FireKeepers Casino

2009 WSOP Champ Joe Cada Bags Big on Day 1b; Record-Breaking Stop Eyes $700,000 Prize Pool

Day 1b of the Mid-States Poker Tour FireKeepers Casino proved to be a record-breaking one as 310 entrants took to the felt, which made it the largest starting flight in MSPT history outside the summer's special Venetian stop.

Along with Day 1a's 165 runners, the total field stands at 475, and with Day 1c still to go, the tournament should not only surpass last year's record of 614 entries but very well may flirt with a $700,000 prize pool!

The second of three starting flights was littered with pros and amateurs alike, but after 14 levels of play, just 66 remained with Jonathan Dimatteo and his stack of 249,500 leading the way. That is a good chunk more than Isaac Kratchman, who led the 33 Day 1a survivors with 191,000.

Others who bagged were Adam Lamphere (150,000), Jason Bender (144,500), Nick Depalma (136,000), former FireKeepers champs Jason Zarlenga (85,000) an Ryan Dykhouse (47,000), Kou Vang (70,500), MSPT Pro Matt Kirby (55,000), reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge (42,000), Joe Ebanks (28,000), and Joe Cada, who bagged the second-biggest stack with 230,000.

Cada, who hails from Macomb, Michigan and was playing in his first-ever MSPT event, topped a field of 6,494 players – which included defeating Darvin Moon in heads-up play -- to win the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. At the time, Cada was just 21 years old and supplanted Peter Eastgate as the youngest WSOP Main Event champ ever Cada, an online player before his big win, took home $8,546,435 for the win while cementing his name in the history books.

What's more, Cada, who tops Michigan's all-time money list with $10,403,598 in lifetime earnings, became the only player in the modern era (2003-present day) to follow up his Main Event win by capturing a second bracelet. It happened in 2014 when he topped a field of 264 to win the WSOP Event #32: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed for $670,041, the second-largest cash of his career.

Cada received a boost just before registration closes. That is when a player in middle position opened for 2,200 and Ryan Terpstra flatted from the button. Cada came along from the small blind and three players took a flop of ​. Cada led out for 3,500, the middle-position player called, and Terpstra came along to see the ​ turn.

Cada bet 5,100, the middle-position player folded, and Terpstra moved all in for right around 17,000. Cada made the call and the cards were turned up.

Terpstra:

Cada:

Cada was ahead with two pair, but Terpstra was drawing to both straight and flush draws. The dealer burned one last time and put out the ​. Cada filled up and that was the end of the line for Terpstra.

Of course not everyone was as fortunate as Cada. Among those to fall on Day 1b were Season 4 Player of the Year Patrick Steele, Season 5 Player of the Year Mike Deis, WSOP bracelet winners Adam Friedman and Nick Jivkov, and MSPT Potawatomi champ Travis Lauson.

All of those players will have a final opportunity to play at Noon local time on Saturday, which is when Day 1c will kick off. Once again we'll be bringing you all the action, eliminations, and chip counts right here in the MSPT Blog, so be sure to join us then.

End-of-Day 1b Chip Counts

Jonathan Dimatteo is the Day 1b chip leader with 249,500 at FireKeepers Casino as 66/310 players advance.
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Jonathan Dimatteo 249,500
Joeseph Cada 230,000
Michael Easlick 226,000
Jason Smith 218,500
Ronald Kruk 214,500
Brian Brenneke 210,000
Arkan Batu 205,500
Mark Ader 194,500
Stephen kempski 169,500
Xingjun Chen 166,000
Zachary Allen 156,500
Adam Lamphere 150,000
Jeremy Ehrke 148,500
Jason Bender 144,500
Jeffrey Klingshirn 144,500
Pierre Armster JR 136,500
Nicholas Depalma 136,000
Matthew Hauge 135,500
Trevor Renner 132,000
Larry Baxter 128,500
Tracy Moon 117,500
Andrew Schmeltz 111,500
Gary Challender 106,000
Ryan Lally 105,000
David Gonzalez 98,500
Joshua Marvin 91,500
Marka Haywood 91,000
David Kenniston 90,500
Jason Zarlenga 85,000
Steven Williams 83,000
Mark Johnson JR 81,500
Jeffrey Hill 79,500
Gus Vergos 78,500
Michael Lynch 78,000
Carter Meyers 77,000
Linda Sullinger 77,000
Bruce Rowland 73,500
Dash Dudley 72,500
Michael Woeber 71,500
Kou Vang 70,500
Kyle Weaver 70,500
Prudhvireddy Duggirala 65,000
Matthew Bertolini 59,000
Jeffrey Rodino 57,500
Matthew Kirby 55,000
Jerry Hapunik 55,000
David Ogger 49,000
Edward Graff 49,000
Marius Toderici 49,000
Ryan Dykhouse 47,000
Craig Everage 46,000
James Hettich 45,000
Bob Green III 44,000
Michael Kamenjarin 42,500
Mark Hodge 42,000
John Moden 39,500
William Haynes IV 35,500
James Gallagher 34,000
Joe Ebanks 28,000
Basem Saidi 27,500
Satish-Singh Thakur 26,500

