Chris Smith Bags Big on Day 1b of the MSPT Sycuan Casino $1,110 Main Event
Two starting flights are now complete, with one more still left to play at the MSPT Sycuan Casino Main Event. The $1,110 buy-in tournament continued with Day 1b on Friday, as 153 entries came through the Sycuan Casino Event Center in San Diego, CA.
The pinnacle event of the MSPT United States Poker Championship saw the Day 1b field trimmed from 153 to 19 players by night's end.
At the end of play, Chris Smith (450,000) emerged with the biggest Day 1b stack. Smith already won the $360 Regional NLHE earlier in this series, and looks to follow that up with a deep run in the Main Event.
Other players bagging large after Friday's flight included Aaron Knapp (440,000), Adam Lamphere (313,000), and Huy Nguyen (270,000)
More notable names still in contention for a championship include Shaun Davis (226,000), Mike Rosado (263,000), and Matt Kirby (168,000)
The 19 players that survived Day 1b will join the 12 players that emerged from Day 1a, along with all players making it through Saturday's Day 1c flight. The Day 1 contenders will reconvene as a combined field for Day 2 on Sunday, and play down to a champion.
Some of the players not making it through Day 1b included Andrew Moreno, Johnnie Moreno, Joe Serock, Nick Pupillo, and former MSPT Main Event champion Nicholas Smith. All of those players can enter Day 1c on Saturday, however.
With $300,000 in guaranteed prize money on the line, the eventual winner of the Main Event stands to go home with a sizeable payday.
Saturday's Day 1c flight will likely draw the biggest attendance of any opening-day flight in the Main Event, so stay tuned to the PokerNews live blog. Day 1c begins Saturday at 3 p.m.