Meskwaki Casino

Gabriel Neighbors Leads Surviving 36 Players from Day 1A of #MSPT100

Day 1A of the MSPT Meskwaki, the historic 100^th Main Event in tour history, was a big one as 211 entrants hopped into action. The field was chockfull of MSPT regulars, former champs, and satellite qualifiers, all of whom received a limited edition commemorative chip for showing their support and participating in a truly special event.

After 14 levels of play, just 36 players survived with Gabriel Neighbors and his stack of 317,500 leading the way. Neighbors has just one tournament cash on his poker résumé, and it came here at Meskwaki back in November when he finished in 45^th place for $1,957. Neighbors has a stack that gives him a great chance at an even deeper run.

Others who made it through were former champ David Gonia (274,000), Wisconsin’s Rick Syverud (252,500), Johnny “Quads” Wenzel (196,500), reigning champ Ken Komberec (111,000), the first-ever MSPT Meskwaki champ Moon Ahmed (68,500), MSPT Season 6 Player of the Year Mark Hodge (54,500), and former NFL running back Fred Jackson (37,000).

Among those to fall were 2016 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker champ Andy Rubinberg, Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup, MSPT Pro Blake Bohn, two-time champ Peixin Liu, and PokerNews reporter Mo Nuwwarah.

All of those players and more have the opportunity to try again on Day 1B, which will kick off at 4 p.m. local time on Saturday. Be sure to join us then as we bring you all the latest and greatest from the #MSPT100.

End-of-Day 1A Chip Counts

Gabriel Neighbors 317,500
Dave Gonia 274,000
Rick Syverud 252,500
Roger Bennett 252,000
Tyler Bock 230,000
John Wenzel 196,500
Todd Breyfogle 192,000
Joe Matheson 169,500
Kim Olson 142,000
Aaron Hintz 140,000
Rodger Johnson 135,500
Vincent Wolrab 116,500
Nick Marsh 113,500
Ken Komberec 111,000
Adam Vargason 108,500
Troy Clark 100,000
Anthony Frost 96,500
Thomas Dean 93,000
Mike Lang 91,500
Ryan Hohenstein 90,000
Jaycin Cross 90,000
Katie Gebhart 86,500
Michael Nikolich 85,000
Tyler Caspers 83,000
Shawn Baker 78,500
Richard Thousand 73,500
David Sutton 69,500
Moon Amhmed 68,500
Alex Smith 65,000
Kurt Bales 61,000
Mark Hodge 54,500
Matthew Hennig 50,000
David Nelson 43,500
Darren Ficek 40,000
Fred Jackson 37,000
Erick Wright 36,500

Four More Hands

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

Big Slick Doesn't Do the Trick for James Swearngin

James Swearngin moved all in for his last 14,400 from early position and David Gonia called from the hijack. The rest of the field folded and the cards were turned up.

Swearngin:
Gonia:

Swearngin was a huge favorite, but not after the flop came down to give Gonia trips. The turn left Swearngin drawing dead, and he made a beeline for the door after the was run out on the river.

David Gonia - 225,000
James Swearngin - Busted

PokerNews Reporter Runs Into Aces

PokerNews reporter Mo Nuwwarah, who was taking a break from covering tournaments to play one, swung by the media desk to inform us that he had just been eliminated.

According to him, reigning champ Ken Komberec raised the button and Nuwwarah three-bet all in from the big blind for his last 20 BBs.

Komberec snap-called with , which had Nuwwarah’s offsuit crushed.

No miracle would come and Nuwwarah hit the rail in the penultimate level of the night. He did say that he will return tomorrow to fire another bullet.

Mo Nuwwarah - Busted

Jessica Anderson Set Up By David Gonia

We picked up the action on the flop when Jessica Anderson jammed her last 35,000 and David Gonia snap-called her.

Gonia:
Anderson:

Gonia had flopped a boat, and that left Anderson looking for a high five. She was left hanging though as the bricked on the turn followed by the on the river.

David Gonia - 275,000
Jessica Anderson - Busted

MSPT Heads to Colorado’s Golden Gates Next Week

The MSPT may be hosting our 100^th Main Event this weekend here in Iowa, but there’s also a $360 Regional taking place at Black Hawk, Colorado.

Next weekend, the highly-anticipated MSPT Golden Gates Main Event will kick off. That event will feature three starting flights beginning with Day 1a at Noon local time on Thursday, March 30. Days 1b and 1c will then be held at the same time on Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1 respectively. The remaining players from each flight will combine on Sunday, April 2 at 11:00 a.m. and play until a champion is crowned.

The last time the MSPT visited Golden Gates, Carl Carodenuto topped field of 490 entrants to in his record-breaking third title, not to mention a $114,072 first-place prize. Before that, in April 2016, 439 entrants turned out for the Main Event to more than double the guarantee. Josh Crain emerged victorious in that tournament to capture a $102,199 first-place prize. Before that, Phanora Prom topped a field of 510 entries in November 2015 to win the title and $123,180.

Others past winners of the MSPT Golden Gates include Kane Lai, who topped a field of 409 entries to win the March 2015 Main Event for $101,365; Reza Yazdi, who outlasted 499 other entrants to win the November 2014 Main Event for $120,765; and Dan Colpoys, who won $114,156 after emerging victorious over a 453-entry field in March 2014.

For more information, including a look at the schedule, click here.

David Gonia Wins Without a Showdown

David Gonia, the MSPT Season 4 Running Aces champ, raised from middle position and Mo Nuwwarah called from the small blind. James Swearngin came along from the big and three players took a flop of .

Two checks saw Gonia continue for 11,500, and both his opponents called to see the turn.

Gonia bet again, this time 27,000, after his opponents had checked and only Swearngin called to see the river.

Swearngin, who had less than 20,000 behind, checked for a third time and then snap-folded when Gonia moved all in.

David Gonia - 175,000
Mo Nuwwarah - 50,000
James Swearngin - 20,000

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 night.

Darren Ficek Triples While Troy Clark Nearly Doubl

A preflop raising war resulted in Darren Ficek getting his stack of 19,100 all in against two players, one of which was Troy Clark, who was also all in for 51,100 more. MSPT champ Rodger Johnson had both players at risk.

Johnson:
Ficek:
Clark:

Johnson was looking for either an ace or king to score the double knockout, but he didn’t get it as the board ran out .

Ficek rivered a straight to triple, while Clark took down the side pot.

Troy Clark - 102,200
Darren Ficek - 60,000
Rodger Johnson - 32,000