Majestic Star Casino

Day 1B Completed, Hao "John" Sun Leads Flight

It’s all over for Day 1B here in the Main Event at the Majestic Star Casino and after an incredible day of play, Hao “John” Sun capped off a massive late rally to take the flight and overall chip lead for the tournament.

Sun put away 536,000 chips to easily outpace the Day 1B field. Late surges also led Anthony Kastelic to the second place stack with 417,500 and John Elliott landed in third with 328,000. Andrew Campbell was fourth with 310,000 and Craig Trost rounded out the top five with 271,500. Other notables advancing were MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Johnson (146,500), Greg Geller (141,000), Patrick Steele (123,500) and current MSPT Season 10 Player of the Year points leader Mike Shin (85,500).

Notables who did not make it through Day 1B included former MSPT Main Event winners Aaron Massey, Ben Wiora and Steve Federspiel. Also coming up short were WSOP Circuit ring winner Ravi Raghavan along with Jill Bryant, Steve Wazwaz, Jesse Bowman, Ralph Massey, Yanno Orfanos, Jason Trezak, Gary Herstein and Jordan Miller.

Day 1B recorded 185 entries taking the final two-day total for the tournament to 324. 22 players advanced out of the flight and combined with the 16 players who advanced yesterday, 38 players will be returning tomorrow to play for the Main Event title.

Play will resume Sunday at 11 AM Central time and the final table will be live streamed at Twitch.tv/MSPTpoker. Congratulations to everyone who advanced to Day 2 and we’ll see you tomorrow here at Majestic Park Casino!

Kastelic Collects, Bad Luck for Bryant

In a horrendous twist of fate, Jill Bryant went from better than 90% to have an overwhelming chiplead in the tournament a few minutes ago to completely out of MSPT 154 after a pair of brutal hands.

First, her flopped set fell victim to Craig Trost’s straight. Then, on the final hand of the evening, her second-nut flush ran headlong into the only hand that could beat hers: the Ace-high flush.

After a relatively calm flop of , a turn brought some fireworks. Bryant checked, as did John Elliott. Anthony Kastelic bet out 7,000, which Bryant check-raised to 25,000. After Elliott saw himself out, Kastelic called. The river elicited a lead-out from Bryant, who placed a 30,000 chip wager across the betting line. Kastelic pondered for a moment before moving all-in, and Bryant called.

Kastelic:
Bryant:

Absolutely awful luck for Bryant in two very big spots were the difference between the penthouse and the outhouse. After a quick comparison in chip counts, Kastelic barely outnumbered Bryant and the Aurora, Illinois pro Bryant headed out of the Majestic Star poker room.

At the conclusion of the hand, enough players had been eliminated to meet the “hard stop” requirement for Day 1B. 22 players will advance to Day 2, including Kastelic who surged up to second place overall for the flight to 417,500 with the last-minute win.

Final Chip Count For Day 1B

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Hao "John" Sun	536,000	180,500
Anthony Kastelic	417,500	120,000
John Elliott	328,000	295,000
Andrew Campbell	305,000	61,500
Craig Trost	271,500	104,000
Joel Casper	195,500	117,000
Robert Noe	153,000	213,000
Aaron Johnson	146,500	215,000
Greg Geller	141,000	146,000
Cheryl Choon	134,500	115,000
Jadranko Stevaouic	128,000	67,000
Patrick Steele	123,500	68,000
Robert Peppe	105,500	155,000
Porfirio Mendez	97,000	132,000
Nikolaos Kalogris	94,000	108,000
Mike Shin	85,500	95,000
Ben Rock	85,000	70,000
Byron Ziebell	81,000	125,000
Audrius Macenis	80,000	123,000
Timothy Gordon	73,500	100,000
Henry Cao	71,500	96,500
David To	28,000	37,000

Payouts

Here are the payouts for the MPST Main Event at Majestic Star Casino:

Total Entries: 324

1: $71,945
2: $44,415
3: $32,216
4: $23,771
5: $17,828
6: $13,762
7: $10,365
8: $8,445
9: $6,537
10-12: $5,286
13-15: $4,223
16-18: $3,597
19-21: $3,284
22-24: $2,502
25-27: $2,283
28-36: $2,189

Elliott Eliminates Massey, Takes Chip Lead

John Elliott added a big pile of chips to his stack and a big feather in his cap when he took out Aaron Massey late in Day 1B of the 2019 MSPT Majestic Star Main Event.

Elliott:
Massey:

A flop, turn, and river spelled the end of Massey’s day, as he quickly made for the exit after the all-in preflop encounter ended. Elliot collects his 75,000 chips and adds it to his growing mounds.

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
John Elliott	295,000	183,000
Aaron Massey	0	0

Trost Turns The Tide

It looked like Jill Bryant was going to coast into the end of the night with a top-three chip stack but the cards had other ideas.

