Day 1B closed out another exciting Day 1 of play here in the 2019 MSPT Iowa State Poker Championships and in the end Ryan Tepen was left standing as the top chip stack for today’s flight.

The two-time WSOP Circuit Ring Winner led the way with 305,000 chips followed by Dave Soderstrom at 276,500 and Henry Gingerich at 231,000. Rounding out the top five were WSOP bracelet winner Grant Hinkle at 197,500 and former MSPT champion Taylor Howard with 189,000. Other notables include Col Lovelock with 162,000, William Reynolds holding 148,000 plus Kou Vang and Rob Wazwaz both with 83,500.

Many notables were not so luck to escape the flight including MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Johnson and past MSPT Iowa Champions Brian Soja, Steve Federspiel and Ken Komberec. Also missing the cut were former MSPT champions Ahmed Talib, David Gonia, Ryan Skluzak and TJ Ryan, former MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge and WSOP Bracelet winner John Reading.

Tonight’s flight added another 237 entries taking the final total for the tournament to 401 entries creating a prize pool of $387,470 easily clearing the $300,000 guarantee. 33 players made it through the Day 1B flight and will join the other 21 players from Day 1 bringing a total of 54 players coming back for play on Day 2 on Sunday.

Day 2 play will resume at 11 AM in the Meskwaki Veterans Convention Center inside the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel. The final table will be broadcast on a 15 minute delay here on the MSPT Poker website.

Congratulations to everyone who advanced to Day 2 as we look forward crowning a champion Sunday on the Mid-States Poker Tour!