Potawatomi Casino

Abe Montenegro Leads Advancing 49 Day 1a Survivors

Season 7 of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) continued on Friday night with Day 1a action from the latest Main Event at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The stop has traditionally been one of the biggest on the schedule, and the first of two starting flights did not disappoint as 264 entries – up from 246 the last time the tour was in town – took to the felt to surpass the $200,000 guarantee. The question now is, with another starting flight to go, just how big will the prize pool grow?

After 14 levels of play, just 49 players remained in contention with Illinois' Abraham Montenegro and his stack of 387,500 leading the way. Montenegro, who has $37,431 in live tournament earnings including a career-best $22,542 for an eighth-place finish in the 2013 World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw $580 No-Limit Hold'em, is seeking his first-ever MSPT cash and is in prime position to make a run at it on Day 2.

Joining Montenegro, who charged up the chip counts when he picked up Big Slick and called an opponent's ace-ten shove for 80,000, at the top of the counts are Brandon Byrne (307,500), Nick Jivkov (283,000), Brant Graves (248,000) and Rob Wazwaz (220,000), who round out the top five.

Others who made it through to Day 2, albeit it with middling to short stacks were Jason Reno (120,000), reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge (86,500), Jon Lane (81,000), Leon Morford (77,000), and Oscar Arndt (73,500), who topped a field of 904 entries to win the MSPT Potawatomi Regional Main Event back in January.

Of course not everyone was so lucky. Among those to take a shot and miss on Day 1a were defending champ Dan Goepel; reigning MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champ Andy Rubinberg; online legend Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon; MSPT Pros Blake Bohn and Matt Alexander; and Luke Arora, who was fresh off his win in last weekend's MSPT Running Aces Main Event.

Day 1b will kick off at 4 p.m. CDT on Saturday with the plan of playing another 14 levels. Join us then as we bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the floor of the MSPT Potawatomi Main Event.

End-of-Day 1a Chip Counts

Abraham Montengro - Franklin Park, IL 387,500
Brandon Byrne - Green Bay, WI 307,500
Nick Jivkov - Des Plaines, IL 283,000
Brant Graves - Milwaukee, WI 248,000
Rob Wazwaz - Brooklyn Park, MN 220,000
Yoon Kim - Caledonia, WI 201,500
Jonathan DiMatteo - Lisle, IL 187,500
Alex Barill - Dearborn, MI 179,500
Jim Kasputis - Rockford, IL 158,500
Rich Lasko - Racine, WI 155,000
Hao Sun - Milwaukee, WI 148,500
Jerome Eaton - Fond du Lac 145,500
Peter Nuetzel - German Town, WI 126,000
Jason Reno - Madison, WI 120,000
Mikel Mustafa - Orland Park, IL 110,500
Allen Wisniewski - Dousman, WI 100,500
Anselmo Villarreal - Greenfield, WI 88,000
Mark Hodge - Corcoran, MN 86,500
Chanda Holschbach - Manitowoc, WI 84,000
Jon Lane - Menasha, WI 81,000
Michael Wolff - Madison, WI 80,500
Alex Ziskin - Vernon Hills, IL 80,000
David Mowery - Las Vegas, NV 79,500
Jason Banfi - Platteville, WI 78,000
Leon Moford - Rockford, IL 77,000
Andrija Solovjev - Franklin, WI 75,500
Randy Delaura - Sussex, WI 74,500
George Tomasevich - Burbank, IL 74,500
Oscar Arndt - West Allis, WI 73,500
Ahmed Maniar - Skokie, IL 73,500
Michael Murack - Milwaukee, WI 72,000
Mark Sandness - Wayzata, MN 71,000
Vicente Hinog - Beach Park, IL 66,000
Joseph Kyung - Franklin, WI 66,000
Jason Zarlenga - Lansing, MI 63,000
Geremi Wicinski - Trevor, WI 59,500
Oleg Badmayev - Des Plaines, IL 57,500
Sasidhar Bobba - Chicago, IL 57,000
Ken Baime - Glenview, IL 55,500
Adam Lamphere - Lansing, MI 53,500
Steve Lauson - Manitowoc, WI 52,500
Darryl Ronconi - Naperville, IL 51,500
Pavlin Karakikov - Chicago, IL 47,000
Paul Saharsky - Green Bay, WI 44,000
David Gutfreund - Chicago, IL 41,500
Gary Cripps - Marshall, WI 40,000
Bruce Swart - Grass Lake, MI 38,500
Mark Bernal - Oak Forest, IL 34,500
Dennis Langer - Waukesha, WI 12,300

