Golden Gates Casino

Nader Wahdan Leads as 28 Players Advance from Day 1C of MSPT Golden Gates

Day 1C of the MSPT Golden Gates Main Event attracted 203 runners, which along with 1B’s 152 and 1A’s 113 brought the total field up to 468 entries. On Sunday, 61 players (14 from 1A, 19 from 1B, and 28 from 1C) will return at 11 a.m. local time for Day 2 action, which will play down to a winner who will walk away with a $97,810 first-place prize (54 spots will be paid a minimum of $2,047).

As for the Day 1C field, it was whittled down to 28 players after nearly 16 levels of play. Leading the pack was local legend Nader Wahdan with a monster stack of 483,500. That is ahead of Adam Friedman (354,000) and Max Young (353,500), who bagged the Day 1B and 1A chip lead respectively.

Wahdan is seeking his fourth MSPT Main Event cash, all of which have come here at Golden Gates. His best finish to date came back in Season 5 when he took 27^th for $3,398. He's also finished 40^th in Season 6 for $2,226 and 39^th one year ago for $2,289.

Others to bag big stacks on 1C were Ramiro Perez (330,000), Sammy Aweida (292,000), Steve Klaus (241,500), and Andrew Hong (188,500), who round out the top five.

The big stacks were joined by Nils Bardsley (164,000), Aaron Thomas (148,000), Tom Bouziden (130,000), “Money” Mike Maruna (107,000), WSOP bracelet winner Ben Keeline (75,000), and Keith Block (53,500).

Among others to fall were Craig Varnell, former champ Reza Yazdi, two-time MSPT champ Jeremy Dresch, last weekend’s MSPT Golden Gates Regional Event winner Barry Faecher, and Illinois’ Cody Brinn.

We’ll be back tomorrow to capture all the action, so be sure to check back tomorrow for the final day of the MSPT Golden Gates!

End-of-Day 1C Chip Counts

Four More Hands

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play four 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.

David Levy Survives Ramiro Perez

Ramiro Perez raised to 11,000 from the cutoff and was met by an all-in three-bet to 68,000 from David Levy out of the big blind. Perez called and the cards were turned up.

Levy:
Perez:

Levy’s best chance at staying alive was to catch an ace, and he got one on the flop. The turn was of no consequence and the river actually improved Levy to trips.

David Levy - 150,000 (38 bb)
Ramiro Perez - 260,000 (65 bb)

Sammy Aweida Eliminates Shane Faulk

Sammy Aweida raised to 9,000 from early position and Shane Faulk responded by moving all in for 19,000 from the button. Both blinds folded and Aweida called.

Aweida:
Faulk:

The flop pairdFaulk’s ace but it did him no good as Aweida flopped a set. The turn left Faulk drawing dead and he took his leave in the penultimate level of the night when the meaningless was run out on the river.

Sammy Aweida - 180,000 (60 bb)
Shane Faulk - Busted

Steve Klaus Ascends Counts, Eliminates Rich Dixon

Steve Klaus has caught fire here in the last couple of levels.

In a recent hand, Dixon limped from middle position and Aaron Thomas raised to 11,000 from the cutoff. Klaus called from the big blind, Dixon put in the additional 8,000, and three players went to the flop.

Klaus checked, Dixon jammed for roughly 30,000, and Thomas folded. Klaus called and tabled a set.

Klaus:
Dixon:

Dixon had flopped top pair but needed to go runner-runner to stay alive. The turn took away any shot of that happening, and Klaus was pushed the pot after the was run out on the river.

Steve Klaus - 320,000 (107 bb)
Rich Dixon - Busted

Jesse Worrell Eliminates Jordan Maylay

We missed the action unfold but we do know Jordan Maylay got his last 45,000 or so all in on a flop against Jesse Worrell.

Worrell:
Maylay:

Worrell had flopped top pair but was still behind Maylay. The turn put some chop outs to an eight, but it was the that spiked on the river that gave Worrell trips and the win.

