Hodge Leads, Gunning for Fourth Straight Final Table
Mark Hodge banked the biggest score of his career at Mid-States Poker Tour Running Aces when he got fourth for $25,539, and it looks to have only made him hungry for more. He bagged 315,500 at the conclusion of Day 1b of MSPT Ho-Chunk Gaming, tops out of 54 survivors and enough ammo to make him a strong contender for an amazing fourth consecutive MSPT final table. Hodge's total bested Adam Sivertson by a nose as the latter finished with 314,000.
The 266 runners the Day 1b field drew pushed the total entries to 463 for the tournament, smashing the old venue record of 383 the tour drew here last year.
Other players advancing after the 14-level flight included Nick Jivkov (248,000), Ashor Ochana (201,500), Chris Karambinis (188,000), Ben Wiora (139,500), Ken Rosheisen (131,500), Jason Sell (112,000), Nik Stone (110,000), and John Hayes (43,500). Sell tasted victory in the aforementioned 383-player field here when he banked $97,539, and his heads-up opponent was Stone.
Hodge scored a notable elimination during Level 9 (400/800/100) when he bet 6,500 from the cutoff on a board of 
against MSPT team pro and former champion Blake Bohn, who responded by check-shoving all in for 30,000. Hodge tanked for a bit and made the call.
"Show your seven," Bohn said, flipping 
in. "I know you have a seven."
Hodge indeed had 
, and he was fading a fair few outs on the river. A brick did fall, and Bohn fired one more bullet before busting for good shortly thereafter.
Hodge, meanwhile, said he got dealt kings a total of nine times during his Day 1b run, which obviously contributed to his huge stack.
Bohn was joined on the rail by fellow team pros Nick Pupillo and Matt Kirby, as well as Michael Sanders, John Reading, Mark Kroon, Freddy Hamad, Lance Harris, Ervin Bjerga, and Josh Reichard.
Day 2 begins at 10:30 a.m. local time here in Wisconsin and will play down to a winner. All of the live updates will be available right here on PokerNews.