Ryan Dodson Leads 40 Surviving Day 1b Players
To say the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Grand Falls Casino $1,100 buy-in, $150K GTD Main Event crushed it would be an understatement. The first live mid-major poker tournament in the United States in nearly six months attracted 518 entries (226 from Day 1a; 292 from 1b), which not only surpassed the venue��s previous best field of 238 entries in 2015, but also became the largest major ($1,000+ buy-in) in Iowa history.
While Grand Falls Casino is situated just outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it is technically located just across the border in Larchwood, Iowa. Despite being a bit remote, players flocked from the Midwest as well as Colorado, Florida, and Vegas. The turnout was evidence that, despite the current pandemic, there is a big demand for live tournament poker.
After a hard stop 10 minutes into Level 15, just 40 players bagged and tagged with Ryan Dodson and his stack of 617,000 leading the way. That was a bit ahead of Day 1a chip leader Kevin Berthelsen, who bagged 541,000.
Others to punch their tickets to Day 2 were Leo Fussy (544,000), MSPT Hall of Famer Pat Steele (377,000), three-time MSPT champ Matt Kirby (220,000), and MSPT Golden Gates champ Steve Wilkie (217,000).
Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to make it through the night. Among those to fire and fall in Saturday��s flight were Minnesota sports radio personality Cory Cove, Colorado poker pro Nick Pupillo, former MSPT champs Ahmed Taleb, Taylor Howard, and Jonathan Kim, just to name a few.
Day 2 will get underway at 11 a.m. local time and play to a winner. The top 54 finishers will get paid with the eventual winner walking away with a $107,706 first-place prize. PokerNews will be on hand to capture all the action, so be sure to join us then.