Karakikov Leads Vang by a Nose After Day 1a

mnuwwarah

Level 9 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

Pavlin Karakikov bagged up 187,800 to lead the Day 1a field.

Pavlin Karakikov bagged 187,800 to log a tiny chip lead over Kou Vang (187,400) and 32 other players on Day 1a here at Mid-States Poker Tour Majestic Star. Leon Morford (147,600), Brian Zimcosky (129,600), and John Simon (108,000) round out the top five.

Amazingly, we didn't catch Karakikov in a single reported pot today. He explained to us that he build his stack almost entirely in the last couple of levels.

"I flopped a set against top pair and a flush draw," Karakikov said of his most critical pot.

Vang showed up late, as seems to be his custom, but he made up for lost time by quickly building a stack. Easily his most important hand came against fellow MSPT grinder Matt Alexander.

A player in the hijack opened for 2,700, and Kou Vang called from the cutoff, as did the small blind. Alexander made it 11,000 in the big blind, and the initial raiser promptly folded. Vang pushed all in, the small blind folded, and Alexander called off for 60,800 total.

Alexander:
Vang:

The first four cards came , keeping Alexander's kings best but fifth street was the to send him to the rail.

With just about 90 minutes remaining in the tournament, Vang held a huge lead over the field after this pot we witnessed, but evidently Karakikov went on a massive rush to pass him.

Vang, who is coming off of a second-place finish at the last MSPT stop two weeks ago, looks to continue his hot run by adding another big score to his more than $500,000 in career tournament earnings. Karakikov is no slouch himself, sporting just under $150,000 in winnings logged mostly at World Series of Poker Circuit events in the Midwest.

A total of 126 runners entered today, and Karakikov and Vang weren't the only notable survivors. Also bagging stacks were Jeremy Dresch (80,300), Matt Kirby (72,800), Patrick Steele (60,000), Tim Ebenhoeh Jr. (58,300), Bruce "Hammer" Swart (45,200), and John "JohnnyGstaks" Hayes (38,000). Those dropping out included the aforementioned Alexander, MSPT Baton Rouge winner Shawn Schoreck, Tom Midena, and Terry Ring.

Be sure to in to PokerNews tomorrow for coverage of Day 1b.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pavlin Karakikov	187,800 187,800	187,800
Kou Vang	187,400 -2,600	-2,600
Leon Morford	147,600 18,600	18,600
Brian Zimcosky	129,600 129,600	129,600
John Simon	108,000 -3,200	-3,200
Keith Lutz	106,800
Jason Summers	106,300 106,300	106,300
Scott Hammett	103,100 3,100	3,100
Ron Kruk	87,800 49,125	49,125
Joe Santo	84,000 84,000	84,000
Jeremy Dresch	80,300 35,300	35,300
[Removed:67]	78,600
Charlie Sizemore	77,000
Justin DelRio	75,500 75,500	75,500
Steve Pint	73,700 73,700	73,700
Matt Kirby	72,800 -6,200	-6,200
Ami Sharma	72,000 7,000	7,000
Shawn Rusch	67,300 67,300	67,300
Patrick Steele	60,000
Bradley Watts	59,700 59,700	59,700
Tim Ebenhoeh Jr.	58,300 58,300	58,300
Brian Ehman	56,200
Tony Pena	53,500 53,500	53,500
Paul Bianchi	51,500 -6,900	-6,900
Michael Younan	47,100 47,100	47,100
Bruce Swart	45,200 -23,800	-23,800
Olga Pritzker	44,500 44,500	44,500
John Hayes	38,000 -28,400	-28,400
Richard Crooks	35,600 35,600	35,600
Kyle Adams	35,100 35,100	35,100
Lawrence Eyer	33,400 33,400	33,400
Mark Owens	31,800 31,800	31,800
Tim Ebenhoeh Sr.	18,000 18,000	18,000
Don Carlton	15,700 15,700	15,700