Potawatomi Hotel & Casino

WPT Champ Ravi Raghavan Leads as 50 Players Advance from Day 1C of the 2018 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship

Day 1C of the 2018 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship attracted 323 runners to Potawatomi’s Hotel & Casino, which along with 1A’s 156 and 1B’s 269 brought the total field up to 748 entries. That surpassed the 701 entries from the 2017 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship to become the largest major poker tournament ($1K+ buy-in) in state history

After 15 levels of play, just 50 players remained with World Poker Tour champ Ravi Raghavan and his stack of 340,000 leading the way. That is between Byron Ziebell (355,000) and James McArthur (274,500), who were the Day 1B and 1A chip leaders respectively.

Others to bag big stacks John “Farmboy” Kurfman (285,000), William Koenig (264,000), Alin Cotolan (244,500), and Bill Brudenell (234,500), who round out the top five.

They were joined by Paul “Big Daddy” Elfelt (187,000), MSPT Season 5 Ho-Chunk champ Jason Sell (164,500), Gary Herstein (135,000), MSPT Season 7 Potawatomi champ Alex Aqel (133,000), Shiva Dudani (102,000), Sammy Aweida (82,500), and WPT champ Keven Stammen (62,500).

Among those to try their luck on 1C but come up short were defending champ Richard Bai, MSPT Season 6 POY Mark Hodge, MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang, Larry Ormson, 2016 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champ Andy Rubinberg, #MSPT100 champ Jason Ramos, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, and brothers Kanat & Umut Ozturk.

Tomorrow, 114 players (26 from 1A, 38 from 1B, 50 from 1C) will return for Day 2 action at 11 a.m. to play down to a winner.

End Of Day 1C Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Ravi Raghavan	340,000	340,000
John Kurfman	285,000	285,000
William Koenig	264,000	264,000
Alin Cotolan	244,500	244,500
Bill Brudenell	234,500	234,500
Andre Haywood	227,000	227,000
Kamran Jamal	198,000	198,000
Kyle Adams	196,500	196,500
Paul Elfelt	187,000	187,000
James Ruszkiewicz	173,500	173,500
Leon Morford	170,000	170,000
Bryant Miller	166,000	166,000
Rob Maier	165,500	165,500
James Pipitone	164,500	164,500
Jason Sell	164,500	164,500
Parmod Soni	160,000	160,000
Blaise Poupore	146,000	146,000
Jeffrey Cvetezar	144,000	144,000
Jason Flock	143,000	143,000
Gary Herstein	135,000	135,000
Alex Aqel	133,000	133,000
Travis Sweet	129,500	129,500
Brent Kallman	125,000	125,000
Songjie Zhou	119,000	119,000
Joseph Freeman	112,500	112,500
Joseph Pusateri	109,500	109,500
Victor Ortiz	106,000	106,000
Shiva Dudani	102,000	102,000
Peter Ruszkiewicz	102,000	102,000
Arthur Harb	95,000	95,000
Paul Fisher	93,500	93,500
Daniel Sepiol	90,500	90,500
Brett Halan	88,000	88,000
Ian Matakis	85,000	85,000
Brett Reichard	85,000	85,000
Osama Aweida	82,500	82,500
Scott Vetter	77,000	77,000
Jesse Allen (MI)	75,000	75,000
Dawn Zimmerman	72,000	72,000
Tyler Ketterling	68,000	68,000
Paul Carney	66,000	0
Todd Melander	63,500	63,500
Keven Stammen	62,500	62,500
Mike Rieck	62,500	62,500
Rodney Cozart	52,000	52,000
Richard Rosas	48,000	48,000
Joshua Janis	43,500	43,500
Michael Venturelli	28,000	28,000
Christopher Mitchell	22,000	22,000

Three More Hands

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play three more hands before bagging and tagging on Day 1C. Stay tuned for a list of chip counts, a recap of the day’s action, and the Day 2 seat draw.

"I'm Due for a Suck Out"

Mike Kamenjarin moved all in for 55,600 from early position and Parmod Soni isolated by jamming over the top from middle position. Everyone else folded and Kamenjarin discovered the bad news.

Soni:
Kamenjarin:

“I’m due for a suck out,” Kamenjarin said optimistically. The flop then fell . “Except when there’s a king in the window,” Kamenjarin added.

He then got out of his chair as the dealer burned and turned the , which gave him a gutshot draw to Broadway. Unfortunately for Kamenjarin, the river was a brick and he hit the rail.

Parmod Soni - 180,000 (60 bb)
Mike Kamenjarin - Busted

Life is Sweet for James Ruszkiewicz

James Ruszkiewicz got his stack of 53,000 all in preflop and was way behind Travis Sweet.

Sweet:
Ruszkiewicz:

Ruszkiewicz was in trouble but got lucky when the flop paired his queen to give him the lead.

The turn gave him a flush draw to boot, and he got the Sweet double when the completed the board on the river.

James Ruszkiewicz - 110,000 (46 bb)
Travis Sweet - 110,000 (46 bb)

Kamran Jamal Doubles Through Daniel Stickel

Kamran Jamal (pictured right) got his stack of 82,200 all in preflop and was flipping for his tournament life against Daniel Stickel (left).

Stickel:
Jamal:

The flop gave Stickel a set but disaster struck when the spiked on the turn to give Jamal a straight.

The river failed to pair the board and a disappointed Stickel sent almost all of his chips to his neighbor on the left.

Kamran Jamal - 170,000 (71 bb)
Daniel Stickel - 13,000 (5 bb)

A New Wisconsin State Record

The 2018 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship drew 748 entries. That surpassed the 701 entries from the 2017 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship to become the largest major poker tournament ($1K+ buy-in) in state history.

Top 81 will get paid a minimum of $2,027 while the eventual winner will walk away with $144,812.

Leon Morford Gets a Late Night Double

Leon Morford limped from early position and a player in middle position popped it to 14,000. The cutoff called, Morford came along, and the trio saw a flop of .

Two checks saw the cutoff bet 18,000 and only Morford called to see the turn.

Morford turned right around and moved all in for 26,500 and the cutoff thought for a bit before making the call.

Morford:
Cutoff:

Morford had flopped the nuts and held when the bricked on the river.

Leon Morford – 140,000 (58 bb)

Paul Elfelt Dispatches Heidi Dresbach

Heidi Dresbach got her last 25,000 or so all in preflop and was in dire straits against local hero Paul “Big Daddy” Elfelt.

Elfelt:
Dresbach:

Dresbach had a kicker problem and it didn’t get resolved as the board ran out .

Paul Elfelt - 125,000 (62.5 bb)
Heidi Dresbach - Busted

The 200K Club