Despite an overnight snowstorm, Day 1B of the MSPT Meskwaki Main Event attracted 211 runners to Tama, Iowa, which along with 1A’s 203 brought the total field up to 414 entries. That means 45 spots will get paid a minimum of $2,200 while the eventual winner will take home $88,018 and 1,500 POY points.

After 14 levels of play, 45 remained with Kanat Ozturk and his stack of 207,500 leading the way. That is behind MSPT Season 4 Ho-Chunk champ Josh Reichard, who was the Day 1A chip leader with 387,500 leading.

Ozturk is looking for his second MSPT cash. Last August, he finished 56th in the MSPT Canterbury Park Regional Event for $916. He’s in a position to do much better than that here in Meskwaki.

Others to bag big stacks were Ron Amos (194,000), winner of the aforementioned Canterbury Regional Paul Cross (192,200), MSPT Season 8 Potawatomi Regional Event champ Craig Trost (185,500), and Terry Gorsh (170,000), who round out the top five.

They were joined at the end of the night by MSPT Season 8 Grand Falls champ Ahmed Taleb (139,000), two-time MSPT champ Blake Bohn (122,500), MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup (112,500), and former MSPT Meskwaki champs Keith Heine (110,500) and Ken Komberec (87,500).

Among those to play and fall on Day 1B were WSOP bracelet winner John Reading, HPT Belterra champ Aaron Johnson, PokerNews reporter Mo Nuwwarah, and MSPT Season 6 Player of the Year Mark Hodge.

Likewise, former MSPT champs Kou Vang, Ben Wiora, Dan “DQ” Hendrickson, Mark Collins, John Sun, Chris Meyers, Jonathan Kim, and defending champ Max Havlish all fell by the wayside.

Day 2 will get underway at 11 a.m. with 79 (34 from 1A, 45 from 1B) returning players. Be sure to join us then as we bring you all the latest and greatest straight from the tournament floor of Meskwaki Casino.