Ameristar East Chicago: August 29 - September 2, 2024

 

Michael O’Neill Leads The 19 Survivors of Day 1B

Created (8/30/2024 11:49:00 PM by Liam Gannon)
 

 

After 15 levels of play, the second flight of the $1,100 East Chicago Main Event has seen its starting field of 177 entrants reduced to just 19. Each one of the surviving players will join the 12 from yesterday’s flight and the players from the future flights on Monday, September 2nd to play for the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Leading the way of the final 19 is Michael O’Neill who ended his day with the overall chip lead of 592,000. O’Neill has been playing with the MSPT since at least last year, as his Hendon Mob consists of only cashes at MSPT Firekeepers, the biggest tournament of the year. O’Neill started the day raking in big pots and he never stopped, the momentum carrying him to the very top. With this massive stack today, he looks to make his fourth MSPT cash a big one as he looks to add more to his burgeoning resume.

End of Day 1B Chip Counts

Place Player Chip Count
1 Michael O'Neill 592,000
2 Kurt Fraser 531,000
3 Justin Hankinson 444,000
4 Mark Cahill 422,000
5 Jerry Winkler 391,000
6 Cody Brinn 387,000
7 Anwar Baig 310,000
8 Shawn Thielemann 304,000
9 Shawn Sung 290,000
10 Andrew Kang 279,000

Nipping at his heels at day's end was Kurt Fraser (531,000). 14 years ago, Fraser took home his biggest lifetime score after winning an HPT in Tama for $75,091. He looks to take down another big title here at East Chicago. Rounding out the podium is Chicago regular Justin Hankinson (444,000) who secures his first MSPT cash to add to his already decorated resume.

Fortune did not smile on all as MSPT champions Kyna England, Lee Rzentkowski, Aaron Johnson, and Mark Sandness all fell by the wayside and joined others on the rail like Joe Batterman, Gary L Vick, Anthony Babic, and Shiva Dudani. They will have ample opportunity to play the following two flights over the next two days.

Play ended with 11:04 left in level 15 with blinds at 3,000/6,000, and a 6,000 big blind ante. They will return to the level reached on Day 1a unless one of the following flights ends earlier. Stay tuned to MSPTPoker.com for all updates on the $1,100 Main Event at East Chicago.