Ross Leads 29 Day 1a Players Into Day 2

Brentharrington

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

The first of three starting flights in the 2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Michigan State Poker Championship at FireKeepers Casino attracted 154 entries, but after 14 levels of play, just 29 remained with Mike Ross (pictured left) and his stack of 311,500 leading the way.

Ross had been building a stack all day until his stack exploded over 200,000, due in no small part to turning a straight flush against George Janssen. Janssen had turned an ace-high flush and the two players got their massive stacks all in, leaving Ross with the chip lead and Janssen with about 30,000. Janssen managed to navigate the rest of the night to make Day 2, even with Ross on his direct right for almost the entire day.

Bill Rogers, who was the runner-up in May's MSPT FireKeepers event, won a huge pot right before the end of the night to take the number two spot behind Ross. In one hand, with the board reading , James Smith bet 24,000 and Rogers raised to 50,000. Smith then shoved all in for about 132,000, and Rogers agonized for several minutes over his decision.

"You can't have aces," said Rogers, trying to talk himself through Smith's possible holdings.

After a few more minutes Rogers tilted his hand up while still deciding his next move. Standing up, then kneeling on his chair, then standing again. The answer seemed to be eluding him, until finally he threw one orange chip into the pot.

"Alright, show me a four," he said, "I call."

Rogers turned over his hand, the , and Smith turned over his, . The river was the and Rogers won a huge pot shortly before play stopped for the night.

"I'm sorry guys," Rogers said, apologizing to the table for taking so long to make his decision.

Meanwhile former MSPT FireKeepers champions Tommy Midena and Ryan Dykhouse were among the Day 1a casualties, as was 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Ryan Riess.

A big crowd is expected for tomorrow��s Day 1b flight. The day begins at noon local time and the players will play 14 40-minute levels. Stay tuned for updates and chip counts all weekend long.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mike Ross	311,500 500	500
Bill Rogers	287,000 7,000	7,000
Timothy Greiner	200,000 200,000	200,000
Chad Bienz	165,000 45,000	45,000
Douglas Singleton	164,500 164,500	164,500
Douglas Suffel	146,500 146,500	146,500
Ryan Terpstra	129,500 59,500	59,500
Brandon Carswell	128,500 43,500	43,500
Chan Li	124,500 500	500
Paul Welke	117,000 117,000	117,000
George Janssen	114,000 114,000	114,000
Jamey Kramer	98,000 98,000	98,000
Joseph Glyshaw	94,000 94,000	94,000
David Gutfreund	93,000 93,000	93,000
Dash Dudley	86,500 -5,500	-5,500

Linda Callear	82,500 82,500	82,500
Gregory Lamson	80,000 80,000	80,000
Sean Roy	79,000 79,000	79,000
Justin Potrykus	66,500 66,365	66,365
Douglas Orweller	63,000 63,000	63,000
Charles Casavant	62,500 62,500	62,500
Dennis Shute	61,000 -11,000	-11,000
James Hettich	57,500 57,500	57,500
Samuel Angott	55,500 55,500	55,500
Dan Hatfield	51,000 27,600	27,600
Robb Idsinga	47,000 47,000	47,000
Mark Sierpien	42,500 42,500	42,500
Michael Ferrarotti	42,000 -18,000	-18,000
Robert Dillon	31,000 31,000	31,000