Day 1B of the 2017 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship, which for the first time is being held at Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, drew 390 runners, which along with 1A’s 311 entries brought the total field up to 701 entries.
That surpassed February’s 677 entries from the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event to become the largest major poker tournament ($1,000+ buy-in) in Wisconsin history. It also made it the largest MSPT Potawatomi in history surpassing the previous record of 635 entries set back in the Spring of 2016.
The large turnout means the top 72 players will get paid a minimum of $2,239, while the eventual winner will walk away with a $139,086 first-place prize.
After 14 levels of play on Saturday, the field was whittled down to 71 players with Adam Dembowski and his stack of 437,500 leading the way. That is a good bit ahead of Day 1A chip leader Jill Bryant, who made it through with 339,000.
Dembowski has two tour cashes on his poker résumé. Back in April 2015, he placed 38th in the MSPT Potawatomi for $2,704, and last season he took 102nd in one of our $350 Regional Events for $678.Dembowski is also fresh off winning his first WSOP Circuit gold ring, which he did at Horseshoe Hammond back in October.
Others to bad and tag on 1B were Adam Westell (374,500), Nik Stone (190,500), MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup (181,000), Rob Wazwaz (153,500), reigning MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champ Andy Rubinberg (126,500), MSPT Season 6 Player of the Year Mark Hodge (67,500), 2016 MSPT Michigan State Poker Champion Brett Blackwood (47,500), and inaugural MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champ Ben Wiora (47,000).
Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to survive the night. Among those to try and fall were reigning MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champion Andy Rubinberg, WSOP bracelet winner John Reading, Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, MSPT Season 4 Player of the Year Pat Steele, #MSPT100 winner Jason Ramos, and two-time champ MSPT Jeremy Dresch, and Keith Heine, who currently sits second on the Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year Leaderboard.
The surviving 125 players from the two starting flights (71 players from 1B, 54 from 1A) will return at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Day 2 will play down to a winner, and of course we’ll be there to capture all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor. Be sure to join us then!