Day 1A of the MSPT Meskwaki Main Event drew 168 runners but after 15 levels of play just 25 remained, and although he didn’t reach the historic Day 1A chip lead of Zac Campbell and his 791,500 Day 1A bag here in November, Jason Bender managed to lap the field and bag a massive stack of 483,500 to take into Day 2. Bender, who has four MSPT Final Tables to his name, will be looking to add to his nearly $150,000 in MSPT Career Earnings.

Others able to snare a big bag include Cody Jaeschke (259,500), Scott Vetter (220,000), John Orfanos (202,000), and Royce Matheson (199,000).

More players that advanced to Day 2 include Jordan Miller (154,000), three-time MSPT champ Blake Bohn (131,500), Season 10 MSPT Majestic Star champ Mike Shin (129,500), Brad Sailor (122,000), Season 7 MSPT Meskwaki champs Ken Komberec (110,500) and Keith Heine (95,000), Alex “F’n” Winter (81,000), William Reynolds (43,500), and Season 9 MSPT Iowa State Poker champ Brian Soja (34,000).

Not everyone was fortunate enough to survive, and a who’s who of MSPT regulars all hit the rail during the Day 1A flight. Among those to fall include MSPT Hall of Famers Rich Alsup and Aaron Johnson, former MSPT Meskwaki champs Taylor Howard, Carter Myers, Jason Ramos, and John Sun, former MSPT Main Event champs Ben Wiora, Rob Wazwaz, Josh Reichard, and Ahmed Taleb, MSPT Regional champs Saad Ghanem and Eric Atchison, PokerNews reporter Mo Nuwwarah, Ian Matakis, and Kevin Berthelsen.

Day 1B will kick off at 3 PM local time on Saturday. Before it, there will be one final $250 Satellite (20% advance) starting at 10 AM. Day 2 will kick off on Sunday at 11 AM local time.