Day 1A of the MSPT Running Aces Main Event attracted 166 entrants – up from the Fall’s 159 runners – and after 14 levels of play just 26 remained with Curtis Vierstraete and his stack of 379,000 leading the way.
Vierstraete, who hails from North Dakota, has three MSPT cashes totaling $6,952, with his single best being $2,657 for finishing 25th in this event back in September. However, his best-ever cash was $39,212 for finishing runner-up to Kou Vang in the 2010 Fall Poker Classic.
Others who bagged big stacks were MSPT Pro Matt Kirby (266,500), Jared Koppel (245,000), Sam Hanson (238,000), and Mark Reid (227,000), who round out the top five.
While they didn’t amass quite as many chips, plenty of notables punched their ticket to Day 2 including Aaron Johnson (187,000), MSPT Pro Matt Alexander (180,000), MSPT Season 7 Canterbury Park champ Jon Kim (130,500), former MSPT Running Aces champ Mark Sandness (81,000), reigning MSPT Player of the Year Rich Alsup (66,500), and the most recent inductee into the Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame Tony Hartmann (49,000).
Of course, not everyone was so fortunate. Among those to fall on Day 1A were former MSPT Running Aces champs Jeremy Dresch and Luke Arora, World Series of Poker bracelet winner John Reading, MSPT Pro Blake Bohn, Minnesota Poker Hall of Famer Mike Schneider, MSPT Season 6 Player of the Year Mark Hodge, and two-time champ Peixin Liu.
Those players and anyone else looking to take a shot can enter the Day 1B flight, which will take place at 4 p.m. local time on Saturday. That’s when our coverage will resume, so be sure to join us then.