Chris Burmeister Bags 360,000 to Top Day 1b Field
Chris Burmeister finished Day 1b with 360,000 to top a surviving field of 41 players here at Mid-States Poker Tour Ho-Chunk Gaming. A total of 235 runners registered today, and Nik Stone (326,000), Bryan Moon (313,000), Travis Lauson (262,500), and Steve Andersen (256,500) bagged top-five stacks as well.
The 235 Day 1b registrants brings the total to 383, marking a new record in the state of Wisconsin, shattering the old mark of 305 set at the last MSPT stop here in November of last year.
Burmeister must have built his stack like a ninja, because we only noted him in one hand in the crowded field, but he had a big one. With the board reading 
, the cutoff checked to Burmeister, who put his opponent all in for 51,500 into a pot of about 80,000. The player tanked for a couple of minutes, seeming genuinely pained as he brushed his cap back and counted his stack. Finally, he called.
Burmeister: 
Cutoff: 
Unfortunately for the cutoff, Burmeister had two of the outs he likely thought he had, and two pair would do him no good since it gave Burmeister a straight. A 
was a harmless river, and Burmeister pumped his fist.
One of the players eliminated today was Josh Reichard, who topped the record field mentioned above to take home $78,003 last year. He busted when he got all in preflop in a blind-versus-blind spot against Moon.
Moon: 
Reichard: 
Moon had his opponent dominated, and Reichard called for spades. Just one appeared on the 
flop, but Reichard now could chop if a deuce hit. A 
opened up still more chopping outs, but the 
river sent the pot to Moon. Reichard took the elimination in stride, shaking hands with his opponents and wishing them good luck.
Others falling today included Matt Kirby, Matt Alexander, Blake Bohn, Eddie Blumenthal, and Bill Romer.
Kirby had a particularly peculiar busto hand, as he put a small blind limper all in from the big, only to see the player call off with nine-high for about 14 big blinds and get there against ace-queen.
Notables who managed to advance to Day 2 included David Gonia (127,500), Marc "Poker Joker" Powers (125,500), Patrick Steele (113,500), Nick Jivkov (103,500), and Jason Sell (41,000). These players will join the 30 survivors from Day 1a for Day 2 action on Sunday at 10 a.m. They will play down to a winner, so be sure to come back then to find out who will walk away with the $97,539 first-place prize.