Hollywood Casino

Jonathan McCray Takes Overall Chip Lead into Day 2

Day 1c of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Hollywood Casino $1,110 Main Event attracted a whopping 365 runners, which along with 1a's 114 and 1b’s 255 brought the total field up to 734 entries, shattering the $300k guarantee.

The massive field generated a $710,480 prize pool, and the top 81 players will get paid a minimum of $1,994, while the eventual winner will walk away with a $142,396 first-place prize, along with the first MSPT Hollywood Casino Main Event trophy.

At the end of the third and final flight, 45 players bagged and tagged with Jonathan McCray bagging the overall chip lead with a whopping 942,000.

Coming off a third-place finish at Blackhawk, McCray held the top stack for most of the evening and started running away with the lead in the final levels.

Another player to catch steam at the end of the night was Geroge Harris who was able to take his average chip stack and run it up to 636,000, good enough for second place and third overall.

Others to bag big stacks where Gerald Siemienas (496,000), Thomas Carlin (459,000), and Satar Al-Sadoun (440,000) who round out the top five.

They were joined by MSPT Hall of Famer Rob WazWaz (390,000), MSPT champs Jason Sell (372,000), Muneer Ahmed (279,000), & Keith Heine (354,000), along with tree-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto (216,000).

The surviving players from all three flights – of which there are 87 (12 from Day 1a, 30 from 1b, and 45 from 1c) – will return at 11 a.m. local time on Sunday, August 6th to play down to a winner.

The MSPT live reporting crew will be on the floor throughout the remainder of the tournament to provide updates, so keep it here to catch the action!

MSPT Hollywood Casino's Remaining Schedule

End of Day 1C Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Jonathan McCray	942,000	1,100,000
George Harris	636,000	786,000
Gerald Siemienas	496,000	786,000
Thomas Carlin	459,000	459,000
Satar Al-Sadoun	440,000	440,000
Gary Brackett	415,000	415,000
John Fagg	390,000	365,000
Rob WazWaz	390,000	360,000
Maxx Holland	383,000	330,000
Jason Sell	372,000	181,000
Mark Hodge	372,000	124,000
Richard Gum	356,000	356,000
Tyler Dietz	348,000	335,000
Dakotah O'Dell	304,000	286,000
Ian Richardson	299,000	176,000
Steven Dill	283,000	283,000
Muneer Ahmed	279,000	215,000
Keith Heine	254,000	255,000
Yushan Shi	249,000	249,000
Adam Thomas	235,000	0
Lori Lindley	216,000	216,000
Carl Carodenuto	216,000	185,000
Jay Chaudhary	177,000	125,000
Dale Stafford	172,000	172,000
Craig Welko	167,000	240,000
Casey Blakeley	165,000	165,000
Matthew Holland	162,000	162,000
Patrick Ray	151,000	0
Sean Maurer	144,000	144,000
Zach Peay	133,000	140,000
Michael Kamenjarin	129,000	204,000
Matthew Dahl	127,000	137,000
Mark Miley	126,000	126,000
Jovan Sudar	120,000	115,000
Adam Tolander	120,000	285,000
Trent Wilson	119,000	119,000
Edward Folks	119,000	119,000
Charlie Dawson	98,000	135,000
Brian Thouvenot	83,000	83,000
Kanat Ozturk	81,000	465,000
Matt Koch	60,000	60,000
Harrison Shockley	51,000	51,000
Glen Gruner	51,000	51,000
Albert Morrow	45,000	100,000
Matthew Morfitt	22,000	92,000

Final Five Hands

The tournament director has announced the final five hands of the evening.

Prize Pool Information

MSPT 229 at Hollywood Casino St. Louis
$1,110 Main Event
Entrants: 734
Prize Pool: $710,480

Top Bagged Stacks Thus Far

So far, 42 players have punched their ticket into Day 2, and a final group of hopefuls will look to add their names to that list today.

All who make it through until the end of play will return tomorrow, Sunday, August 6th, at 11 a.m. for Day 2, where the remaining players from all starting flights will combine and play until a winner is declared.

Harris Forces Sell Off Pot

There was heads-up action between MSPT champ Jason Sell from middle position and George Harris from the cutoff with a board showing.

Harris had 30,000 already in the middle when he called a 95,000 raise from Sell and the dealer peeled the turn.

Sell thought briefly before checking his option only to release his hand after Harris fired out an 80,000 bet.

George Harris - 477,000
Jason Sell - 165,000

More Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Jonathan McCray	875,000	556,000
Kanat Ozturk	465,000	377,500
George Harris	411,000	411,000
Rob WazWaz	360,000	255,000
Adam Tolander	285,000	200,000
Gerald Siemienas	240,000	146,000
Patrick Ray	142,000	130,000
Isaac (Ben) Pettinger	75,000	240,000
Umut Ozturk	0	48,000
Gregory Wood	0	70,000

McCray Continues to Build

Patrick Ray raised from late position and was called by Jonathan McCray from the hijack before the cutoff three-bet to 35,000.

Only McCray called, and the two went heads-up to a flop.

McCray check-called a 20,000 continuation bet and the turn was checked to the river. McCray tossed out a 20,000 bet and his opponent mucked in disgust as he raked in another pot.

Jonathan McCray - 875,000
Patrick Ray - 142,000

Another Round of Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Carl Carodenuto	345,000	322,000
Dakotah O'Dell	286,000	242,000
John Fagg	265,000	345,000
Craig Welko	240,000	167,500
Muneer Ahmed	215,000	124,500
Michael Kamenjarin	204,000	160,000
Jason Sell	181,000	80,000
Ian Richardson	176,000	272,000
Matthew Dahl	137,000	77,500
Mark Hodge	124,000	231,000
William Byrnes	98,000	101,500
Brandon Butler	42,000	58,500

Sells Pair is Better

MSPT champ Jason Sell raised from the hijack and action folded to three-time MSPT champ Carl Carodenuto who defended his big blind.

The flop fell and Carodenuto check-called a 10,000 continuation bet from Sell bringing the turn.

Action went check-check, and the completed the board on the river.

Carodenuto led out for 7,000 and Sell reluctantly called. Carodenuto rolled over and Sell was happy to table to collect the pot.

Carl Carodenuto - 345,000
Jason Sell - 181,000