Day 1A of the Mid-States Poker Tour’s inaugural $1,100 Poker Bowl at The Venetian in Las Vegas drew 253 entrants, which puts the tournament on pace to double the advertised $300,000 guarantee.
After 14 levels of play, the field was whittled down to 36 survivors with Mark Darer and his stack of 257,000 leading the way. Darner, who barely edged out Tony Utnage (255,000) for the lead, is a well-known poker grinder who has amassed $865,828 in tournament earnings dating back to 2011. That includes a lone MSPT cash – 282nd in the MSPT Venetian last summer for $2,546.
Others who bagged and tagged were Darren Rabinowitz (170,500), WPT Five Diamond champ James Romero (137,000), MSPT Season 2 Running Aces champ Jason Seitz (129,000), MSPT Season 7 Meskwaki champ Ken Komberec (61,500), and three-time bracelet winner Dutch Boyd (13,500).
Among the throng of players to falls on Day 1A were World Series of Poker bracelet winners Ryan Laplante, Eric Baldwin, and Kathy Liebert, 2010 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Joseph Cheong, World Poker Tour champs Jordan Cristos and Craig Varnell, and former MSPT champs Rodger Johnson, Joe Matheson, and John Sun.
All of those players and more will have the chance to fire on Day 1B, which will kick off at Noon local time on Friday. Among those who traveled from the Midwest to play in tomorrow’s flight are MSPT Canterbury Park champ Jonathan Kim, MSPT Running Aces runner-up Vic Peppe, and tour regular Mike Holm.
Be sure to check back tomorrow as we bring you all the latest and greatest from the 2017 Poker Bowl straight from the tournament floor at The Venetian!