Jesse Worrell - 143,000 (48 bb)
Jordan Maylay - Busted

Late Night Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Ramiro Perez	320000	240000
Tom Bouziden	150000	120000
Nils Bardsley	130000	145000
Jeff Heiberg	130000	100000
Mike Maruna	125000	100000
Ben Keeline	100000	80000
Cody Brinn	90000	40000
Paul Holder	73000	90000
Jesse Shotwell	61500	110000
David Levy	40000	64000
Rich Dixon	38000	75000
Eric Maier	30000	45000
Keith Block	60000	60000
Steve Wilkie	0	165000
Umut Ozturk	0	60000

MSPT Strategy: Was Keith Heine Right to Get It in with Pocket Queens in Wild Four-Way Hand?

On Day 1B of the 2017 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship, which took place last November right here at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, registration was closed when, in Level 11 (800/1,600/200), Keith Heine looked down at the and he opened for 4,000 UTG+2.

John “Farmboy” Kurfman, who was next to act, then moved all in for 26,000 with what turned out to be the .

“In my opinion he was itching to get in,” Heine would later say. “To my delight, he jammed.”

Robert Yench was next to action and he called off for 12,000 with the , and then action folded to Lloyd Mandel (50,000), who called for 26,000 from the big blind with the . Heine then moved all in for his remaining 36,000 and Mandel made a reluctant call for around 10,000 more.

The board ran out and Yench got lucky to quadruple up in the main pot, while Mandel took down the sizeable side pot. Both Heine and Kurfman were eliminated in the hand.

Heine had lingering questions about the hand, so we decided to consult with poker pro Jonathan Little

MSPT: In your opinion, did Heine play this hand correctly?

Little: I certainly think he played his hand correctly. He raised from middle position with queens, which is perfectly fine and after two small all-ins and an effective all-in call, he put his 25-big-blind stack in the middle. It would take an insane amount of action to get me to fold queens preflop, and even then, you will likely be priced in to call.

MSPT: Could he have possibly just called for 26,000 preflop and then find a fold on the ace-high flop?

Little: No. The only time he loses when an ace comes is when Mandel has an ace. Mandel could easily have a worse pair, meaning Heine would be making a terrible fold on ace-high flops some amount of the time. When you have a large equity advantage, as Heine likely does, you want to get all the money in immediately.

MSPT: What do you make of Yench going with nine-seven suited in this spot? Is there any merit to him calling off with the protection of Kurfman’s shove?

Little: Nope. Nine-seven suited is an easy fold when you are against two likely strong ranges. Against two decently strong ranges, only wins about 25% of the time, which is nowhere near enough to justify getting all in unless you think you are much worse than your opponents.

MSPT: With a three-bet shove and another player calling off, not to mention Heine left to act behind him, what was Mandel’s best move holding Big Slick in the big blind?

Little: This is a tough spot for ace-king, but given stacks are quite short, I am fine getting all in. If there is a significant payout jump looming, perhaps folding would be fine. I would have made the call in his spot as well, especially if you know your opponents are getting in with hands like ace-queen and nine-seven!

PokerCoaching.com is an interactive poker learning experience from two-time WPT Champion Jonathan Little. Try it for free at PokerCoaching.com/mspt.

Payout Information

Day 1C of the MSPT Golden Gates Main Event attracted 203 runners, which along with 1B’s 152 and 1A’s 113 brought the total field up to 468 entries. The top 54 spots will be paid a minimum of $2,047. Here’s a look at the final table payouts with the corresponding POY points:

1st = $97,810 (1,600 pts)
2nd = $60,097 (1,400 pts)
3rd = $43,309 (1,300 pts)
4th = $32,755 (1,200 pts)
5th = $24,566 (1,100 pts)
6th = $18,652 (1,000 pts)
7th = $14,558 (900 pts)
8th = $11,373 (800 pts)
9th = $8,644 (700 pts)
10th = $6,842 (600 pts)