Null Bags Day 1a Lead at Running Aces; Sandness Makes it Through

Andrew Null sealed up 309,500 to bag a healthy lead at the end of Day 1a of Mid-States Poker Tour Running Aces Harness Park. Null leads the 29 players who survived through 14 levels of play out of a 156 total entries. Mark Sandness, who took down the tournament the last time the MSPT rolled through town, began his title defense with a strong showing, as he bagged 189,000.

Null owes his stack primarily to one massive pot, the biggest of the night. In one of the first hands at Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300), Brady Nissen had about 160,000 to start the hand, and he got it all in holding with a board reading . Null covered him and had the better hand with set of sixes (). Null only to fade a queen and jack on the river, and while paint hit the board, it was the , and Null dragged the enormous pot while a disappointed Nissen hit the rail.

Null had about 350,000 at that point, and he coasted through the last two levels of the night.

Sandness arrived just before the first break and got things rolling early by busting Adam Lamphere's first bullet. He bet-called a flop with before calling Lamphere's subsequent barrels on the turn and river to reveal an all-in bluff of for a missed straight draw. Sandness continued to accumulate chips despite a bump or two along the way and ended with 189,000.

Others joining Null and Sandness in the line-up for Sunday's Day 2 included Rodney Colson (247,000), Lamphere (197,000), Ervin Bjerga (187,000), John "JohnnyGstaks" Hayes (148,500), Peixin Liu (118,000), Jason Seitz (107,500), Jeff Bryan (56,500), and Steve Belland (47,000). Belland and Bryan finished third and second, respectively, at the MSPT Grand Falls back in August.

Plenty of notables failed to make it through, but they can take another crack on Day 1b if they so choose. Among those to fall were Jason Zarlenga, coming off of a win at MSPT Potawatomi for his second MSPT title; Tony "Lazer" Lazar, Aaron Johnson, Jeremy Dresch, Brandon Meyers, David Gonia, Nick Pupillo, Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler, Matt Kirby, Lance Harris, and Brett Kuznia.

"Chainsaw" tried grinding his trademark short stack game, but couldn't find a spot to double up. He ultimately jammed it in for less than 10 big blinds with the and was called by Nissen's . A run out spelled the end for Kessler, who comes into the tournament coming off of one of the biggest wins of his career.

Kuznia, meanwhile, continued his incredibly poor run of luck in MSPTs when he jammed in on a final board of , only to see Mario Hudson turn over for a straight flush.