2015 MSPT Meskwaki Main Event Day 1b: Brett Reichard Leads the Pack
The Mid-Stakes Poker Tour drew another 219 entries to the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Tama, Iowa, on Saturday for the second of two starting flights in the $300,000 guaranteed MSPT Meskwaki Main Event.
Added to the 191 from Day 1a, the total number of entries oddly reached 410 — precisely the same number this same event drew back in July of this year.
What that means is a $410,000 prize pool was created that will pay the top 45 players with a min-cash worth $1,981 and $101,229 reserved for the winner.
Through 14 levels of play on Day 1b, just 40 players survived with Janesville, Wisconsin's Brett Reichard bagging the overnight chip lead on 251,000.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brett Reichard | 251,000 |
| 2 | Patrick Harshbarger | 220,000 |
| 3 | Van Everett | 211,500 |
| 4 | Marvin Rumery | 209,000 |
| 5 | Kannan Chandran | 190,500 |
| 6 | Robert Moreno | 189,000 |
| 7 | Douglas Sundine | 182,000 |
| 8 | Steve Sloan | 175,000 |
| 9 | Ric Cacho | 174,500 |
| 10 | Jun Kim | 168,500 |
Reichard, who has four cashes on the MSPT this year, including a 10th-place finish here this past March, moved into contention late in Level 5 turning a straight against an opponent who had flopped top set.
He fell from grace in Level 12 getting pocket kings outflopped, but got all that back and more when he got it in with aces over kings a little later. Finally, the lead was cemented when he flopped a set of queens and rivered a boat in a three-way pot with one player all in and the other willing to at least give some action before tank-folding a set of his own on the turn.
Other notables pushing through included MSPT Player of the Year contenders Peixin Liu and Mark Hodge, and two-time MSPT main event runner up Mike Lang, although none can claim a truly contending stack just yet.
Day 1a leader Marty Faldet will bring the biggest stack into play with 317,000 in chips when play resumes at 11 a.m. local time Sunday.
Of course, the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand for all the action as the 77 players starting the day will play down to a champion and you can follow along right here.
As always, the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand for all the action from beginning to end, and you can follow along right here.
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