Running Aces Casino

Leo Fussy Leads Advancing 36 Day 1a Survivors

The fourth Main Event of the Mid-States Poker Tour's seventh season, and the first in Minnesota, kicked off on Friday as 177 entries took to the felt for Day 1a action, up from 150 the last time the MSPT was in town. After 14 levels of play, just 36 remained with Leo Fussy and his stack of 275,000 leading the way.

Fussy, who hails from St. Cloud, Minnesota, has come close to winning an MSPT title twice in the past. The first time was in February 2012 when he took fourth in the MSPT Running Aces Main Event for $19,423, and then in December 2014 when he placed fifth in the MSPT Canterbury Park for $23,756. Prior to the start of play Fussy said he felt good about this tournament, and his forecast has proved accurate thus far.

Fussy's rise to the top began in Level 6 (200/400/50) when an under-the-gun player raised to 400 and Tony Moses three-bet to 1,100 from the cutoff. Jeff Fielder just flatted the button, Fussy came along from the big blind, and the original raiser called to make it four-way action to the flop.

Three checks saw Fielder bet 1,800, Fussy check-raised to 4,500, and the under-the-gun player folded. Moses then check-raised all in for 9,550, both Fielder and Fussy called, and the appeared on the turn. Fussy checked and then called when Fielder moved all in for 20,000.

Fussy:

Fielder:

Moses:

Fielder had flopped a straight, but he was drawing dead to the flopped flush of Fussy. Moses had spade outs, but the river was not what he was looking for. Fielder went on to reenter and wound up bagging 130,500.

Others who bagged up big stacks were Mandy Caffee (210,000), Zeph Baer (193,000), Jeremy Dresch (186,500), and WJ Vincent (149,500), who round out the top five.

Of course not everyone was so lucky. In Level 12 (800/1,600/200), a big hand took place when Jason Bender min-raised under the gun and MSPT Pro Matt Kirby just called to his left. Action folded to Muneer “Moon” Ahmed, who was fresh off a fifth-place finish in the MSPT Meskwaki, and he called from the big blind to make it three-way action to the flop, which came down

Ahmed checked, Bender did the same, and Kirby bet 6,000. Ahmed checked-raised to 15,000, Bender folded, and Kirby called to see a 6x appear on the turn. Ahmed opted to shove all in, and Kirby snap-called off his last 30,000 or so with pocket aces. Unfortunately for him. Ahmed had flopped trips with and it held as the river blanked. Ahmed went on to bag 146,500.

Others who fell on Day 1a were former MSPT Running Aces champs Ervin Bjerga and Mark Sandness, "Minneapolis" Jim Meehan, Andrew Null, Jay Philips, Alan Carty, Justin Thurlow, and defending champ Peixin Liu, who fell after shoving with pocket nines only to run into the tens of the aforementioned Fielder.

Dozens of notables fell, but plenty punched their tickets to Sunday's Day 2 including MSPT Pro Matt Alexander (126,500); Joel Klipping (124,500), who came back from a short stack of 6,500 with just two levels remaining; Minnesota pro Aaron Johnson (103,000); and former MSPT champs Dan "DQ" Henderson (84,000), Rich Alsup (37,500), Jason Seitz (35,500), and Johnny Hayes (31,500).

Day 1b of the MSPT Running Aces will kick off at 4 p.m. local time on Saturday. Once again we'll be providing live updates straight from the floor, so be sure to join us then. Until then, goodnight from Columbus!

End-of-Day 1a Chip Counts

Just 36 of the 177 entrants advanced to Day 2. Here they are...

Leo Fussy 275,000 St. Cloud, MN
Mandy Caffee 210,000 Eau Claire, WI
Zeph Baer 193,000 St. Paul, MN
Jeremy Dresch 186,500 Fridley, MN
William Vincent II 149,500 Eau Claire, WI
Matt Sundberg 149,000 Eagan, MN
Moon Ahmed 146,500 Shakopee, MN
Steve Vang 144,500 Brooklyn Park, MN
Mike Juszczak 141,000 Zimmerman, MN
Jeff Fielder 130,500 West Des Moins, IA
Matt Alexander 126,500 Minneapolis, MN
Joel Klipping 124,500 Red Lake Falls, MN
Travis Vannatta 119,500 Andover, MN
Marius Toderici 107,000 Chicago, IL
Aaron Johnson 103,000 Redwing, MN
Andy Beberg 97,500 Stillwater, MN
Ben Marsh 96,500 Shoreview, MN
Paul Legrand 90,000 White Bear Lake, MN
Dan Henderson 84,000 Faribault, MN
Erin Carlson 82,000 Ramsey, MN
Rob Maier 80,000 Little Canada, MN
Benjamin Valder 77,500 Minneapolis, MN
Nathaniel Dalbec 76,500 Minneapolis
Henry Korent 67,000 Houlton, WI
Harry Behling 56,000 Forest Lake, MN
Sean Stevens 55,500 Las Vegas, NV
Tammy Ford 47,500 Chippewa Falls, WI
John Pierce 42,500 Rochester, MN
Chris Klick 41,500 Crystal, MN
Jason Root 40,500 Shakopee, MN
Sam Rubin 37,500 White Bear Lake, MN
Rich Alsup 37,500 Eden Prairie, MN
Jason Seitz 35,500 Shakopee, MN
Johnny Hayes 31,500 St. Paul, MN
Steve Belland 30,500 Bagley, MN
Raelynn Tiedemann 19,000 Stacy, MN

Last Four Hands

The tournament staff has just announced that the remaining players will play four 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 1a action.

