Tropicana Evansville

Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Ray Litteken	318,000	230,000
Brian Jennings	312,000	66,900
Kent Brenneman	274,000	150,000
Quentin Davis	232,500	230,000
James Aldridge	220,500	105,000
Chase Giese	180,500	68,500
Terrence Esparza	169,500	225,000
Zach Smith	145,500	145,500
Rudy Phillips	114,500	105,000
James Gidden	107,000	86,500
Michael Halcomb	104,500	90,000
Anthony Gibbs	97,500	155,500
Craig Welko	88,500	65,000
Billy Emerton	87,000	91,000
Ryan Johnson	76,000	135,000
Derek Schroeder	69,500	64,000
Nick Hobbes	69,500	56,750
Tammy Michael	68,500	155,000
Patrick Kluck	62,000	110,000
Dustin Hess	60,000	117,000
Crystal Utley	37,500	75,000

Day 1B Wraps Up Play, Ray Litteken Leads Flight

Day 1B of the 2019 MSPT Indiana State Poker Championship did not disappoint with outstanding action from start to finish. And when the dust settled at Tropicana Evansville, Ray Litteken edged out an incredibly competitive field to finish with the top chip stack of the flight.

Litteken bagged 318,000 chips finishing just ahead of Brian Jennings who finished second with 312,000. Kent Brenneman was third with 274,000 with Quentin Davis at 232,500 in fourth and James Aldridge rounding out the top five with 220,500.

There were some notables in the field who could not find their way into Day 2 this evening which included MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Johnson and former MSPT Main Event winner Keith Heine along with MSPT standouts John Mingus, Gary Potter, Jordan Miller and DJ Buckley.

Day 1B added another 146 entries taking the final total for the tournament up to 266. 21 players made it out of tonight’s flight and along with the 14 players who advanced from Day 1A we will have 35 players back in action for Day 2 on Sunday. Cards will be in the air at 11 AM Central to see who brings home the top prize of $62,847 and becomes the newest Mid-States Poker Tour Main Event Champion.

We will be back tomorrow with all the Day 2 coverage right here on msptpoker.com plus the live stream of the final table on Twitch.tv/MSPTpoker. Congratulations to everyone who advanced to Day 2 and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for more exciting MSPT poker action!

Brenneman Wins the Race; Firebaugh Eliminated

From the hijack, Taylor Firebaugh shoved his final 39,500 chips and was called by Kent Brenneman. Firebaugh showed and was racing against the of Brenneman.

The board was all Brenneman , eliminating Firebaugh and giving a nice end-of-day boost to Brenneman.

Buckley Felted by Aldridge's Rockets

Down to 9 big blinds, DJ Buckley shipped under the gun for 28,000. He was called by Taylor Howard. When the action got to James Aldridge in the big blind, he immediately shoved all-in. As Howard stepped aside, Aldridge tabled , crushing the of Buckley. The board gave a mini-sweat , but the rockets held up for Aldridge, giving him a nice pick-up and sending the dangerous Buckley to the rail.

From Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Buckley has a total of 27 MSPT cashes (24 in Main Events and three in Regional Events) including seven Final Tables and career MSPT earnings of $213,318. This is just a portion of his $846,974 earnings reported on The Hendon Mob.

Littleken Continues Final Push

When you have the chips, you can take some chances and this one paid off for Ray Litteken.

After Billy Emberton bet out 6,500 chips pre-flop, Litteken in the big blind made the call.

The flop came out and Litteken bet out 10,000 chips getting a call from Emberton. The hit the turn and Litteken led out again for 28,000 and Emberton called again. After the on the river, Litteken put out one more bet of 20,000 chips and Emberton stayed the course with another call. Litteken turned over for a flopped flush and Emberton folded. The hand took Litteken up to 230,000 and near the top of the leader board for the flight.

23 players remain as we near the final level of play for the evening.

Phillips Sends Kramer To The Door

Ben Kramer has hit the rail.

Rudy Phillips called down Kramer’s all-in 54,000 chip bet pre-flop with Kramer holding against the of Phillips. Phillips increased his lead in the hand on the flop and the run-out finished Kramer off. Phillips goes to 105,000 chips (42 bb) after the hand.

24 players remain alive here in Day 1B.

Did We Say Davis Was Heating Up?

Quentin Davis opened from UTG+2 to 6,000 and was called by Craig Jackson from the cut-off and Kent Brenneman from the big blind.

The flop came . Brenneman checked to Davis who continuation bet 4,000; Jackson then re-raised to 12,000 and Brenneman stepped aside. The action wasn’t done as Davis popped it again to 29,000 and Jackson made the call.

The on the turn saw the action slow down (momentarily) as both players checked.

When the came on the river, Davis open-shoved, going all-in for 80,500. Jackson called fairly quickly from his 140,000 remaining stack. At that point Davis showed his flush, , causing Jackson to muck his hand and pay off the large bet.

Davis has climbed to 230,000 (92 bb)
Jackson drops to 60,000 (24 bb)

Quentin Davis Heating Up

Look out, everyone - Quentin Davis is en fuego.

After Taylor Firebaugh bet out 5,500 chips, Kent Brenneman re-raised to 28,000. Davis then went all-in for 51,500. Firebaugh folded and Brenneman called. Brenneman turned over and led the of Davis. But the lead was short lived as Davis nailed the flop to take the lead. The board ran out and Davis is now up to 115,000 chips (46 bb).

28 players remain as Day 1B continues into the Indiana night.

Jackson Felts Utley, Climbs the Leaderboard

John Utley from UTG got his 79,000 (32 bb) stack in the middle pre-flop holding against the 86,000 (34 bb) stack of Craig Jackson who was holding .

The flop gave Utley significant hope when it came , but he never got there as the board completed .

With that, Utley was eliminated and Jackson made a big move as we near the end of Day 1B.

Craig Jackson: 170,000 (68 bb).

After Break Chip Count

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Terrence Esparza	225,000	233,500
Scott Gowdy	214,000	15,000
Anthony Gibbs	155,500	81,500
Ray Litteken	155,000	145000
Tammy Michael	155,000	110,000
Taylor Firebaugh	150,000	70,000
Kent Brenneman	150,000	126,700
Ryan Johnson	135,000	135,000
Dustin Hess	117,000	58,600
Patrick Kluck	110,000	56,400
James Aldridge	105,000	99,000
John Utley	94,500	0
Billy Emerton	91,000	91,000
Michael Halcomb	90,000	90,000
James Gidden	86,500	86,500
Kent Niemeier	76,500	43,500
Crystal Utley	75,000	0
Chase Giese	68,500	77,000
Virgil Winner	66,000	66,000
Craig Welko	65,000	101,000
Byron Hubert	65,000	19,800
Derek Schroeder	64,000	37,400
Craig Jackson	58,000	170,000
Nick Hobbes	56,750	56,750
Frank Hopkins	50,000	63,200
Ben Kramer	50,000	115,000
Kevin Stroud	38,500	142,000
Rudy Phillips	35,500	58,200
Jaska Russell	35,000	56,000
Steve Galey	16,500	13,600
Quentin Davis	15,550	115,000
Robert Willems	2,500	36,500