Kenny Malim shoved all in for 7,100 under the gun, and Ken Hughes jammed for 21,600 right behind him. Two spots later, David Chocheles made it a third all in covering both, and everyone else folded.
Chocheles:
Hughes:
Malim:
The board ran out , leaving Hughes' jacks best and eliminating Malim. Meanwhile, Chocheles is down to a short stack.
Claudia Crawford opened for 2,500 from middle position, and Allen Kessler defended his big blind.
"What?!" Crawford said with exaggerated surprise. "Wow. Allen's gonna see a flop."
See a flop the two did, and it came . Kessler checked, and Crawford quickly checked it back. A hit the board, and Kessler bet out 3,000. Crawford made it 7,000, and Kessler thought briefly before moving all in.
Crawford called right away, turning up for the nuts, and Kessler tabled for top pair with a straight draw. A ten would give him a chop, but the river was the , and Kessler expressed his disgust at how he'd "dumped chips."
Claudia Crawford opened for 2,500 in the cutoff, and Austin Bursavich three-bet to 6,400 on the button. Nicholas Graphia called in the big blind, and Crawford made it 15,000. Bursavich got out of the way, and Graphia tanked for a bit before calling once again. When the dealer splayed the flop, Graphia check-shoved for about 61,000 after Crawford continuation-bet 16,000. Crawford thought for a bit before laying down her hand.
Meanwhile, David Chocheles doubled up at the other table when he opened under the gun and saw numerous callers. The flop brought just what he was looking for, however, as his all-in bet was called by a player with while Chocheles held for a set. He doubled up when his hand held.
A player in middle position opened for 4,800, and Will Souther three-bet to 11,700 from the next spot. Everyone folded back to the raiser, who plopped down a stack of gray and orange chips. Souther announced all in, and his opponent called.
Souther:
Middle position:
The board ran out , providing threat to Souther's aces.
The first day of play in the 2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge Main Event has come to a close. Austin Bursavich bagged 187,300 in chips to notch a wide Day 1a chip lead over the other 17 survivors of the flight, and Will "Monkey" Souther was next in line with 132,000. Rounding out the top five stacks were Nicholas Graphia (95,700), Jack Carona (81,700), and Claudia Crawford (69,700).
A total of 55 entries were recorded, and the remaining 18 players will bide their time before returning on Sunday for Day 2.
Souther, meanwhile, owes his hefty stack to two pairs of aces in hole, winning all-in pots against players holding on two separate occasions that you can read about here and here.
Graphia, who bagged the third largest stack, played perhaps the most exciting hand of the day when he dragged a pot with quads queens against kings full.
Other notables bagging up for the night include Matt Kirby (69,300) and Justin Truesdell (50,200), while accomplished runners like Kou Vang, Kenny Malim, Matt Alexander, Bill Romer, Nick Jivkov, and Allen Kessler hit the exits before the end of the night.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow as we bring you live coverage of Day 1b here at PokerNews.