Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge
Buy-in
$1,000
Entries
115
Level
23
Blinds
10,000 / 20,000
Ante
3,000
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Day 1a of the Mid-States Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge Main Event drew 67 runners — 12 better than the February event here — and Garrett Theriot topped the final chip counts by bagging 148,500. Rufus Yates (112,500), David Chocheles (106,000), My Nguyen (103,000), William Flippen (101,000), and Randy Landry (101,000) will also bring six-figure stacks into Sunday's Day 2.
Other notable survivors included Michael Benton (96,500), Corrie Wunstel (76,500), Robbie Matthews (61,000), Michael Horchoff (60,500), and Adam Lamphere (46,500).
Many of the most notable players to enter the field failed to make it through the day's 14 levels, such as Will "Monkey" Souther, Duma Lowery, Mike Lang, Adam Friedman, Gene Dudek, Kenny Milam, and defending champion Shawn Schoreck. These players will have another chance at MSPT glory should they choose to fire again on Day 1b.
Nguyen seemed poised to bag the chip lead after hovering near the top of the counts for much of the day. He got start off on the best foot possible when Austin Bursavich five-bet shoved on one of the first hands of the tournament, only to run his 
into Nguyen's 
.
During Level 10 (500/1,000/100), another big pot went Nguyen's way when two players were all in on an 
flop with Nguyen holding the 
. One player had two tens, and the other had the 
, but Nguyen's top two held up for the double knockout. Nguyen hit a late snag when his 
was outdrawn by Yates, who got his money in with the 
preflop and spiked a nine on the river for a 73,000-chip pot.
Souther had a nice early stack but declined from there, ultimately falling when a 
flop hit the felt and he called a short stack's eight-big blind shove with the 
. Souther's opponent had the 
, which held, leaving Souther with just 1,100. He busted a short time later, left to rue the hours he felt he wasted grinding away.
"Well, this has been a fun eight hours of my life that I'll never get back," Souther remarked.
Souther at least only bricked one bullet, which was a better day than Lang and Friedman had.
Lang tried shoving light for 12,300 during Level 6 (200/400/50) with the 
, only to be called by opener John Song, whose held up unimproved. Lang then sat down to 
on his first hand after reentering, only to flop top pair and get it in against a combo draw held by Pablo Garcia-Salas, who got there to bust the MSPT regular.
We didn't see Friedman's first bust out, but the second one came after a 
board during the same level, at which point Friedman got all in with for jacks up against Handri Maksudi, holding . Maksudi found a on the river to outdraw Friedman's two pair and bust him.
Day 1b commences at 4 p.m. local time on Saturday, and PokerNews will be back for more live reporting.
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
For Episode #260 of the PokerNews Podcast, Donnie and Rich are joined by none other than the new World Series of Poker Main Event champion, Martin Jacobson. Topics include Jacobson's final-table preparation, his big win, and the true pronunciation of his last name.
You can subscribe to the entire iBus Media Network , or . The PokerNews family of podcasts is
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
148,500 | |
|
112,500
39,500
|
39,500 |
|
106,000
67,000
|
67,000 |
|
103,000
-24,000
|
-24,000 |
|
101,000
-42,000
|
-42,000 |
|
101,000
52,000
|
52,000 |
|
96,500 | |
|
76,500
-1,000
|
-1,000 |
|
||
|
68,000 | |
|
63,000 | |
|
61,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
60,500
29,700
|
29,700 |
|
54,500
-29,000
|
-29,000 |
|
49,500
-1,500
|
-1,500 |
|
46,500
16,700
|
16,700 |
|
46,000
-47,000
|
-47,000 |
|
|
45,000 | |
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Players are bagging up.
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Pablo Garcia-Salas put his last 8,400 in from the button and was called by the big blind.
Garcia-Salas: 
Big blind: 
Garcia-Salas was bad news when a flopped], and no queen arrived to save him.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted |
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Michael Horchoff raised to 5,500 in the cutoff, and Rufus Yates shoved from the small blind for 32,200. My Nguyen woke up with a quick call in the big blind, and Horchoff thought long and hard before folding. It was the right move, as Nguyen turned over , while Yates had . A board of 
was grim for Yates, but the emerged on the river to save him.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
127,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
|
73,000
73,000
|
73,000 |
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 400
Level 13
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Pablo Garcia-Salas bet 7,000 from the small blind on a 
flop and was called by Randy Landry in the cutoff. Garcia-Salas bet the same on the turn, and Landry, put his last 10,000 in. Garcia-Salas called with 
but was crushed by Landry's 
. No jack appeared on the river.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
49,000 | |
|
|
21,000
-71,500
|
-71,500 |