JACK Cleveland Casino

Joe Costa Bags Top Stack as 40 Players Survive After Day 1B

Another full day of action occurred during Day 1B the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) JACK Cleveland $1,110 Main Event with 15 full levels coming to completion.

The second of three flights drew 339 entries to bring the two-day total thus far to 565 and with that number, the $500K GTD has already been surpassed with one flight remaining.

Of those 339 entries, 40 players remained when chips went into bags and Joe Costa found himself atop the counts with a stack of 623,000.

He was the only player above 600,000, with Shawn Knuckle (511,000), Dionta James (431,000), Jeff Wells (373,000), and John Amoia (366,000) rounding out the top five.

Much like Day 1a, the final level of the night saw an onslaught of casualties, with players such as Ryan Lichtenstein and MSPT champ Chris Moon among those to be eliminated before play concluded for the night with chips flying all across the five remaining tables in the final level of play that led to a lot of players riding roller coasters with their stack sizes before becoming official for the evening.

Several other familiar players will also be joining the aforementioned five. Mike Iacovone (338,000), William Nguyen (274,000), MSPT champ Chan Pelton (269,000), and two-time MSPT champ Ken Baime (195,000), are just a few more of the players to add their names to the Day 2 roster along with the 26 to have already advanced from Day 1a.

Among those not as lucky at the felt included MSPT Hall of Famer's Pat Steele & Josh Reichard, along with MSPT champ's Chris Meyers, Gerald Cunniff, and Greg Himmelbrand, with at least a few if not all of them likely to be seen back in action for the final flight.

The final starting flight for the Main Event is tomorrow starting at 12:15 p.m. EST.

Everyone who makes Day 2 will return on Sunday at 11:15 a.m. to play for the MSPT $1,110 Main Event Title at Jack Cleveland Casino.

Congratulations to everyone who advanced to Day 2.

We will be back tomorrow for coverage of Day 1C of the Mid-States Poker Tour here on MSPTPoker.com from Cleveland, Ohio!

End of Day 1B Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Joe Costa	623,000	710,000
Shawn Kunkle	511,000	435,000
Dionta James	431,000	431,000
Jeff Wells	373,000	378,000
John Amoia	366,000	366,000
Mike Iacovone	338,000	480,000
Steve Zimmerman	325,000	145,000
Christopher Rodriguez	276,000	276,000
William Nguyen (TX)	274,000	115,000
Chan Pelton	269,000	240,000
Richard Kollarik	244,000	244,000
Dominic Conte	234,000	234,000
Kris Davis	231,000	231,000
Casey Yontz	214,000	214,000
Igor Ioffe	208,000	208,000
Thomas Scott	204,000	200,000
Kyle Grupp	202,000	202,000
Kenneth Baime	195,000	200,000
Chad Stone	188,000	190,000
Chau Nguyen	180,000	180,000
Frank Lagodich	177,000	150,000
Nathan Early	169,000	147,000
Andrew Shields	158,000	158,000
Barrett Lipkin	155,000	166,000
Blake Napierala	154,000	154,000
Kenneth Rutledge	151,000	151,000
Linda Eisenstein	146,000	146,000
David Reed	145,000	145,000
Jennifer Malensek	132,000	132,000
Katie Kopp	130,000	165,000
Thomas Carlin	123,000	110,000
Andy Rogowski	115,000	135,000
Matt Murray	112,000	112,000
Michael Ryan	112,000	112,000
Lam Nguyen	111,000	111,000
Jake Turkall	109,000	109,000
Daniel Fries	102,000	102,000
Chad Reed	93,000	93,000
Brad Martinkonid	68,000	68,000
Brad Sailor	66,000	165,000

Nguyen Drops Lichtenstein in Final Hand

Ryan Lichtenstein was all in on the final hand of the night for his last 80,000 and was called by William Nguyen.

Ryan Lichtenstein:
William Nguyen:

Lichtenstein was behind needing help but didn’t get any from the runout as he was one of the final eliminations of the night.

William Nguyen - 250,000
Ryan Lichtenstein - 0

Final Three Hands

The tournament dealer has just announced the final three hands of the evening with 42 players remining at the moment.

Stone Doubles Through Lichtenstein with Aces

A series of preflop raises led to Chad Stone getting his 93,000 stack in the middle from the small blind and was called by Ryan Lichtenstein from the cutoff.

Chad Stone:
Ryan Lichtenstein:

Stone was out in front holding the best possible made hand and didn’t have a sweat as the clean runout secured his double-up.

Chad Stone - 190,000
Ryan Lichtenstein - 75,000

Anderson Handed a Cooler by Iacovone

After the hijack limped-in, Mike Iacovone raised to 16,000 from the cutoff and Mary Anderson three-bet to 34,000 from the big blind.

Action was back on the initial limper who called only to have Iacovone four-bet jam having both players covered.

Anderson quickly called off her 150,000 stack while the hijack folded, and the two players tabled their hands.

Mike Iacovone:
Mary Anderson:

Anderon’s hot day came to a screeching halt after seeing Iacovone roll over a pair of aces and the runout ended her Day 1B run.

Mike Iacovone - 480,000
Mary Anderson - 0

More Late Night Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Shawn Kunkle	325,000	280,000
Kenneth Baime	200,000	245,000
Thomas Scott	200,000	225,000
Brad Sailor	165,000	100,000
Frank Lagodich	150,000	147,500
Steve Zimmerman	145,000	145,000
Chan Pelton	120,000	68,500
David Montgomeryzott	115,000	205,500
Thomas Carlin	110,000	96,500
Chris Meyers (NY)	0	25,000

Costa Keeps Bullying

After denying his table a free round of drinks in a previous elimination, Joe Costa raised to 8,000 from late position and then called a 20,000 three-bet Grigor Hakobyan made from the cutoff.

The flop was checked by both players to the turn where Costa tossed out an uncontested 18,000 to win another pot, bringing his chip stack to a cool half-milly.

Joe Costa - 500,000
Grigor Hakobyan - 40,000

Some Late Night Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
James Costa	390,000	280,000
Jeff Wells	378,000	330,000
Chris Barrett	166,000	166,000
Ryan Lichtenstein	165,000	156,500
Nathan Early	147,000	200,000
Andy Rogowski	135,000	175,500
Chad Stone	133,000	137,500
Kim Schinco	100,000	196,500
Katie Kopp	90,000	67,500
Grigor Hakobyan	88,000	88,000
William Nguyen (TX)	55,000	70,000