MSPT Meskwaki Casino Day 1b: Massive Turnout Sets State Record; Mike Lang Leads
The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Meskwaki Casino continued Saturday as a massive 214 runners turned up for Day 1b action. Combined with the 175 entrants on Day 1a, that was enough to set a new record for entrants in a major poker tournament (buy in > $1,000) in Iowa. The mark smashed the old record of 367, and it comes just a day after the MSPT set an internal record for Day 1a entrants and two weeks after it broke the Wisconsin entrants record with 383.
After 14 levels of play, Mike Lang bagged up 287,500 to lead the 40 survivors of Day 1b, while Mike Vanier (267,000), online wizard James "mig.com" Mackey (238,000), Isidro Sandoval (203,500), and Aaron Johnson (193,000) trail close behind Lang in a tightly bunched top five.
Top Ten Day 1b Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Lang | 287,500 |
| 2 | Mike Vanier | 267,000 |
| 3 | James Mackey | 238,000 |
| 4 | Isidro Sandoval | 203,500 |
| 5 | Aaron Johnson | 193,000 |
| 6 | Taylor Howard | 192,000 |
| 7 | Thao Thiem | 172,500 |
| 8 | Matthew Anderson | 158,500 |
| 9 | Ricky McGown | 126,500 |
| 10 | Aaron Hintz | 126,000 |
Thao "Scratch" Thiem (172,500), Peixin Liu (114,500), Steve Belland (109,500), Jeremy Dresch (99,500), David Gonia (79,000), and "Minneapolis" Jim Meehan (30,000) were among those bagging stacks at the conclusion of Day 1b. Not so fortunate: Bill Romer, Matt Alexander, Blake Bohn, Allen Kessler, Jon Hanner, Rob Wazwaz, Mike Deis, Mark Sandness, Larry Ormson, Christian Pham, and Blair Hinkle.
As for Lang, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team only caught him in one hand. After a flop of A♥9♠5♦, he got it all in against a shorter-stacked opponent.
Lang: 9♣5♣
Opponent: AxJx
Lang was ahead with bottom two pair, and he filled up on the river with the 5♥ after the 3♠ bricked off the turn.
Mackey, who sports more than $2.3 million in live tournament earnings and has a World Series of Poker bracelet to boot, seemed to accumulate his stack relatively quietly. He busted Wazwaz in a key hand when Wazwaz opened for a raise in early position and was called by Mackey in the big blind. After the flop, Mackey check-raised all in and Wazwaz called it off. He was unable to catch up with QxQx against Mackey's KxKx on a board of undercards.
The 30 players who made it through Day 1a will combine with Day 1b's 40 survivors at 10 a.m. on Sunday for Day 2, which is when they'll play down to a champion. Of course PokerNews will bring you all of the action in our live blog.
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