Sycuan Casino Resort

Bret Eberhart Bags Overall Chip Lead After 16 Players Survive Day 1C

Day 1c of the MSPT Season 15 Sycuan Showdown Series $1,110 Main Event is in the books after drawing 136 entries, the biggest field of all three starting flights, bringing the overall field up to 313.

At the end of the third and final flight, 16 players bagged and tagged with Bret Eberhart sitting atop the counts.

After making deep runs in the first two flights, Eberhart was able to make this one count as he was able to spin-up a 700,000 stack, good enough for the overall chip lead.

The final level of the evening saw an onslaught of casualties which included two-time MSPT champ Ken Baime, Nabor Delgado and DJ Buckley.

Others to bag big stacks where Brad Gafford (454,000), Jason Brown (445,000), Taylor Bell (376,000), & Michael Souza (306,000), as they were rounded out the top five stacks.

They were joined by Ninos Odisho (284,000), Jon “Cosmos” McGowan (280,000), MSPT Hall of Famer Umut Ozturk (226,000), Daria Ivantey (176,000), and Fadi Moshi (155,000).

The surviving players from all three flights – of which there are 37 (8 from Day 1a, 13 from 1b, and 16 from 1c) – will return at 11:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, May 5th to play down to a winner.

The MSPT live reporting crew will be on the floor throughout the remainder of the tournament to provide updates, so keep it here to catch the action!

MSPT Season 15 Sycuan Showdown Series Remaining Schedule

End Day 1C Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Bret Eberhart	700,000	565,000
Brad Gafford	454,000	320,000
Jason Brown	445,000	325,000
Taylor Bell	376,000	210,000
Michael Souza	306,000	313,000
Ninos Odisho	284,000	297,000
Jonathan McGowan	280,000	220,000
Umut Ozturk	226,000	209,000
Daria Ivantey	176,000	200,000
Fadi Moshi	155,000	120,000
Rodney Danger	127,000	124,000
Moe Jorbozeh	126,000	125,000
Noel Eicher	116,000	152,000
Robert Perez	106,000	135,000
Keith Eoll	86,000	124,000
Shun Wakita	75,000	103,000

Day 2 Roster Thus Far

So far, 21 players have punched their ticket into Day 2, and a final group of hopefuls will look to add their names to that list today.

All who make it through until the end of play will return tomorrow, Sunday, May 5^th, at 11:00 a.m. for Day 2, where the remaining players from all starting flights will combine and play until a winner is declared.

Prize Pool Information

MSPT Season 15 Showdown Series $1,110 Main Event at Sycuan Casino & Resort
Entrants: 313
Prize Pool: $302,110

Ladies Hold Strong for Ivantey, Straightens Out Baime for Double Up

Ninos Odisho raised to 10,000 from the hijack only to have two-time MSPT champ Ken Baim three-bet jam for 110,000 from the cutoff, and Daria Ivantey call off her 94,000 stack from the button.

Action quickly folded back to Odisho who tossed his pocket fours into the muck, and the two hands were tabled.

Daria Ivantey:
Ken Baime:

Ivantey was ahead holding a made hand of ladies and faded the runout gave her the queen-high straight for a double-up.

After the hand, Baime was left short and was eliminated a few hands later.

Ninos Odisho - 300,000
Daria Ivantey - 211,000
Ken Baime - 0

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

Late Night Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Bret Eberhart	565,000	386,000
Jason Brown	325,000	300,000
Brad Gafford	320,000	265,000
Michael Souza	313,000	270,000
Ninos Odisho	297,000	280,000
Jonathan McGowan	220,000	210,000
Taylor Bell	210,000	122,000
Noel Eicher	152,000	119,000
Nabor Delgado	140,000	187,000
Robert Perez	135,000	150,000
Moe Jorbozeh	125,000	89,000
Rodney Danger	124,000	68,000
Keith Eoll	124,000	120,000
Fadi Moshi	120,000	160,000
Shun Wakita	103,000	118,000
Kenneth Baime	100,000	119,000
Daria Ivantey	96,000	104,000
Ian O'Leary	62,000	113,000
Ken Morey	0	102,000
DJ Buckley	0	52,000
Surya Ramjali	0	82,000

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.

Cosmo Races to a Double

Jon “Cosmo” McGowan was all in preflop for 100,000 from the button and was called by Nabo Delgado from the small blind.

Jon “Cosmo” McGowan:
Nabor Delgado:

It was a race with McGowan keeping the lead as the runout kept his tournament hopes alive.

Jon “Cosmo” McGowan - 210,000
Nabo Delgado - 187,000

Updated Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Bret Eberhart	386,000	378,000
Jason Brown	300,000	317,000
Ninos Odisho	280,000	257,000
Michael Souza	270,000	184,000
Brad Gafford	265,000	286,000
Jonathan McGowan	210,000	170,000
Umut Ozturk	209,000	70,000
Nabor Delgado	187,000	213,000
Fadi Moshi	160,000	83,000
Robert Perez	150,000	118,500
Taylor Bell	122,000	96,000
Keith Eoll	120,000	155,000
Noel Eicher	119,000	149,000
Kenneth Baime	119,000	91,000
Shun Wakita	118,000	91,000
Ian O'Leary	113,000	135,000
Daria Ivantey	104,000	89,500
Ken Morey	102,000	247,000
Moe Jorbozeh	89,000	123,000
Surya Ramjali	82,000	251,000
Rodney Danger	68,000	78,000
DJ Buckley	52,000	0
Jose Araya	0	71,000
John Meekhael	0	35,000
Michael Holmes	0	72,000
Randy Shamo	0	51,000