Two More Hands

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play two more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. Stay tuned for a list of survivors with chip counts as well as a full recap of the Day 1b action.

Late Night Double for David Kenniston

David Kenniston opened for 5,500 from early position only to have Minnesota’s Kou Vang three-bet to 14,200 from middle posiiton. Action folded back to Vang, and he tanked for nearly two minutes before making the call.

Kenniston:

Vang:

Kenniston got lucky on the flop to pair his kicker, and just to rub salt in Vang’s wounds, the dealer put out the on the turn followed by the on the river. With that, Kenniston shipped the double with quads!

David Kenniston - 90,000

Kou Vang - 70,000

Xingjun Chen Survives Marius Toderici

With around 15,000 in the pot and a flop of , the player in the small blind checked and Xingjun Chen, who finished seventh in this event last May for $21,684, moved all in for 13,900 from the big. Marius Toderici called from the under-the-gun position, and the small blind got out of the way.

Chen:
Toderici:

Toderici had flopped a set, but Chen was drawing live to an open-ended straight. Not only did he hit it on the turn, he avoided the board pairing on the river to ship the double.

Marius Toderici - 70,000

Xingjun Chen - 45,000

The Details Surround Fielder's Demise

We missed the elimination Jeff Fielder, who some have mistaken for Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski in the past, but he was kind enough to inform us the details, which apparently unfolded last level.

As he told it, Macallan 12 neat in hand, his buddy, Matt Hauge opened for 3,500 and Fielder popper it to 10,800.

Hauge pushed back with a four-bet to 25,000, Fielder ripped for 58,000, and Hauge made the call.

Hauge:

Fielder:

Fielder failed to get lucky, and he had no recourse but to wait until Day 1c to try again.

Matt Hauge - 130,000

Jeff Fielder - Busted

A Round of Late Night Chip Counts

Joe Cada - 210,000

Arkin Batu - 210,000

Ron Kruk - 208,000

Mark Ader - 185,000

Jason Smith - 175,000

Jeremy Ehrke - 150,000

Adam Lamphere - 135,000

Jason Bender - 130,000

Jonathan Dimatteo - 115,000

John Moden - 105,000

Kou Vang - 90,000

Marius Toderici - 86,000

Larry Baxter- 85,000

Mark Johnson - 80,000

Jason Zarlenga - 73,000

Ryan Dykhouse - 55,000

Linda Sullinger - 50,000

Matt Kirby - 50,000

Ken Baime - 50,000

Andrzej Rogowski - 45,000

Mark Hodge - 40,000

Jose Serratos - 40,000

Michael Kamenjarin - 25,000

Xingjun Chen - 30,000

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.

Jeremy Ehrke Scores a Knockout

Jeremy Ehrke opened for 4,000 only to have the player in the small blind three-bet all in for 9,500. Action folded back to Ehrke, and he called the additional 5,500.

Ehrke:

Opponent:

It was a race, but Ehrke needed to improve to eliminate his opponent. That’s just what he did too as the flop delivered him a pair of nines. Neither the turn now river impacted the hand, and Ehrke scored the knockout.

Jeremy Ehrke - 95,000

A Cada Compliment: "Nice Call, Sicko"

Joe Cada amd Zach Allen each committed 8,000 preflop and saw a flop of . Cada proceeded to check-call a bet of 10,000, and then check-called the same amount on the turn.

When the completed the board on the river, the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champ checked for a third time and Allen bet a hefty 25,000. Cada thought long and hard before making the call, and he was happy he did as his bested the bluff of Cada.

“Nice call, sicko,” another player at the table complimented Cada.

Joe Cada - 210,000

Zach Allen - 70,000