Friedman Bags Huge Lead on Day 1b
World Series of Poker bracelet winner Adam Friedman busted a bullet early on, but he didn't let that deter him, ultimately bagging 285,600 in chips to take the overall lead in the Mid-States Poker Tour Maryland Live! Casino Main Event. He finished with about 50,000 more than Day 1a leader Mo Mostafa and will have more than 150 big binds when Day 2 commences on Sunday.
Notable East Coast grinder and Maryland native Justin Liberto (176,400) finished the day in second place. Others who were among the 14 Day 1b survivors included MSPT Team Pro Matt Alexander (145,600), Nick Bond (127,700), Avon Wilson (118,200), Billy Jacobini (113,100), Joe Cashen (100,900), and Brian Zekus (33,400). The flight drew 78 players total.
Friedman got cut to piece by the Huan Ho buzzsaw on his first bullet, making a call for his stack on the turn in a four-bet pot. With about 23,000 in the middle, Ho bet 17,000 on a 
board from the cutoff seat, and Friedman put in his whole stack of about 27,000 in after thinking things over for a couple of minutes.
"That's no pair," Friedman said with a smile when Ho didn't immediately call, asking for a count instead. He was right, as Ho called with the 
but found the 
on the river to bust a disappointed Friedman, who held the 
.
The Ohio native hopped right back in and quickly ran up a stack, partially courtesy of MSPT points leader Mark Hodge. First, Friedman got three streets of value with a flush draw that turned into top pair. Then, he got it in on a 
board with 
, dominating Hodge's 
. Friedman continued to chip up from there, hitting a combo draw all in on the turn for stacks to bust one player and then having another opponent call off on the river against his aces up.
Players who fired and missed included MSPT Pro Nick Pupillo, Stan Jablonski, Greg Davis, and Jordan Hogans. They'll have one last chance to qualify for championship Sunday as Day 1c begins Saturday at 11:15 a.m. local time. Players who advance from there will join the 28 players who have thus far made it through to Sunday.