Sycuan Casino Resort

Adrian Lopez Leads 8 Survivors After Day 1A

Day 1a of the MSPT (Mid-States Poker Tour) Season 15 $1,110 Main Event at Sycuan Casino & Resort has come to a close after seeing 65 entrants kick things off.

A full day of action was played to completion with Adrian Lopez putting a whopping 658,000 in his bag to lead the eight surviving players.

Dan Davies was neck-and-neck with Lopez throughout the day but had a rough go in the final level which saw his stack drop to 260,000, putting him just behind Ken Douglas who put 261,000 in his bag to end the night.

Rounding out the top five stacks were Vlad Zatulovsky (253,000), and Bingjun Xu (190,000), while Evan Hagen (159,000), Russel McClean (103,000), and Carl Smith (68,000) all found Day 2 berths.

Among those to try and fall on Day 1a included MSPT champ Gianluca Pace, two-time MSPT champ Ken Baime, Chris Smith, and Robby Mier just to name a few.

Those players, as well as any newcomers, have two more starting flights to jump back into action. Day 1b will kick off at 3:00 p.m. local time Friday, while the third and final flight, Day 1c, will take place at the same time on Saturday.

The surviving players from each flight will then return at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday to play down to a winner.

Join us tomorrow as we continue to bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor at Sycuan Casino & Resort!

MSPT Season 15 Sycuan Showdown Series Remaining Schedule

End Day 1A Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Adrian Lopez	658,000	425,000
Ken Douglas	261,000	165,000
Daniel Davies	260,000	400,000
Vlad Zatulovsky	253,000	200,000
Bingjun Xu	190,000	335,000
Evan Hagen	159,000	101,000
Russel McClean	103,000	187,000
Carl Smith	68,000	75,000

Final Four Hands

The tournament director has just announced the final four hands of Day 1a.

James Sleight Claims Monster Stack

The MSPT (Mid-States Poker Tour) has traveled back to Sycuan Casino & Resort in San Diego, CA for their second Showdown Series of Season 15!

In Event #14: $250 No-Limit Monster Stack, 146 hunters took to the tables and created a $29,200 prize pool which was reserved for the top 15 players.

Among those to cash but fall before the final table were Eloy Caldas (10th Place - $599), Josh Mok (11th Place - $599), Grant McGahey (12th Place - $599), Ghadeer Kashat (13th Place - $496), Tobin Creighton (14th Place - $496), and Nikola Nikolic (15th Place - $496).

In the end, it was California native James Sleight who tamed the Monster to take down the lion's share of the prize pool along with the Sapdey trophy!

Final Table Result

*denotes chop

Zatulovsky Flushes Douglas to Stay Alive

Ken Douglas raised from middle position and then called Vlad Zatulovsky’s 100,000 three-bet from the big blind.

Vlad Zatulovsky:
Ken Douglas:

It was a classic race with the runout giving Zatulovsky the nut flush to stay alive.

Vlad Zatulovsky - 200,000
Ken Douglas - 165,000

Largest Midwest Poker Tournament Set for May 16th - 19th!

Don’t look now, but Michigan is one of the country’s hottest spots for poker, a fact evidenced by massive tournament fields.

Case in point, recent stops of the MSPT, which will visit FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek for the first time in Season 15 May 16th - 19th.

A series of $70 and $265 qualifiers will take place in the weeks leading up to the $1,110 buy-in, $1,000,000 guarantee Main Event, which is once again expected to draw a massive field.

The Main Event, which requires players be 21 years of age to participate, will feature three starting flights beginning with Day 1a at Noon on Thursday, May 16th.

The next two starting flights, Days 1b and 1c will then be held at the same time on Friday, May 17th, and Saturday, May 18th respectively. The remaining players from each flight will combine on Sunday, May 19th at 10:00 a.m. and play until a champion is crowned.

Last May, a venue record of 2,473 entrants packed the poker room and, in the end, it was MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang who took home a career-best $314,145 for the win.

That event was followed up by the MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship in October which set a new bar with 2,883 entrants tallied and saw Travis Young walk away with a $297,977 first-place prize.

Some others who've notched wins at FireKeepers are Matthew Davis (October 2022 for $344,446), Dan Bekavac (May 2022 for $198,175), Bobby Noel (October 2019 for $262,145), and Chris Moon (May 2019 for $258,407).

For more information, visit firekeeperscasino.com.

For a full look at the MSPT FireKeepers schedule, click here.

Late Night Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Adrian Lopez	425,000	375,000
Daniel Davies	400,000	500,000
Bingjun Xu	335,000	303,000
Ken Douglas	255,000	162,000
Russel McClean	187,000	198,000
Evan Hagen	101,000	58,000
Vlad Zatulovsky	98,000	153,000
Carl Smith	75,000	90,000
Josh Mok	0	70,000
David Leese	0	150,000

Gaetano Balistrier Finds an Epic Victory

For the ninth stop of its 15th season, the MSPT traveled back to San Diego, CA and players have been duking it out over the past week inside Sycuan Casino & Resort for its 16-trophy event series!

In Event #13: $200 No-Limit Hold'em Epic Stack, 75 epic players took to the felt to duel it out for the top spot and California native Gaetano Balistrier was able to claim the title for himself to take home the lion's share of the prize pool along with the Sapdey trophy!

Result

Mok Dropped by Davies

Dan Davies opened under the gun and then called Joh Mok’s three-bet jam from the big blind.

Josh Mok:
Dan Davies:

Mok saw he was in rough shape after the cards were revealed and the runout was no help as it ended his night.

Dan Davies - 500,000
Josh Mok - 0

Updated Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Daniel Davies	385,000	228,000
Adrian Lopez	375,000	435,000
Bingjun Xu	303,000	181,000
Russel McClean	198,000	184,000
Ken Douglas	162,000	165,000
Vlad Zatulovsky	153,000	189,000
David Leese	150,000	199,000
Josh Mok	70,000	60,000
Carl Smith	60,000	131,000
Evan Hagen	58,000	60,000
Michael Farrell	0	187,000
Sando Yin	0	46,000