Bogus Crushes Day 1b Field
Casey Bogus lapped the field on Day 1b at Mid-States Poker Tour Majestic Star. He bagged 316,500 to notch a wide chip lead over second-place finisher Julie Cornelius, who finished with 233,500. Bogus is also well clear of Day 1a leader Joel Casper, who ended with 263,000 on Friday night.
Others among the 23 who survived the 14 levels of play included Jason Martens (119,500), Mike Holm (88,500), Michael Younan (77,500), Paul "Walnuts" Bianchi (72,000), Dustin Hargis (53,500), and David Snitkin (43,500). Martens made a deep run in the last MSPT stop here in March, finishing 14th, while Holm is coming off of a second-place finish at last week's MSPT at Meskwaki Casino.
West Olive, Mich., native Bogus is a relative unknown on the tournament circuit, sporting just two recorded cashes. He got off to a fast start early in the day and kept things rolling, as he boasted a stack of around 116,000 at a time when the next biggest stacks were around half that number.
Busting short stacks was Bogus' forte. In one seesaw pot, he called from the cutoff when Mike Shin opened to 2,400 and saw Mark Atkins shove all in for 7,200. Shin called, and Bogus put him all in for another 15,000 or so. Shin reluctantly called it off.
Bogus: 
Shin: 
Atkins: 
The dealer spread a flop of 
, giving Atkins the triple up but Bogus the larger side pot.
Bogus busted Jose Ortiz in a preflop all in when Ortiz failed to improve 
against Bogus' 
shortly thereafter.
Shin and Ortiz weren't the only ones hitting the rail and failing to make Day 2. Joining them were former MSPT Player of the Year Patrick Steele, TJ Ryan, Brett Kuznia, Brandon Jones, "Wild" Bill Romer, Zal Irani, and Ryan Hickey.
The 48 remaining players will reconvene tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. local time to battle it out on Day 2 until a champion is crowned. Be sure to come back and tune in to PokerNews to find out whom that will be.