Golden Gates Casino

Erasmus Morfe Leads Advancing 44 Day 1C Survivors

Day 1C of the MSPT Golden Gates in Black Hawk, Colorado drew 178 entrants, which along with Day 1A’s 139 and 1B’s 155 brought the total field up to 472 entries.

After 14 levels of play, just 44 players bagged chips and none more so than Erasmus Morfe, who led the pack with 341,000. That is a tad behind both Day 1A chip leader Jim Morrison (402,000) and Day 1B leader Fernando Galvan (366,500).

Morphe, a doctor from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, is seeking his first MSPT cash, but a couple years ago he made some poker headlines when he went deep in the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event. He ultimately finished 19^th for $262,574, which was the last time he cashed a poker tournament. For more on Morfe, check out the feature PokerNews did on him during his run.

Others who survived the night were James Lee (211,500), former MSPT Golden Gates runner-up Jonathan McCray (205,500), Svetlana Martie (201,500), and Corey Zedo (84,500), who just last weekend took down the MSPT Golden Gates $360 Regional for more than $47K.

Not everyone was so lucky on Saturday. Among those to fall over the course of play were MSPT Season 6 Golden Gates Regional champ “Money” Mike Maruna, Iowa’s Jason Bender, 2016 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Champ Andy Rubinberg, MSPT Season 5 Golden Gates champ Reza Yazdi, and Michigan pros Cy Church and Chris Moon.

On Sunday at 11 a.m., the combined 88 players (20 from Day 1A, 24 on 1B, and 44 on 1C) from all three flights will combine into a single field and play down to a winner. Click here for a look at the payouts.

Be sure to join us tomorrow as we bring you all the action straight from the tournament floor of the latest MSPT Golden Gates Main Event.

End-of-Day 1C Chip Counts

Erasmus Morfe 341,000
James Lee 211,500
Jonathan McCray 205,500
Svetlana Martie 201,500
Jamal Sawaqdeh 155,000
George Medina 128,500
Carla Sabini 126,000
Ryan Remington 120,000
Batdorj Ganbat 116,000
Rusty James 103,000
Michael Garner 101,000
Robert Sweeney 96,000
Joshua Williamson 93,500
Schuyler Thornton 90,000
Corey Zedo 84,500
Daniel Trush 80,000
James Hoeland 77,500
Norman Straughn 76,000
James Weaver 74,000
Kevin Palmer 72,000
James Swan 63,500
Richard Martin 54,000
McNeal Smith 53,500
Maksim Grenader 53,000
Danny Gonzales 52,500
Michael Stanko 47,500
Chandler Duncan 47,000
William Sommers 46,000
Gerald McVeigh 44,000
Samuel Spiwak 43,000
Noel Diaz 42,500
Osama Aweida 42,000
Tyler Tonso 41,500
Khong Pham 41,000
Thomas Moore 40,000
Steven Jacobson 40,000
Cory Peck 39,000
Steve Ross 38,500
Christopher Busch 37,000
John Powell 34,500
Michael St. John 30,500
Sven Wedekin 30,500
Bobby Sanoubane 25,000
Ryan Conlin 21,000

Four More Hands

The tournament staff just announced the players will play four more hands before bagging and tagging. Stay tuned for the recap, chip counts, and Day 2 seat draw.

Francesco Campanile Doubles Through Khong Pham

Action folded to Francesco Campanile in the small blind and he moved all in for 12,500, which Khong Pham called from the big blind.

Campanile:
Pham:

The flop gave Pham a gutshot to go with his two live cards, but fortunately for Campanile neither the turn nor river proved harmful.

Khong Pham - 59,000
Francesco Campanile - 28,000

Some Late Night Shots

Miguel Navarro Hits the Rail

Schuyler Thornton raised to 5,500 from the hijack and the player in the cutoff called. Miguel Navarro then moved all in for his last 7,600 from the button and the player in the small blind. Both Thornton and the cutoff called as well, but both ended up folding when the player in the small blind bet 8,000 on the flop.

Navarro:
Small Blind:

Navarro was looking for some paint, but instead it came the lowly turn and river.

