Dustin Dirksen Bags Huge Day 1a Lead
After 9 levels of play here on Day 1a of the Mid-States Poker Tour, Dustin Dirksen bagged a massive chip lead with 254,800. The next-biggest stack is more than 100,000 below Dirksen's: Mark Sandness finished the night with 148,200. Rounding out the top five were Tim Hoberstad (118,100), Ric Cacho (114,000), and Keith Doering (113,900).
Thirty-six players bagged up stacks out of the 128 total entrants, and both the survivors and the busted can return tomorrow for Day 1b, though survivors must forfeit their Day 1a stacks to do so. The fields will then combine for the final day on Sunday.
Dirksen owes a solid chunk of his massive stack to his track shoes: he won a huge race against Brett Kuznia for a sizable pot late in the tournament. He appeared to maintain a well-above-average stack for most of the night, though we didn't catch him in many hands. Dirksen, who sports a r��sum�� that includes three World Series of Poker final tables, a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure final table, and more than $1.1 million in live tournament cashes, is certainly a player whom not many runners will be happy to see with a large stack.
Well-known pros Matt Kirby (104,500) and Blake Bohn (75,600) also bagged solid stacks. In Bohn's case, a lucky turn enabled him to avoid busting when he semi-bluffed all in and got there against a made hand.
Other notables who made it through the day with chips include Reg Powell (101,100), Rodger Johnson (88,800), Todd "sharkslayerr" Breyfogle (75,900), Rob Wazwaz (55,400), and Terry Ring (39,100).
A larger turnout is expected for tomorrow's Day 1b, so be sure to tune back in to PokerNews as we bring you all of the live updates from the first stop on this year's MSPT.