Day 1A of the 2018 MSPT Iowa State Poker Championship at Meskwaki Casino drew 176 entries, but after 16 levels of play just 24 remained with Travis Sweet and his stack of 382,500 leading the way.
Sweet is on a bit of a heater after finishing runner-up in the MSPT Potawatomi Regional Event two weeks ago for $50,901.
Others to bag big stacks were four-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Mark Fink (282,500), current Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 9 POY leader Aaron Johnson (260,500), Zach Campbell (259,500), and WSOP bracelet winner John Reading (245,500).
Joining them at the end of the night were Kevin Berthelesen (220,500), Peyton Smith (215,000), DJ Buckley (117,500), Scotter Clark (81,000), Mike Shin (67,500), Mike Rieck (67,000), and Mike Lang (12,500).
Among those players to hit the rail on Friday were World Series of Poker bracelet winner Chris Tryba, 2018 WSOP Main Event 11th-place finisher Ryan Phan, and MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup.
Likewise, former MSPT champs Ahmed Taleb, Blake Bohn, Ken Komberec, Jeremy Dresch, Dan “DQ” Hendrickson, Jason Seitz, and 2016 MSPT Iowa State Poker Champ John Sun all fell by the wayside.
All of those players and any newcomers will have the opportunity to fire Day 1B at 2 p.m. local time on Saturday. There will also be a $250 buy-in Turbo satellite at 10 a.m. for those looking to get in on the cheap.
Be sure to join us tomorrow for more updates straight from the tournament floor. Until then, good night from Meskwaki Casino in Tama, Iowa!