That's the question a player asked Adam Lamphere after he got quite lucky recently.
It happened when Lamphere, who has finished runner-up in this tournament two stops running, moved all in for roughly 55,000 from early position. Steve Anderson then three-bet all in over the top, which isolated his opponent.
Anderson:
Lamphere:
It looked like Lamphere's luck here at FireKeepers had finally run out, but the dealer then delivered the flop — !
Lamphere flopped Broadway and Anderson was left shaking his head. Neither the turn nor river changed a thing, and Lamphere received new life.
Likewise, George Janssen has also been eliminated from the tournament.
Action folded to a short-stacked Michael Bozzo in the small blind and he wasted little time in moving all in. Wisconsin's Ken Payne was in the big, and he opted to defend.
Bozzo:
Payne:
Payne was ahead, and he stayed there as the board ran out a clean . Bozzo blanked and was eliminated from the tournament shy of the money,
Meanwhile, Darrell Newcomer has also been eliminated from the tournament.
Phil Chandler got his stack all in preflop and was ahead of "Wild Bill" Romer.
Chandler:
Romer:
The flop was about as interesting as could be as Chandler paired his ace but Romer picked up a pair of queens and a flush draw. The latter actually came in on the turn, which left Chandler drawing dead.
"Sorry guy," Romer offered. The river made it official and Chandler took his leave from the tournament.
After Jeff Hill was the first to exit here on Day 2, Zane Palmer, the short stack coming in to today, followed him out the door in 64th place.
It happened after a player had opened for 6,000 and Jason Zarlenga three-bet to 13,500. Action reached Palmer in the big blind, and he moved all in for 23,000 or so. The original raiser folded and Zarlenga made the call.
Palmer:
Zarlenga:
The flop was kind to Palmer as it gave him the lead with two pair, but Zarlenga picked up a Broadway draw. The turn gave Zarlenga a bunch more outs, but it'd be the aforementioned straight that would come in when the spiked on the river.
"I was grateful to get a king-queen there," Palmer told a friend after the hand.
Today, the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan will crown a champion. What began with 411 entrants — a number considerably larger than last year's 301 — is now down to the final 65, of which 45 will split the $397,170 prize pool and walk away with a minimum payday of $1,986.
There are plenty of notable still in contention for the $101,482 first-place prize, including Day 1c and overall chip leader Nick Perkins, who will start today with 368,500. Only two other players, Frank Galilei (311,000) and John Michalak (308,000) will start Day 2 with over 300K in chips, and amazing they amasses those stacks on Day 1c as well. As for the other starting flight leaders, Day 1b's Carter Myers will begin with 273,000 while Day 1a's Scott Hammett has 212,500.
Others returning to action today include MSPT regular "Wild Bill" Romer; grinder Taylor Tollefson (210,500); MSPT Majestic Star champ Ken Baime (179,000); Wisconsin's Ken Payne (96,500); MSPT Running Aces third-place finisher Tyler Caspers (83,500); and Adam Lamphere (45,500), who has finished runner-up here at FireKeepers the first two times the MSPT rolled into town, though he faces an uphill battle as he begins the day as the fifth-shortest stack.
Play kicks off at 10 a.m. local time, which is less than an hour from now. The plan is to play all day long, and eventually the final table of ten will be set. At that point there will be a 45-minute dinner break and then the final table will be live streamed (we'll still be providing live updates). The MSPT's Byran Mileski and WSOP and HPT champ Adam Friedman will be providing commentary on the live stream.
The cards will be in the air shortly, so stay tuned!
For more on the MSPT stop at FireKeepers, visit MSPTpoker.com.