For the second year in a row, the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) has partnered with Silverado-Franklin Casino for the 2019 MSPT South Dakota State Poker Championship, a tournament that dates back to 2011. 107 players hit the felt in search of a Day 2 bag, but only 19 players would make it through the fifteen-level Day 1A, with Billy Etherington and his bag of 208,000 leading the way. Etherington, residing right here in Deadwood, will be looking for his first MSPT cash.

The rest of the top five include Leroy Dubray (193,500), Season 8 MSPT Grand Falls Regional champ Travis Gant (168,000), Tom Hammers (165,000), and Rudy Stanko (159,500). Others able to find a bag include Michael Campbell (127,000), Ryan Remington (106,000), Delbert Ghost Bear (100,000), Season 8 MSPT POY Chris Meyers (76,000), and Travis Sweet (26,500).

Not everyone was able to find a bag, however, and among those to fall on Day 1A were Season 9 MSPT POY Aaron Johnson, Canadian pro Eric Wasylenko, Alex “F’n” Winter, South Dakota pro Mark Fink, and former MSPT champs Rodger Johnson, Dan Bekavac, and Matt Kirby.

The good news is that those players, as well as any newcomers, will have the chance to fire Day 1B, which will kick off at 3 PM local time on Saturday. At 10 AM there will be a $260 buy-in “Last Chance” satellite that’ll see the top 20% win a seat into the Main Event. All players who make it to Day 2 will return at 11 AM on Sunday, May 5th to play down to a winner.