Ouellette Leads Day 1a of The Montana State Poker Championship
This year’s edition of the RPT’s Montana State Poker Championship saw a total of 146 players come out to play in Day 1a at Billings Hotel and Convention Center in Billings, Montana. After the dust settled, just 25 survived in the flight to make it into Day 2.
Leading the way is Dave Ouellette, who ended the day with 803,000. Ouellette found his luck on the third bullet of the day as in the final three levels of the night, he rose from average stack to massive chip leader after a couple of big confrontations with Mike Fick. The North Dakota native is no beginner when it comes to tournaments as his Hendon Mob reads $355,357 for lifetime cashes. Accompanying him throughout the day was his trusted and adorable Morkie Jack, sitting right in his bag.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Ouellette | 803,000 |
| 2 | Donovan Thomas | 787,000 |
| 3 | Jacob Brouse | 736,000 |
| 4 | Frank Lucero | 671,000 |
| 5 | Merle Bierschenk | 545,000 |
| 6 | John Rohrbach | 534,000 |
| 7 | Lance Schuchard | 522,000 |
| 8 | Virgil Taylor | 442,000 |
| 9 | Chad Himmelspach | 416,000 |
| 10 | Whitney Bell | 403,000 |
Others who survived included 2022 Montana State Poker Champion Frank Lucero (671,000), WSOP Bracelet Winner Chad Himmelspach (471,000), tournament crusher Miles Barnum (184,000), and form RPT player of the year Arlie Brandvold (92,000). Each one of them is looking to carve up a piece of what could be the biggest tournament prize pool in Montana history.
Not all saw fortunes shine on them. Players like Weston Wells, Jimmy Hadley, Mikiyo Aoki, and Mike Fick all saw their hopes of an end of day bag vanish. Those who did not fire three bullets this flight will have the opportunity to fire again tomorrow.
Play ended at the conclusion of Level 15, which is where the players will return to on Sunday April 14th, barring tomorrow’s flight ending earlier.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding The Montana State Poker Championship.