Thanks to a massive turnout of 281 entries on Day 1b, the 2nd Annual Wisconsin State Poker Championship at Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells surpassed the inaugural field of 463 by officially attracting 489 entries. As a result, a $489,000 prize pool was generated and will be distributed to the top 45 players with a min-cash being worth $2,364 and the eventual winner taking home $120,808!
After 14 levels of play, just 52 players bagged up chips with Nicola Ditrapani (Picture) and his stack of 281,500 leading the way. Others who finished with big stacks were Mike Burns (272,500), current MSPT POY leader Jason Bender (246,000), Jason Ramos (245,500), and Grant Slayton (199,000), who round out the top five.
Slayton's story was particularly interesting. The owner of Brothers On Oak – one of the most popular bars in nearby Baraboo – opted to take a Saturday night off to play some poker. It proved a fruitful decision as Slayton not only bagged big, but did so in exciting fashion by winning a huge hand against Andrew Rubinberg in the closing minutes. You can read that hand by simply checking out the post below this one.
Of course not everyone was so fortunate. Among those to fall on Day 1b were Johnny Hayes, who won the MSPT Ho-Chunk back in November; local businessman Larry Ormson; two-time MSPT champ Jason Zarlenga; MSPT Pro Blake Bohn; Mark "P0ker H0" Kroon; and former EPT Copenhagen champ Tim Vance.
Regarding Kroon, it was déjà vu as he fired two bullets and missed, just like he did on Day 1a. We missed Kroon’s first bustout of the day, but we managed to catch the second. It happened when there was roughly 3,500 in the pot and a flop of 
. The player in the small blind checked, Kroon moved all in for his last 3,025, and Chris Emery called from middle position. The small blind got out of the way and the cards were turned on their backs.
Emery: 
Kroon: 
Kroon had flopped middle pair, but Emery held a flush draw with overs.
“Do it on the river,” Kroon told the dealer, who did not oblige and instead did it on the turn by putting out the 
. Emery took the lead and he held it as the 
bricked the river for Kroon.
While hundreds fell a select few punched their tickets to Day 2 including 2013 MSPT Ho-Chunk champ Josh Reichard (170,500), MSPT Pro Matt Kirby (143,500), reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge (116,500), the vocal Howard Hankin (108,500), and local player Charles Kahler (51,000).
All of those players, as well as the rest of the Day 1b survivors, will join the 39 who made it through Day 1a for Day 2 action on Sunday. Among those returning from Day 1a are chip leader Nick Pupillo (260,500), MSPT Pro Matt Alexander (240,500), and last year's runner-up Thomas Peebles (229,500).
Cards will be in the air at 11:00 a.m. local time, and play will continue through the money bubble onward until a winner is crowned. We'll bring you all the action leading up to the final table in the live blog at which point the final 10 will battle it out on the MSPT Live Stream, which you'll be able to watch by clicking the "Live Stream" tab here in the blog.