Costanzo Leads 31 Survivors of Day 1b
The Mid-States Poker Tour drew 128 players on Day 1b of MSPT Grand Falls, pushing the total to 238, well above last year's total of 201. When the day's 14 levels ended, Chuck Costanzo stood atop the heap with 191,000. In all, 31 players made it through, joining Day 1a's 23 survivors to make a Day 2 field of 54.
Costanzo already had a big stack late in the night during Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300) when he solidified his lead. Mike Lang opened for 4,500 under the gun and got one call in middle position before Costanzo made it 13,000 from the small blind. Both Lang and the third player called, leading to a flop of 
. Costanzo quickly tossed in 25,000, and Lang folded. The middle player said he was all in, and Costanzo snap-called.
Costanzo: 
Middle position: 
The run out went Costanzo's way as the 
turn was followed by a 
river.
"DQ" Dan Hendrickson, who won MSPT Canterbury Park earlier this year, also made it through with a nice stack, 128,500. Sam De Silva (121,000), Matt Kirby (118,500), Aaron Johnson (86,500), Josh Reichard (69,000), and Lance Harris (66,500) also punched Day 2 tickets.
Kirby, a sponsored MSPT Team Pro, grinded a short stack the majority of the day. Things finally broke his way in the final level, first when he doubled with 
against 
after getting in on a 
flop. Then, Kirby overbet all in on a king-high straight board and took down about a 60,000 pot when his opponent mucked. Kirby already has two MSPT titles and seeks an unprecedented third.
Players falling during Day 1b included the aforementioned Lang, Mark Fink, Jeff Bryan, Duane Gerleman, Joseph Stiers, John Hayes, Ervin Bjerga, and Mike Ross.
Day 2 commences at 10:30 a.m. local time and will play down to a champion who will pocket more than $60,000. Be sure to return to PokerNews to see who that will be.