Erica Sumner Bags Huge Stack to Lead Day 1b
Erica Sumner collected 232,600 over the course of nine levels of play to lead the 18 survivors of Day 1b here at Mid-State Poker Tour Belle of Baton Rouge. Sumner may be the first woman in MSPT history to hold the chip lead heading into the final day of play, a tour official said.
Michael Benton (145,300), Kou Vang (117,200), David Holmes (89,700), and Jeff Grimes (85,800) also bagged top-five stacks, while notable players Allen Kessler (82,100) and Gene Dudek (81,900) followed closely behind.
Players falling out of contention included Matt Alexander, Kenny Milam, Nick Jivkov, and "Wild" Bill Romer. Alexander's elimination had to be particularly painful, as the sponsored pro looked poised to break a recent run of bad fortune (failing to bag a stack in three straight Day 1s) until he ran 
into the 
of Sumner just before the end of the night.
Aces were also kind to Sumner in another all-in pot against queens, which is when her upward trajectory began.
The 18 survivors from each flight will meet tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. local time, at which point we will watch them play down to a winner. You can follow all of the action right here on PokerNews, so don't forget to wake up early.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
232,600
81,600
|
81,600 |
|
145,300
73,800
|
73,800 |
|
117,200
35,200
|
35,200 |
|
89,700
89,700
|
89,700 |
|
85,800 | |
|
82,100
42,100
|
42,100 |
|
|
81,900
46,900
|
46,900 |
|
70,400
12,400
|
12,400 |
|
|
61,700
24,900
|
24,900 |
|
55,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
34,100
-65,900
|
-65,900 |
|
|
32,200
32,200
|
32,200 |
|
|
31,300
31,300
|
31,300 |
|
|
26,800
-18,200
|
-18,200 |
|
|
23,000
-7,400
|
-7,400 |
|
|
22,700
-6,800
|
-6,800 |
|
|
21,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
|
16,100
16,100
|
16,100 |