Kessler's Shove is No April Fools' Joke

Allen Kessler has been nursing a short stack for the past couple of hours, and he just committed his last 12,400 from middle position. Action folded to Joel Klipping in the small blind, and he called, which promoted Marius Toderici to fold the big.

“I do not have a very good hand,” Kessler admitted. “First time I was the first one in the pot.”

Kessler:

Klipping:

Not since Reagan was in the White House has Kessler shoved with such a hand, but he seemed hopeful when he simply said, “I’m live.”

Indeed he was drawing to two live cards, but neither appeared as the board ran out a dry .

With that, Kessler was felled with less than 20 minutes remaining in the evening while Klipping chipped up to 135,000.

Joel Klipping - 135,000

Allen Kessler - Busted

Bohn and Vang Bust

A short-stacked Raelynn Tiedemann moved all in for 10,200 from early position and MSPT Pro Blake Bohn, who only had around 7,500, called off from the cutoff. Jeff Fielder, who is sitting on a big stack, then called from the big blind to put both players at risk.

Tiedemann:

Bohn:

Fielder:

Bohn pleaded with the dealer to give him the win, even offering her $100 cash if she did so, but she did not oblige. Instead, she ran out the board -- -- which gave Tiedemann a near triple. Bohn was eliminated on the hand and said he plans to return tomorrow to try again on Day 1b.

Meanwhile, Kou Vang was also eliminated from the tournament.

Vang Gets the Best of Bohn

Steve Vang, the nephew of Kou, opened for 4,300 from middle position only to have MSPT Pro Blake Bohn three-bet to 16,000 from the small blind. Vang thought long and hard before making the call, and then both players checked the flop.

After the dealer burned and turned the , Bohn fired out 26,000 and Vang just called. Bohn then checked in the dark headed to the river, and Vang took the opportunity to bet 19,000. Bohn hit the tank for a couple minutes before making the call, but mucked just as soon as Vang rolled over the .

Steve Vang - 150,000

Blake Bohn - 18,000

Carlson Shoves with Cowboys

Rich Alsup opened for 4,300 only to have Matt Sundberg three-bet to 9,500 from middle position. Erin Carlson, who was the early chip leader here on Day 1a only to taper off here at the end of the night, flatted from the hijack, and then Alsup called after action had folded back to him.

When the flop came down , two checks saw Carlson moved all in for 47,000 and both her opponents folded.

Carlson, who won her way into this tournament via a Running Aces freeroll, then showed she had the goods with the .

Rich Alsup - 35,000

Matt Sundberg - 90,000

Erin Carlson - 80,000

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 for the night.

MSPT Returns to the Venetian June 6-10; $2 Million Guarantee for Main Event

The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) is heading back to Vegas!

From June 6-10, the MSPT will host the Season 7 Mid-Season Championship -- a $1,100 buy-in Main Event – that will take place during the Venetian's DeepStack Extravaganza III. What's more, the tournament boasts a $2 million guarantee, which is more than double the year before.

"With a $2 million guarantee for just an $1,100 buy-in, the MSPT Venetian is a must on the summer tournament schedule," said MSPT owner and operator Bryan Mileski. "This marks our third visit to the property, and things keep getting bigger and better. The Season 7 Mid-Season Championship will be no exception."

The tournament, which will start players with 20,000 in chips and includes a 40-minute level structure, will feature three starting flights beginning Monday, June 6 at Noon. Days 1b and 1c will take place at the same time on Tuesday, June 7 and Wednesday, June 8 respectively. Late registration will remain open until 6:30 p.m. each day. The survivors from each flight will then combine for Day 2 action on Thursday, June 9 and play down to a final table of 10, which will then play out Friday, June 10. The Main Event will be live reported throughout in the new MSPT Live Blog, which launched at the start of Season 7.

The MSPT first visited the Venetian back in 2014 when Chicago's Dale Bronk topped a field of 854 entries to capture a $163,870 first-place prize. One year later, attendance more than doubled as 1,964 entrants took to the felt to crush the $1 million guarantee by creating a $1,964,000 prize pool.

That tournament attracted some of the biggest players in the world, including Spanish powerhouse Sergio Aido and Season XII World Poker Tour World Champ Keven Stammen. Those players finished in sixth and second place respectively, while the title and $215,815 first-place prize went to 25-year-old Angelina Rich, who became the first woman in history to win a MSPT title.

Rich is expected to return to defend her title, though she'll no doubt face some stiff competition including MSPT Pros Blake Bohn, Matt Kirby, and Matt Alexander.

"I'm extremely excited for this summer's MSPT Venetian," said Alexander. "With a $2 million guarantee, it's a must-play event for the thousands of players who'll be in Vegas looking for poker action. The price is right, the structure is great, and I'll most certainly be there."

The Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza III Warm-Up and DeepStack Extravaganza III run May 16-26 and May 26-July 24 respectively. The warm-up series features 17 events and $420,500 in guarantees, while the DSE III will features a jam-packed schedule with 90 events.

For more details, and a full look at the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza III schedule, click here.

Aces Can't Propel Kirby Over the Moon

Jason Bender min-raised to 3,200 under the gun and MSPT Pro Matt Kirby just called from early position. Action folded around to Muneer “Moon” Ahmed, who is fresh off a fifth-place finish in the MSPT Meskwaki, and he called from the big blind to make it three-way action to the flop, which came down .

Ahmed checked, Bender did the same, and Kirby bet 6,000. Ahmed checked raised to 15,000, Bender folded, and Kirby called to see a appear on the turn. Ahmed opted to shove all in, and Kirby snap-called off his last 30,000 or so.

Kirby:

Ahmed:

Ahmed hit the flop hard, and Kirby headed for the exit even before the river card came out. It was not the case ace.

Muneer Ahmed - 165,000

Matt Kirby - Busted