Running Aces Casino

Three-Time Champ Carl Carodenuto Leads 22 Survivors After Day 1A of Winter Poker Classic Main Event

Day 1a of the MSPT Winter Poker Classic $1,110 Main Event is officially in the books with 195 total entries tallied for the first starting flight.

After a hard stop was reached in Level 14 with 11:27 remaining, it was none other than three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto who climbed to the top to put a mind boggling 1,034,000 into his bag to end the night, leading the 22 advancing players by a large margin.

Carodenuto started the day on a downward spiral but stuck to his game and went on a late-night elimination spree to bag the top stack.

Two-time MSPT champ Peixin Liu sat atop of the counts for majority of the day and gave Carodenuto a run for his money as he ended up putting 869,000 on his slip, good for second in chips.

MSPT Hall of Famer and Season 14 POY points leader Rob WazWaz caught his steam towards the end of the night as well and ended the night third in chips with 384,000.

Minnestoa native Paul Cross had his share of big hands throughout the day and was the only other player to eclipse the 300k ending with 343,000.

Rounding out the top five is another Hall of Famer, Umut Ozturk, who is keeping the POY race interesting after putting 276,000 on his slip to end the night as both he and WazWaz punched their tickets into Sunday’s Day 2 with top stacks.

Others to survive the night include Matt Alexander (212,000), Mike Estes (212,000), MSPT Hall of Famer Rich Alsup (207,000), Kitkat Klassen (149,000), and Rob Urbatsch (117,000).

All players unable to find a Day 2 berth will have two more opportunities with Day 1b will getting underway at noon tomorrow Friday, December 8th.

MSPT Winter Poker Classic Remaining Schedule

Make sure to tune back in for live updates throughout the entire tournament!

End of Day 1A Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Carl Carodenuto	1,034,000	665,000
Peixin Liu	869,000	789,000
Rob WazWaz	384,000	196,000
Paul Cross	343,000	252,000
Umut Ozturk	276,000	237,000
Ray Bullock	267,000	65,000
Matt Alexander	212,000	220,000
Michael Estes	212,000	150,000
Derek Crooks	211,000	230,000
Richard Alsup	207,000	190,000
Dale McDonough	199,000	150,000
Cody Meduna	182,000	190,000
Bradley Nitzsche	180,000	109,000
Matthew Fox	178,000	150,000
Daniel Schmidt	175,000	111,000
Chou Chang	165,000	130,000
Michael Crawford	159,000	120,000
Yi (KitKat) Klassen	149,000	227,000
John Raiche	118,000	77,000
Robert Urbatsch	117,000	180,000
Arlo Strozewski	111,000	100,000
David Ehlke	102,000	145,000

Hard Stop Reached; Play Has Ended

After a spree of eliminations, the hard stop has been reached with 11:27 remaining in the level.

Carodenuto Sets Up a Double Elimination for Heaps

MSPT champ Chan Pelton raised all in for 28,000 from the hijack and was called by the cutoff, along with three-time champ Carl Carodenuto from the small blind.

Once the flop hit the felt, Carodenuto led out with a bet and then called his opponents 220,000 all-in raise.

Chan Pelton: xxxx
Cutoff:
Carl Carodenuto:

Carodenuto pulled ahead after flopping a set of sevens and the turn followed by the river secured him the double elimination.

Carl Carodenuto - 665,000
Chan Pelton - 0

Lucas McCorry & Nate Reick Dominate Winter Poker Classic Event #9: $300 Tag Team

Over the past week, players have been inside Running Aces Horse Track & Casino duking it out for the MSPT Winter Poker Classic in Columbus, MN.

In Event #9: $300 NLH Tag Team, 418 players took to the felt and generated a $48,070 prize pool that was paid out to the top 21 teams.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Jesse Johnson & James Anderson (10th place - $912), Tria Vue & Fred West (13th place - $722), and Joseph Bangart & Edward Veith (18th place - $624).

Coming out the top team were Lucas McCorry & Nate Rieck who took home the top prize along with the MSPT Winter Poker Classic trophies!

Final Table Results

Chip Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Peixin Liu	789,000	390,000
Carl Carodenuto	665,000	218,000
Paul Cross	252,000	315,000
Umut Ozturk	237,000	80,000
Derek Crooks	230,000	101,500
Yi (KitKat) Klassen	227,000	114,000
Matt Alexander	220,000	133,000
Rob WazWaz	196,000	62,000
Richard Alsup	190,000	155,000
Cody Meduna	190,000	80,000
Michael Estes	150,000	235,000
David Ehlke	145,000	35,000
Darshan Pathak	145,000	500,000
Chou Chang	130,000	107,500
Michael Crawford	120,000	132,500
John Gallenberg	100,000	30,000
David Rockvam	100,000	200,000
Tom Stambaugh	63,000	66,000
Michael Wilklow	0	110,000
Bradley Rohrer	0	110,000
Chan Pelton	0	30,000
Carson Mair	0	115,000
Joe Daher	0	147,500
Loki Abboud	0	166,000
John Alexander	0	100,000

Alexander Rivers Lucky Seven to Eliminate Li

Action on the table quickly folded to John Alexander who raised all in from the small blind and Beile Li snapped off his 40,000 stack from the big blind.

Beile Li:
John Alexander:

Li was ahead holding the dominating ace but had a sweat after the flop gave Alexander a gut shot straight draw.

The turn didn’t change much but the river gave Alexander two-pair to send Li packing.

John Alexander - 125,000
Beile Li - 0

Andy Tran Ships Four Card Winter Poker Classic Event #8: $250 PLO

Over the past week, players have been inside Running Aces Horse Track & Casino duking it out for the MSPT Winter Poker Classic in Columbus, MN.

In Event #8: $250 PLO, 97 four card hopefuls took to the felt and generated a $10,500 prize pool that was paid out to the top 12 finishers.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Shawn Colsch (10th place - $407), Bruce Bobick, (11th place - $407), and Russell Devilbiss (12th place - $407).

Coming out the victor was Wisconsin native Andy Tran who ended up taking home the top prize along with the MSPT Winter Poker Classic Trophy!

Final Table Results

*denotes chop

Urbatsch Flushes Mizutani for KO

Rob Urbatsch raised to 9,000 from early position and was called by Takahiro Mizutani directly to his left, along with Paul Cross from the small blind.

The flop was checked to Urbatsch who continued for 10,000 only to have Mizutani raise all-in for 38,000. Cross quicky released his hand while Urbatsch called, and the two platers tabled their hands.

Takahiro Mizutani:
Rob Urbatsch:

Mizutani was ahead holding a made hand of eights, but the turn put Urbatsch in the lead and the river gave him the nuts to eliminate Mizutani.

Rob Urbatsch - 180,000
Takahiro Mizutani - 0

Registration Closed

Registration for Day 1a is officially closed with 195 entrants tallied for the first flight.

The plan is to play through Level 15 unless 12% of the field (23 players) is reached first, the tournament clock reads 43 players remaining.