Bekavac Reigns Over The Field In Quest For Fifth Title
A total of 942 players registered for today’s final flight of the $1,100 Mid-States Poker Tour Main Event at Firekeepers in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was just 130 that found their way to a bag for Day 2, meaning that the total number to make it to Day 2 is 303. The players will return at 11 a.m. to play for their piece of the $2,336,730.
Nothing seemed to be going right for defending champion Dan Bekavac for most of the starting flights. Firing multiple times in Day 1a and 1b, it seemed like 1c was panning out to be another bustout for Bekavac. He started the end of registration with just over 100,000 and chips with just three levels to go until bagging, then things started to go his way.
The chips began flying in the late levels of the night, and all of it was towards Bekavac. Player after player, pot after pot, the defending champion rose to the top of the overall tournament leaderboard and continued to build. He ended the night with a whopping 1,128,000, nearly two times the stack of the next closest opponent. The four-time MSPT champion flashed a five as the picture was taken at the end of the night, making it clear where his sights lie.
Top 10 Chip Counts Day 1c
| Place | Name | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Bekavac | 1,128,000 |
| 2 | Soheb Porbandarwala | 611,000 |
| 3 | Joseph Curcio | 489,000 |
| 4 | Jonathan Johnson | 458,000 |
| 5 | Rahulinder Dhillar | 402,000 |
| 6 | Jacob Baumgartner | 366,000 |
| 7 | Jason Walker | 360,000 |
| 8 | Sean Syberg | 359,000 |
| 9 | David Kenniston | 355,000 |
| 10 | Richard Luth | 354,000 |
Many other players ended the night with strong stacks as well. Last iteration’s fifth place finisher Jonathan Johnson (458,000) and seventh place finisher Timothy Mulroy (240,000) are eager to get back to the final table of the biggest midwestern poker tournament of all time, and both bagged fairly strong stacks. They will join Marquez Davis and CJ Peake into Day 2 as five of the nine final tablists from last MSPT Firekeepers final table still see their dreams remain alive.
WSOP bracelet winners Jean “Prince” Gaspard (183,000) and Joe Ebanks (140,000) both found their way to bags at the end of the night. Both looking to get a piece of this massive prize pool as well as make their mark in MSPT history. MSPT hall of famer Pat Steele (141,000) will be looking to add another title to his already illustrious resume, as well as other MSPT regulars like Kevin Berthelsen (206,000), Ralph Massey (180,000), Donnie Phan (94,000), Jake Bazeley (67,000), and Firekeepers champion Bobby Noel (39,000).
Not all were able to find bags on this final day of entry. Many great players fell by the wayside like Chris Tryba, DeJuante Alexander, Sarah Stefan, Angela Jordison, AJ Rudolph, Dhimitri Lleshi. Former MSPT champions Greg Himmelbrand, Ken Baime, and Rob Wazwaz will have to look to the next MSPT to get another title.
303 players will return at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 16th, with 32 minutes left on level 15 with blinds at 3,000/5,000. The blinds will return to 40-minute levels and players will play down until an MSPT Firekeepers champion is crowned. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all of the updates on the biggest midwestern tournament of all time.