Miguel Navarro - Busted

Steve Ross Wins Flip to Eliminate David Levy

Action folded to David Levy in the small blind and he moved all in for around 30,000, which Steve Ross called out of the big blind.

Ross:
Levy:

Levy was looking to hold, but that didn’t happen as the flop paired Ross. Neither the turn nor river were the third deuce Levy needed, and he exited in the penultimate level of the night.

Steve Ross - 100,000
David Levy - Busted

A Round of Chip Counts

Erasmus Morfe - 275,000
James Lee - 225,000
Jonathan McCray - 205,000
Svetlana Martie - 180,000
Jamal Sawaqdeh - 175,000
Jim Weaver - 95,000
Schuyler Thornton - 80,000
Khong Pham - 75,000
Norman Straughn - 50,000
David Levy - 30,000
Michael St. John - 22,000
Corey Zedo - 20,000
Chan Pelton - 19,700
Greg Geller - 18,000
Bobby Sanoubane - 15,000

MSPT Returns to Milwaukee's Potawatomi Hotel & Casino April 1-9

The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) is headed back to Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From April 1-9, the venue will play host to a series of satellites that will culminate with an $1,100 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed Main Event.

That tournament, which will take place the weekend of April 7-9, will feature two starting flights – Day 1A and Day 1B at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 7 and Saturday, April 8 respectively. The survivors from both those flights will combine for Day 2 at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 9 and play until a champion is crowned.

“Milwaukee has proven itself to not only be one of the hottest poker destinations in the Midwest, but in the entire country,” said MSPT President Bryan Mileski. “Between locals, players from nearby Chicago and Madison, and those comings from surrounding states, Potawatomi is consistently setting new state records for largest fields and prize pools. We’re looking forward to another big one come April.”

The final table will be broadcast LIVE (15-minute delay) worldwide on msptpoker.com using RFID technology allowing all viewers to see the hole cards. In addition, the entire Main Event will be live reported in the MSPT's live blog, which can be found on msptpoker.com once the tournament begins. Simply look for the neon green button that reads "Live Updates.”

The last time the MSPT visited Potawatomi for a Main Event was back in November when Alex Aqel topped a field of 596 entrants to win a $138,385 first-place prize. Amazing, Aqel had another big score at the property just six months later when he won the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event there for $208,184.

More recently, the MSPT kicked off Season 8 at Potawatomi back in January with a $350 Regional Event, which set what was then a state record for largest poker tournament with 1,228 entries. Craig Trost came out on top in that event to take home $63,252.

In April 2016, Travis Lauson topped a field of 556 entries to win a $129,077 first-place prize in the Main Event. Before that, in September 2015, Dan Goepel topped a field of 462 entries to win a $114,117 first-place prize. Amazingly, Lauson had finished runner-up in that event!

Prior to Goepel’s win, the MSPT had visited the property two other times – in April 2015 when Jason Mirza topped a field of 635 entries to win $147,529, and in September 2014 when Jason Zarlenga became a two-time champ by emerging victorious over a 487-entry field to win $120,164.

Click here for a look at the full MSPT Potawatomi schedule.

Set in the heart of Milwaukee, Potawatomi Hotel & Casino is Wisconsin’s premier entertainment destination, offering guests the best in gaming, dining and entertainment. The property features six award-winning restaurants, the intimate 500-seat Northern Lights Theater and more than 60,000 sq. feet of event space. A 381-room, 19-story hotel opened in August 2014.

It has come a long way since its opening in 1991 when the Forest County Potawatomi first opened as a 45,800-square foot bingo hall, making it the first tribal off-reservation gaming operation in the country.

Aside from gaming, Potawatomi offers seven great dining options to choose from including beautiful Italian cooking at Bella Italiana, down-home cooking at Canal Street Café, and authentic Asian cuisine and sushi bar at Ruyi.

To discover more visit https://www.paysbig.com/.

Last Break of the Night

Players are now on their last 10-minute break of the night. When they return, they’ll play two more levels before bagging and tagging on Day 1C.