Tropicana Evansville

End Of The Day Chip Count

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Joseph Lamkin	329,500	86,000
Ian Richardson	296,000	280,000
Frank Covich	255,000	132,000
Charles Dawson	195,000	185,000
Daniel Fagen	186,000	114,000
Anthony Edgar	145,550	145,000
Tim Burden	145,000	73,000
Justin Brown	133,500	243,000
Adam Friedman	120,000	68,000
David Wilkens	120,000	122,400
Brandon Estrada	119,000	104,000
Aaron Gamino	65,000	110,000
Abhishek Yerra	65,000	95,000

Day 1A Completed, Joseph Lamkin Leads Flight

After a wild day of action at Tropicana Evansville, Joseph Lamkin was able to rise above the pack and claim the Day 1A chip lead of the 2019 MSPT Indiana State Poker Championship.

Lamkin scored 329,500 chips to lead the way in today’s flight. Ian Richardson finished close behind in second with 296,000. The duo was followed by Donnie Phan in third with 260,000, Frank Covich in fourth at 255,000 and past MSPT Main Event winner Charles Dawson rounded out the top five with 195,000. Also reaching Day 2 was WSOP Bracelet winner and MSPT Main Event Champion Adam Friedman with 120,000.

Quite a few notables failed to escape Day 1A including MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Johnson along with former MSPT Main Event champions Daniel Bekavac, Earl Potter and Taylor Howard. Also missing out were WSOP bracelet winner Alan Percal along with DJ Buckley, Paul Gentry, Tom Zenthoefer and John Mingus.

Day 1A picked up 120 entries and 14 players advanced out of the flight. Day 1B will see the action resume on Saturday at 3 PM Central and will be the final opportunity for our players to reach Day 2 and play for the 2019 MSPT Indiana State Poker Championship. Our returning players will be back for Day 2 on Sunday at 11 AM Central here at Tropicana Evansville.

Congratulations to everyone who advanced to Day 2 and we’ll see you here tomorrow on the Mid-States Poker Tour from Evansville, Indiana.

Lamkin Eliminates Espenlaub to Close Out Day 1A

Drake Espenlaub shoved his last 70,000 with from the hijack and was called by the surging Joseph Lamkin holding . Everyone else got out of the way.

The board ran out clean for Lamkin to eliminate Espenlaub.

With that elimination, there are only 14 players left, which is 12% of the 120 entries, so play was halted about half way through Level 15.

Day 1B will begin at 3pm Saturday, which is sure to be another action-packed day. Official chip counts from Day 1A will be available soon.

Lamkin Hero Calls for a Huge Pot

We join the action with a pot already about 40,000 on a board of .

Justin Brown in the big blind position checked to Joseph Lamkin in the hijack. Lamkin bets 24,000 and then faces the all-in shove by Brown. Brown has about 260,000 which easily covers the remaining 95,000 of Lamkin.

Lamkin goes in the tank, spending a couple of minutes thinking through this big decision. Eventually he makes the call with while Brown flips over . The river secures Lamkin the huge double up as we wait for one more elimination to end for the day.

Lamkin 230,000 (58 bb)
Brown 165,000 (41 bb)

Johnson Cripped, Potter Eliminated

Justin Brown opened to 7,000 from the cut-off and was called by Aaron Johnson from the big blind. On a flop of Brown continued for 7,000 and Johnson called. On a turn , Brown beefed up to 22,000 and was again called by Johnson. On the river , Brown wagered about 50,000, representing most of Johnson’s 70,000 stack. Johnson took his time working through the puzzle, eventually deciding to call. Brown confidently announced “two pair” and showed . Johnson quietly mucked his hand, having fallen below 10 big blinds (but don’t count him out yet).

Frank Covich opened to 7,000 from UTG+1 and was re-raised by Gary Potter to 15,000 from the hijack. It moved to Joseph Lamkin in the small blind who shoved for about 70,000. Covich folded but Potter decided to get his final 45,000 in the middle. Lamkin tabled and Potter . The board ran out clean for Lamkin and he picked up a much needed pot while Potter ended a fantastic run.

Chip Counts Table 15

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Donnie Phan	258,000	115,000
Charles Dawson	185,000	204,000
David Wilkens	122,400	138,000
Aaron Gamino	110,000	58,000
Brandon Estrada	104,000	200,000
Abhishek Yerra	95,000	28,500
Drake Espenlaub	78,500	50,000
Tim Burden	73,000	67,000
Adam Friedman	68,000	56,300

Percal Sent Packing

It’s the end of the road for Alan Percal this evening.

Percal was all-in for his remaining 52,500 with against the of Frank Covich. The board ran out taking the former WSOP bracelet winner out just short of advancing out of Day 1A. Covich moved up to 231,000 chips and taking field down to 17 players remaining.

Chip Counts Table 14

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Ian Richardson	280,000	140,000
Justin Brown	243,000	79,000
Anthony Edgar	145,000	112,000
Frank Covich	132,000	231,000
Daniel Fagen	114,000	170,000
Joseph Lamkin	86,000	56,500
Gary Potter	35,000	38,500
Aaron Johnson	13,500	26,000

Calling All Heroes... Table 14

Back to back hands resulted in correct hero calls.

First, Aaron Johnson opened to 5,500 with blinds at 1,500/2,500/2,500 from UTG+2 and was called by the blg blind of Justin Brown. The flop of went check/check. On the turn , Brown led out 7,000 and was called by Johnson. On the river , Brown again fired, this time 10,500, and Johnson relatively quickly called. Brown showed for a pair of sixes, but it was bested by Johnson’s pair of nines holding .

On the next hand, Alan Parcel opened to 5,500 from the cut-off and was re-raised by Ian Richardson to 12,500 from the button. Parcel made the call and the gentlemen went to the flop. The entire hand was played extremely deliberately by both players. The flop of was checked around, as was the on the turn. On the river , Parcel led out 15,500 and was eventually called by Richardson. Parcel disgustedly revealed while Richardson flipped over . Richardson’s Ace-high was good, awarding him the pot.

Gotta Love That Six Card Straight

David Wilkens just found himself one heck of a board.

Facing a hand for his tournament life with his remaining 43,500 on the line, Wilkens held against and . The board ran out putting a straight on the board but his tens gave him a higher straight tripling him up and forcing his other two opponents to chop the side pot. Wilkens moved up to 138,000 with the hand.

19 players remain as play continues in Day 1A.