muneer Ahmed Leads 30 Day 1a Survivors

Day 1a of the Mid-States Poker Tour Meskwaki attracted 181 entries, but after 14 levels of play just 30 remained with Muneer Ahmed and his stack of 379,000 leading the way.

Ahmed is no stranger to Meskwaki as he won this very stop back in Season 3 for $89,184. Ahmed actually took a big hit late in the night after missing a flush draw, but once his table broke and he got a new seat, he caught fire, which included doubling his big stack holding pocket aces after an opponent shoved on him with nines.

Others who bagged up big stacks were Shawn "Reginald" Roberts (295,000), Josh Lyster (280,500), Josh Reichard (261,000), and Tom Frith (215,000), who round out the top five. Others who bagged, albeit with a bit less, were Todd "Odds" Haugen (205,000), Sherry Hammers (85,000), Scotter Clark (61,000), Rodger Johnson (50,000), and Jeff Bryan (34,500).

Unfortunately not everyone was so lucky. Among those to take a shot and miss on Day 1a were defending champ Rich Alsup, Rick Syverud, Thomas Peebels, John Reading, Nick Jivkov, Phil Mader, Dan "DQ" Hendrickson, Gerald Heckathorn, Phil Mader, Aaron Johnson, Allen Kessler, MSPT Team Pro Matt Alexander, and reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge.

Hodge fell in Level 8 when he was down to his last 10,00. Eight players limped to see a flop, and then three of them ended up getting the chips in, including Hodge who held the . One of his opponents had flopped top pair with ​, while the other held a better flush draw with the . A third club spiked on the turn, and that was all she wrote for Hodge.

All Day 1a casualties will have the opportunity to try again on Day 1b, and Hodge has already confirmed he'll be in attendance. Others expected to take a shot are recent Wynn Main Event champ Ludovic Geilich, PokerNews Senior Writer Mo Nuwwarah, and Team Blue Shark Optics Pro Matt Schwartz, just to name a few.

Day 1b will kick off at 4 p.m. local time on Saturday. Join us then as we bring you all the action straight from the tournament floor right here in the MSPT Live Blog.

End-of-Day 1a Chip Counts

Muneer Ahmed - Dassel, MN - 379,000
Reginald Roberts - Springfield, MO - 295,000
Joshua Lyster - Ames, IA - 280,500
Josh Reichard - Janesville, WI - 261,000
Thomas Frith - Omaha, NE - 215,000
Todd Hagen - Kalona, IA - 205,000
Nick Welu - Mound, MN - 166,000
Tom Dean - Johnston, IA - 141,500
Mike Janish - Yankton, SD - 135,000
Sandy Weir - Gilman, IA - 117,000
Terry Landucci - St. Paul, MN - 117,000
Ron Thomas - Pleasant Hills, IA - 111,000
Tom Hammers - Eden Prairie, MN - 107,000
Mike White - Kansas City, MO - 90,500
Dean Swailes - Riverside, IA - 89,500
Sherry Hammers - Eden Prairie, MN - 85,000
Matt Kaldenberg - Johnston, IA - 83,500
Giacomo Parisi - Cedar Falls, IA - 78,000
David Muller - Cedar Rapids, IA - 74,500
Barry Reuther - Andalusia, IL - 68,000
Tom Nypaver - Leavenworth, KS - 63,500
Scotter Clark - Marion, IA - 61,000
Eric Grave - Tea, SD - 57,000
Doug Tomlinson - Des Moines, IA - 53,500
Calvin Musil - Clarkson, NE - 52,500
Joseph Barnard - St. Paul, MN - 52,000
Rodger Johnson - Grand Forks, ND - 50,000
Austin Hohenodel - Muscatine, IA - 49,000
Brian Weipert - Mason City, IA - 46,000
Jeff Bryan - Ft. Calhoun, NE - 34,500

Five More Hands

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play five more hands before bagging and tagging for the night.

We’re headed out to capture any last-minute action and to compile a list of chip counts. Stay tuned for those as well as a full recap of the Day 1b action.

"That's the Rules, Get It In Bad"

Both Aaron Johnson and Mario Hudson just exited the tournament room none too pleased. Both had just been victimized by Jason Lister and a brutal river card.

We missed the hand unfold, but were told after the fact that the three got it in on the turn with the board reading . Johnson held , Hudson a straight with the , and Lister for, well, a useless pair of fives and a gutshot to the seven.

You know what was coming... !

“That’s the rules,” an excited Lister shouted. “Get It in bad.”

With that, Lister is up to 270,000 and is in contention to bag the Day 1a lead.

Frith Eliminates Hull; Takes Big Pot Off Ahmed

Tom Frith was the early chip leader here on Day 1a, but then went from 165,000 down to 6,000. Amazingly, he’s worked it back up and then some.

In a recent hand, a short-stacked Mike Hull moved all in for 9,600 from early position and Frith three-bet to 20,000 from the hijack, which inspired the rest of the players to fold.

Frith:

Hull:

Hull was in trouble, but he picked up a sweat when the flop gave him a flush draw. The turn wasn’t the diamond he was looking for, and neither was the river. With that, Hull hit the rail.

In the very next hand, Frith managed to pick up another 70,000 or so off Muneer Ahmed, who bet big with an ace-high flush draw only to miss. Ahmed fired a final 30,000 on the river, but Frith looked him up with pocket nines for the win.

No Soup for Kessler

Allen Kessler just stopped by our desk none too happy as he had just been eliminated from the tournament.

He informed us that he had worked his stack up to 25,000 when he shoved from middle position with , which cleared the field all the way to the player in the big blind, who had 23,000.

“Do you know what he called me with?” Kessler asked. “Pocket threes.”

Kessler flopped a gutshot to a ten, but proceeded to blank both the turn and river.

Kessler then got his last 2,500 all in holding the and was once again flipping against pocket threes, but a three on the flop proved to be the final nail in his coffin.

“So frustrating,” he lamented to Howard Hankin.

Failed Semi-Bluff Sends Jivkov to the Rail

We missed the elimination of former MSPT Meskwaki champ Nick Jivkov, but he was kind enough to fill us in on some details.

According to him, Josh Lister opened for 3,200 from middle position during the 800/1,600/200 level. Aaron Johnson called from the button and Jivkov called from the big blind with the . The turn saw Jivkov check, Lister bet 3,000, and Johnson call. Jivkov made the call and then checked the turn.

Lister bet another 3,000, Johnson folded, and Jivkov check-raised all in for 32,000. Lister called with and it held as the blanked on the river.

“Our semi-bluff did not get there,” Jivkov said. He’ll be back to try again on Day 1b.

Mader Runs Into the Nines of Ahmed

Action folded to a short-stacked Phil Mader on the button and he moved all in. Muneer Ahmed called from the big blind, and Mader discovered the bad news.

Mader:

Ahmed:

Mader was in desperate need of a three, but it wasn’t in the cards as the board ran out a clean . Mader indicated that he will likely be back to try again on Day 1b.

Last Break of the Night

Players are on their last 10-minute break of the night. When they return they’ll play two more levels before bagging and tagging.

Toderici Succumbs

Marius Toderici was battling back from a short stack, but his comeback just came to an end.

Toderici, who finished runner-up in the MSPT Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells last season, got his last 16,000 in holding the on a flop against two players who both happened to hold . Neither the turn nor river helped Toderici, and his Day 1a run came to an end in Level 12.