Four More Hands

The tournament staff just announced that the remaining players, of which there are currently 50, will play four more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. Stay tuned for a full list of chip counts as well as a recap of the Day 1a action.

Montenegro Vaults to 400k

Abraham Montenegro is on a late night heater and the first player up to 400,000, a rare mark to hit on a MSPT Day 1.

He did it after an opponent jammed 80,000 into him holding and Montenegro called with . The board ran out clean, and just like that Montenegro was up to 400,000 and overtook Brandon Byrne for the chip leader.

Abraham Montenegro - 400,000

A Round of Chip Counts

Brandon Byrne - 370,000

Abraham Montenegro - 290,000

Rob Wazwaz - 275,000

Brant Graves - 195,000

Geremi Wicinski - 180,000

Alex Barill - 170,000

Nick Jivkov - 160,000

Jun Kim - 160,000

Jon Lane - 135,000

Dennis Langer - 130,000

Mark Hodge - 110,000

Peter Nuetzel -110,000

Jason Reno - 100,000

Jason Zarlenga - 65,000

Ken Baime - 60,000

Dan “DQ” Hendrickson - 55,000

Bruce Swart - 50,000

Adam Lamphere - 50,000

Oscar Arndt - 47,000

Daryll Ronconi - 40,000

Mark Sandness- 40,000

David Gutfreund - 40,000

Leon Morford - 31,000

Ken Payne - Busted

Julie Cornelius - Busted

MSPT Potawatomi Regional Champ Eliminates Alsup

We saw former MSPT Meskwaki champ Rich Alsup exiting the room, and a quick check with his former table confirmed that he’d just been eliminated by Oscar Arndt, who topped a field of 904 back in January to win the $350 Regional Event here at Potawatomi for $58,964.

As they explained it, Alsup had raised to 4,000 holding and another player called. Arndt then three-bet all in with , Alsup called off, and the other player got out of the way.

Alsup managed to dodge an ace, but little good it did him as the board ran out with four spades to give Arndt a winning flush.

Oscar Arndt - 65,000

Rich Alsup - Eliminated

Last Break of the Night

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

MSPT Pro Vanishes from Reno

MSPT Pro Matt Alexander, who last week finished runner-up to Luke Arora in the MSPT Running Aces Main Event, moved all in for his last 5,100 from middle position and received called from Jason Reno and Jon Lane on the button and in the big blind respectively.

Both active players then checked it down as the board ran out . Alexander showed the , but it was no good against Reno’s . Lane simply mucked.

Jason Reno - 85,000

Matt Alexander - Busted

Reigning MSPT Player of the Year Fills Up on Vince

WJ Vincent just stopped by the desk to inform us that he had been eliminated by the reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge.

As he told it, he had turned the second-nut straight and moved all in for 27,000 after Hodge had checked. Hodge thought for a bit before calling with , which gave him two pair, and then promptly caught a to fill up and send a frustrated Vincent to the rail.

WJ Vincent - Busted

Humphrey Wakes Up with Kings

After Nick Jivkov opened for 2,600, Kevin Humphrey three-bet jammed for 17,900 from the hijack. The player on the button then moved all in over the top for 18,700, and both blinds folded. Jivkov got out of the way and the cards were turned up.

Humphrey:

Button:

Humphrey was well out in front, which is where he stayed as the board ran out .

Kevin Humphrey - 40,000