Jason Smith Leads the 40 Day 1c Survivors with Stack of 278,000

Brentharrington

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

The Mid-States Poker Tour Michigan State Poker Championship starting flights at FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, are over, and the surviving 110 players are set to play for the title on Sunday. On Saturday, 40 players managed to advance from Day 1c – which attracted 213 entrants to bring the total field up to 559 entries.

Jason Smith leads the pack with 278,000, though that's the lowest of the end-of-day chip leaders. Smith hovered around 100,000 or so for a lot of the day and finally topped 200,000 when he got against a player holding . The two players got it all in preflop and Smith's aces held up. That hand was in the penultimate level and set Smith up nicely to finish the day with the chip lead. Mike Ermie (250,500) and Mark Garrod (250,000) round out the top three.

MSPT Pro Nick Pupillo was able to work his stack up to 174,000, above the average going into Day 2. Pupillo got paid by top pair in a 70,000 pot where he held two pair. Pupillo is probably stoked after busting earlier today and making it to Day 2 on this last bullet.

He will join fellow MSPT Pro Jason Zarlenga in the Day 2 field, as well as MSPT regulars Steve Anderson (151,000) and Mark Hodge (26,000), the latter of which is contending for the MSPT Player of the Year title.

Meanwhile, Tony Pena played in multiple Day 1 flights, but he was unable to make it to Day 2. He busted a few levels before the end of the day when he played a hand with Paul Prentis. Pena raised all in preflop for his last 12,800 and action folded to Prentis, who was sitting directly to Pena's right. Prentis asked for a count and then called. He showed the and Pena showed the . The board ran out and Prentis won the pot eliminating Pena.

Others who fell on Day 1c include Mark Ader, John Hoppas, Chuck Newcomb, Steve Berra, and Shane Raikes.

Day 2 will start at 11 a.m. local time Sunday. Check back then to see who is crowned the Michigan State Poker Champion and walks away with the $134,642 first-place prize.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jason Smith	278,000 -64,000	-64,000
Mike Ermie	250,500 199,500	199,500
Mark Garrod	250,000 185,000	185,000
Carmin Argiero	185,000 185,000	185,000
Nick Pupillo	174,000

Tongen Zhang	168,500 168,500	168,500
David Austin	165,000 165,000	165,000
Imari Love	157,500 157,500	157,500
Abbas Namazi	154,500 -39,500	-39,500
Steve Anderson	151,000 -30,100	-30,100
Paul Prentis	133,000 15,000	15,000
Ryan Hoffman	107,000 80,000	80,000
Mike Parvin	102,000 102,000	102,000
Ayed Shweihat	100,000 100,000	100,000
James Hurst	97,000 -21,000	-21,000
Scott Hammett	86,500 -71,500	-71,500
Gary Herstein	82,500 82,500	82,500
Trevor Renner	80,000 80,000	80,000
Thomas Martin	79,500 79,500	79,500
Harvey Matthews	66,000 66,000	66,000
Phillip Chandler	66,000 66,000	66,000
Mark Uminn	65,500 -62,500	-62,500
Sab Mansour	65,000 -45,000	-45,000
David Blicksenstaff	65,000 65,000	65,000
Heath Muzslay	63,500 63,500	63,500
Adam Bacon	56,000 56,000	56,000
Sandie Morse	49,000 49,000	49,000
Bryan Gerasimovich	47,500 12,700	12,700
Kim Schinco	47,000 47,000	47,000
Andrzej Rogowski	43,500 43,500	43,500
Abhishek Yerra	42,500 5,500	5,500
Frank Schinco	40,000 40,000	40,000
Tom Carnes	35,500 -3,000	-3,000
David Wasson	34,500 34,500	34,500
Neil Griffith	31,500 31,500	31,500
Mark Hodge	26,000 3,600	3,600
Casey Bogus	25,500 1,500	1,500