Hollywood Casino St. Louis

Bruce Simmons Bags Top Stack After 30 Players Advance from Day 1B

Almost another full day of action was played to its conclusion at the 2023 Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Hollywood Casino $1,110 Main Event.

The second of three flights drew 255 entries to bring the two-day total thus far to 369, and with that number, the $300K GTD has already been surpassed with one flight remaining.

Of those 255 entries, only 30 players remained when chips went into bags with Bruce Simmons bagging the top stack with 688,000.

Simmons caught steam at the end of the night with one of his biggest hands coming after he turned the nut flush for a 300k pot late in the evening.

Rounding out the top five stacks were Ethan Jaggie (566,000), Wayne Nicholsen (501,000), Sanjay Dulabh (469,000), and Eric Douglas (464,000).

Much like Day 1a, the final levels of the night saw an onslaught of casualties, with players such as MSPT Hall of Famer Rob Wazwaz among those to be eliminated before play concluded for the night with chips flying all across the 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. Joe Batterman (340,000), MSPT Hall of Famer Rich Alsup (219,00), Mark Lafata (154,000), and DJ Buckley (108,000) are just a few more of the players to add their names to the Day 2 roster along with the 12 to have already advanced from Day 1a.

The final starting flight will get underway tomorrow at 3.00 p.m. Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 12 (approximately 11:40 p.m.). Make sure to tune in to see who makes it through to Day 2.

MSPT Hollywood Casino Remaining Schedule

End of Day 1B Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Bruce Simmons	688,000	685,000
Ethan Jaggie	566,000	566,000
Wayne Nicholsen	501,000	360,000
Sanjay Dulabh	469,000	469,000
Eric Douglas	464,000	220,000
Jeffrey Sauer	388,000	365,000
Charles Telle	379,000	270,000
Joe Batterman	340,000	420,000
Joseph Elpayaa	298,000	298,000
Mark Koeln	264,000	211,000
Gary Herstein	241,000	165,000
Richard Alsup	219,000	240,000
Ryan Hercules	219,000	219,000
Tim Vance	209,000	135,000
Breck McCoy	207,000	207,000
Dor Elharari	206,000	206,000
Jerry Paskert	191,000	191,000
Brian Rauk	187,000	187,000
Paul Wendell	187,000	187,000
Adam Altnether	176,000	176,000
Chad Chizek	172,000	137,000
Mark Lafata	154,000	50,000
Adam Twenhafel	147,000	166,000
Christopher Jones	143,000	343,000
Christopher Audrain	143,000	126,000
Nesli Ohare	131,000	131,000
DJ Buckley	108,000	108,000
Brittany Williams	91,000	66,000
Jeramie Hill	90,000	128,000
Ralleigh Grandberry	61,000	60,000

Elharari Doubles Through Jones, Hard Stop Reached

Christopher Jones raised to 13,000 from the hijack and then called the 58,000 three-bet jam Dor Elharari made from the button.

Dor Elharari:
Christopher Jones:

Elharari had Jones dominated and the runout secured his double-up while at another table, the final elimination of the night occurred ending Day 1b play.

Christopher Jones - 285,000
Dor Elharari - 135,000

Day 1A Chip Counts

Yesterday’s starting flight saw Ryan Ramsdell edge out Travis Burch for the top spot with 12 players advaning from a 114-entry field after Day 1a and players who make it through today will join that group on Sunday, August 6th for Day 2 at 11 a.m.

Jones Drops Reno

Todd Reno open-jammed under the gun and action quickly folded to Christopher Jones who snap-called from the big blind.

Todd Reno:
Christopher Jones:

Jones had Reno dominated, and the runout ended his night.

Christopher Jones - 343,000
Todd Reno - 0

Alsup Drops One

Action folded to DJ Buckley who raised to 11,000 from the button and was called by the small blind before MSPT’s top GOAT squeezed from the big blind.

Buckley quickly released his hand while the small blind called off their short stack.

Opponent:
Rich Alsup:

Alsup was ahead holding the better hand and the runout secured him the elimination.

DJ Buckley - 140,000
Rich Alsup - 136,000

More Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Joe Batterman	420,000	415,000
Wayne Nicholsen	360,000	360,000
Charles Telle	270,000	270,000
Leslie Butler	225,000	243,000
Eric Douglas	220,000	180,000
Adam Twenhafel	166,000	150,000
Jeramie Hill	128,000	160,000
Eric Salazar	85,000	130,000
Bradley Beetz	63,000	90,000
Ralleigh Grandberry	58,000	51,000
Adam Tolander	0	130,000

Telle Flushes Butler for Double

There was heads-up action after a flop between Charles Telle from the cutoff and Leslie Butler from the big blind.

A series of raises saw Telle get his 132,000 stack into the middle and Telle called.

Charles Telle:
Leslie Butler:

Telle was trailing holding a flush draw and the turn didn’t change a thing.

Luckily for Telle, the dealer dropped the on the river completing is flush and secured his double-up.

Charles Telle - 280,000
Leslie Butler - 243,000

Round of Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Bruce Simmons	457,000	284,000
Jeffrey Sauer	368,000	368,000
Mark Koelin	211,000	247,500
Nicholas Hobbs	205,000	190,000
Gary Herstein	165,000	118,000
Tim Vance	135,000	78,300
Adam Tolander	130,000	165,000
Maxx Holland	123,000	125,000
DJ Buckley	108,000	56,500
Martin Kinder	89,000	108,000
Richard Alsup	76,000	77,000
Brittany Williams	66,000	165,000
Mark Lafata	50,000	137,500
Chad Chizek	36,000	36,000
Rob WazWaz	26,000	30,000
Umut Ozturk	0	30,000

Registration Closed

Registration for Day 1b is officially closed with 255 entrants tallied for the first flight.

The plan is to play through Level 15 unless 12% of the field (30 players) is reached first, the tournament clock reads 52 players remaining.