On a board and 66,500 already in the pot, Bryant fired out 40,000 chips and Craig Trost moved all-in for his remaining 104,500 chips. Bryant called and turned up for a set with Trost holding for a gutshot straight draw. The draw filled in when the hit the turn putting Trost in front. The fell on the river shipping the massive pot over to Trost taking him up to 277,500 (93 bb).

25 players remain as we near the final hands of the evening.

Johnson Ousts Schillaci, 3 Tables Left

Charles Schillaci is the most recent victim of Aaron Johnson on the MSPT, but he certainly won’t be the last. The Lansing resident’s could not outlast Johnson’s . The board didn’t come kindly for Johnson, but it was even crueler for Schillaci, as came on the flop and turn, followed by the on the river for maximum effect. Scillaci heads for the exit, while the reigning MSPT Player of the Year adds a few more stones to his castle.

As the hand was being dealt, the fourth table in the tournament was in the process of breaking. Only 26 players remain in Day 1B of MSPT 154 at Majestic Star.

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Aaron Johnson	215,000	160,000
Charles Schillaci	0	80,000

Gordon Eliminates Parrott

They’re dropping like flies, as Steven Parrott is the latest to walk the plank in the Main Event.

Parrott tangled with Timothy Gordon, but came up short. Gordon raised to 4,000 from the button, and Parrott reraised his 28,000 chips all-in. Gordon called in a dominant position.

Gordon:
Parrott:

The flop left some room for excitement, but a turned slammed that potentiality to the ground. A on the river ended the festivities. Parrott hits the rail, and Gordon picks up the boon in chips.

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Timothy Gordon	135,000	116,000
Steven Parrott	0	38,500

$1,000,000 GTD Michigan State Poker Championship Oct. 10-13 at FireKeepers Casino

The MSPT is returning to FireKeepers Casino October 10-13 for the 2019 MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship. The stop, which requires players be 21 or older to play, is looking to generate a seven-figure prize pool for the sixth time in a row.

A series of $65 and $250 satellites begin August 16^th and will run consistently leading up to the $1,100 buy-in, $1,000,000 guarantee Main Event.

The Main Event will feature three starting flights – all with a noon start time - beginning with Day 1A on Thursday, October 10. Days 1B and 1C will then be on Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12 respectively. The remaining players from each flight will combine on Sunday, October 13 at 11:00 a.m. and play until a champion is crowned.

View Complete Event Schedule

The Main Event final table will be broadcast LIVE (15-minute delay) worldwide on msptpoker.com using RFID technology allowing all viewers to see the hole cards. In addition, the entirety of the Main Event will be live reported in the MSPT's live blog.

Matt Stammen

Last October, the 2018 MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship attracted a then-record 1,271 entries. Matt Stammen, the elder brother of well-known poker pro Keven Stammen, emerged victorious to capture his first major title and $218,565 in prize money.

The 2017 MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship drew 1,067 entries and was won by Chris Meyers, who not only won $191,196 but went on to claim the Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year title.

Other past MSPT Michigan State Poker champions include Brett Blackwood (2016 for $188,314), Michael Ferraroti (2015 for $134,642), Ryan Dykhouse (2014 for $124,500), and Jordan Townsend (2013 for $76,975).

Most recently, the MSPT was at FireKeepers back in May, and that Main Event set the record for largest ever poker tournament in Michigan history with 1,592 entries! Chris Moon, who days prior topped a field of 570 to take down the $1,650 HPT Ameristar East Chicago for $183,899, took down his second mid-major title of the week by shipping MSPT FireKeepers for a whopping $258,407!

FireKeepers Casino Hotel opened in August of 2009. The venue features a 111,700-square foot gaming floor with 2,900 slot machines, 70 table games, multiple restaurants and lounges, a live poker room and bingo room.

FireKeepers Casino Hotel is located just off Interstate 94 at Exit 104, has been named Best Casino by audiences in Western Michigan and Northern Indiana, plus earned nine first-place awards in the Casino Player Magazine Best of Gaming 2015 Native Midwest category, including Best Overall Gaming Resort.

FireKeepers was also selected as one of the Best Casinos to Work for by Casino Player Magazine. Their signature restaurant, Nibi, is a multiple recipient of the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.

FireKeepers offers a AAA-rated Four Diamond resort-style hotel with 243 rooms, a functional multi-purpose event center, six distinctive dining destinations, and multiple lounges. FireKeepers is the title sponsor of the FireKeepers Casino 400, a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway, and host of the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship a Symetra Tour-Road to the LPGA golf event.

Visit msptpoker.com for more information and hotel rates.

Spades Of Steele

Patrick Steele’s quest for an MSPT Main Event title will continue thanks to a friendly river card.

With Steele all-in for his remaining 65,000 chips, Steele’s trailed Robert Noe’s all the way to the river but the popped up saving Steele’s tournament and doubling him up to 140,000 chips (56 bb). The field is now down to 30 players remaining as we close in on the end of Day 1B here at Majestic Park Casino.