Canterbury Park

Bigelow Leads 25 Day 1b Survivors; Lauson Eyes 2nd Season 7 Title

Day 1b of the Mid-States Poker Tour Canterbury Park Main Event attracted 192 runners, which along with Day 1a's 184 entries brought the total prize pool up to $376,000, nearly double the advertised $200,000 guarantee. That will be distributed to the top 36 players – a min-cash is worth $2,288 – while the eventual winner will take home a $90,805 first-place prize.

After 14 levels of play, just 25 players remained with Pete Bigelow (pictured), who won a Heartland Poker Tour event back in 2009, and his stack of 353,500 leading the way. That is well ahead of World Series of Poker bracelet winner Adam Friedman, who bagged up the chip lead with 184,500 among the 33 survivors from Day 1a.

That said, Bigelow, who has $260,559 in lifetime earnings but has yet to notch his first MSPT cash, faced some still competition on Day 1b including MSPT Potawatomi champ Travis Lauson (283,500), MSPT regular Gennady Shimelfarb (239,000), former champ Dan "DQ" Hendrickson (201,500), and the father-son duo of Brett (128,500) and Josh Reichard (143,400).

Those players will join Friday night's survivors – players like defending champ Carl Carodenuto (162,000), two-time MSPT champ Johnny Hayes (135,500), and MSPT Pro Blake Bohn (109,000) – for Day 2 action at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Of course not everyone was lucky enough to survive the night. Among those to fall on Day 1b were Poker Hall of Famer and Minnesota's all-time money winner Lyle Berman, reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge, MSPT Running Aces champ Luke Arora, Minnesota Poker Hall of Famer Mike Schneider, and MSPT Pro Matt Alexander.

Cards will be in air promptly at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Be sure to join us then as we bring you all the latest and greatest on the way to crowning the latest MSPT champion.

End-of-Day 1b Chip Counts

Pete Bigelow bags the Day 1b chip lead with 352,500 at Canterbury Park
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Pete Bigelow - Moose Lake, MN 352,500
Travis Lauson - Manitowoc, WI 283,500
Gennady Shimelfarb - Minneapolis, MN 239,000
Terry Gran - Rochester, MN 222,000
Paul Jain - Bismark, ND 213,500
Jason Song - Crystal, MN 207,000
Dan Hendrickson - Faribault, MN 201,500
Ben McCoy - Arlington Heights, MN 197,500
Tim Signore - Oak Lawn, IL 195,000
Dave Rutledge - North Mankato, MN 155,000
Curtis Biloki - Prairie Rose, ND 154,500
Josh Reichard - Janesville, WI 143,500
Dave Soderstrom - St. Paul, MN 142,500
Scott Sitron - Henderson, NV 142,000
Nathan Hernkey - Cannon Falls, MN 141,000
Brett Reichard - Janesville, WI 128,500
Patrick Miller - Spirit Lake, IA 122,000
John Schmitz - St. Paul, MN 113,500
Richard Stevens - Shakopee, MN 93,000
Nizom Abdukadyrov - New Hope, MN 90,500
Sam De Silva - Austin, MN 85,000
Ron Imgrund - Brainerd, MN 70,500
David Vig - Fargo, ND 60,000
Richard Dupont - Waconia, MN 52,000
Rob Steinmetz - Eagan, MN 31,500

Five More Hands

The tournament staff announced the remaining players will play five more hands before bagging and tagging. Stay tuned for a list of survivors w/ chip counts, the Day 2 seat draw, and a full recap of the Day 1b action.

Bad Beat Sends Tracy to the Rail

The preflop action escaped us, but we do know that Tom Tracy got his stack all in preflop and was primed to double through Richard Stevens.

Stevens:

Tracy:

Stevens was in need of some major help, and he found a little when the flop gave him a gutshot to Broadway, though the spades were dead to him. Amazingly, he completed it when the dealer burned and turned the . The river failed to help Tracy and he understandably marched his way to the exit in disgust while Stevens was pushed the pot.

Richard Stevens - 90,000

Tom Tracy - Busted

Déjà Vu for Wazwaz

Last night, MSPT regular Rob Wazwaz fell in the last level of the night. Unfortunately for him, it just happened to him again here on Day 1b.

It appeared Wazwaz had gotten his stack all in preflop holding the only to run into the of Pete Bigelow. The board ran out and Wazwaz had no recourse but to make the long lonely walk out of the tournament area.

Pete Bigelow - 190,000

Rob Wazwaz - Busted

Kalteux Keeps on Shoving

After Sam De Silva had opened for 5,000, Bob Kalteux moved all in for around 35,000. It worked as De Silva released.

In the very next hand, De Silva opened for the same amount and Sriram Sitaraman called from the hijack. Kalteux then three-bet all in again, this time for 42,500. De Silva didn’t seem to happy, but folded nonetheless. Sitaraman then hit the tank for a minute before calling off for 34,000.

Sitaraman:

Kalteux:

Kalteux seemed a little upset it took Sitaraman so long to call with such a premium hand, but it proved a moot point as that premium hand failed to improve as the board ran out .

Bob Kalteux - 100,000

Sriram Sitaraman - Busted

Big Slick Doesn't Do the Trick for Dahlin

Adam Dahlin, who finished third in this tournament last spring, was just eliminated from the tournament at the hands of John Schmitz.

It happened when Schmitz raised under the gun and action folded to Dahlin, who three-bet jammed for roughly 45,000 from the big blind. Schmitz called and it was a classic flip.

Dahlin:

Schmitz:

Dahlin took the lead on an ace-high flop, but when a spiked on the turn he was left drawing dead.

John Schmitz - 135,000

Adam Dahlin - Busted

Reichard Flops Quads and Gets Paid

Josh Reichard, who if you recall won the MSPT Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells back in 2013, has caught fire as of late.

In a recent hand, it was heads-up to the flop, which came down . Tom Scherer (pictured left) bet 5,000, Reichard (pictured right) called, and the appeared on the turn. Again Scherer bet 5,000 and again Reichard just called.

When the completed the board on the river, Scherer moved all in for his last 13,000 and Reichard snap-called with the for flopped quads! Scherer then showed the for a runner-runner full house.

Josh Reichard - 180,000

Tom Scherer - Busted

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.

Reigning MSPT Player of the Year Busts

Just before the break, five players went to a flop of and reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge open-jammed his short stack. John Schmitz then moved all in over the top and the other three players got out of the way.

Schmitz:

Hodge:

Hodge had flopped top pair, but he was in big trouble as Schmitz held a set. The turn left Hodge drawing dead, and he watched helplessly as the river made his elimination official.

John Schmitz - 95,000

Mark Hodge - Busted