Jay Melancon Bags 266,400 to Take Overall Lead Into Day 2
Players have bagged and tagged for the night here at Mid-States Poker Tour Canterbury Park Day 1b, and Jay Melancon sits atop the overall counts with 266,400 heading into tomorrow's Day 2. Distantly trailing Melancon were Scott Sitron (193,300), Brian Zekus (193,200), Ken Pates (185,000), and Judd Greenagel (182,200). Forty-seven players survived the 14-level grind.
A total of 232 runners bought in today, a slight increase over yesterday's 215 registrations, bringing the total to 447, good for a record total in Minnesota for a major event (buy in > $1,000). This record comes after the MSPT broke similar records in Iowa and Wisconsin in the last two events, respectively.
Melancon seemed to build most of his stack in pots we didn't catch, but we did find him in one good-sized pot. Tom Hammers shoved his last 20,000 or so all in on a 
against Melancon, who made the call.
Melancon: 
Hammers: 
Hammers had an overpair and a straight draw, but he trailed the set of Melancon. A 
bricked off the turn, and the 
did likewise on the river. Melancon had a wide chip lead with about 300,000 at that point, but the gap between he and the field closed over the final hour. Still, he bagged an amount well clear of the next cluster of players.
One of the biggest names to advance was Mike Schneider, longtime CardRunners instructor and Minnesota native. "Schneids" got very little going most of the day until a late rush fueled first by a big flip against Jim Lawrence. A short time after that, A player in middle position opened for 6,000, and Schneider bumped it to 15,200 on the button. The raiser called, and the dealer spread a flop of 
. Schneider bet 20,000 when checked to, and his opponent quickly called. A 
fell on fourth street, and Schneider pushed all of his chips forward after his opponent checked. The player called instantly, but he was in worse shape than he likely thought.
Schneider: 
Middle position: 
Schneider had two blockers to his opponent's straight draw, and a harmless 
river secured his double. He finished out the night with 148,900.
Another notable, Mark Sandness, was consistently mixing it up with considerably weaker holdings. In one particular pot, Sandness opened for 3,400 in middle position and called a three-bet of about 7,500 from the cutoff. After a 
flop, Sandness check-called 8,000. A 
hit the turn, and Sandness checked again. The cutoff bet 14,000, and Sandness took his time before calling. Both players quickly checked the 
river.
"I have a pair," Sandness said.
"Pair's good," his opponent said regretfully.
Sandness tabled 
for bottom pair, but it was indeed good against 
.
Sandness wrapped that hand up with about 100,000, and he hovered around that same amount for the rest of the night, ending with 98,800.
Other notables navigating through the field today included Adam Dahlin (116,100), MSPT Meskwaki final table participant Marty Martimo (87,500), Lance Harris (78,300), Taylor Tollefson (62,400), Nes Coburn (46,000), and Jason Seitz, (40,800).
Players we won't be seeing tomorrow: Todd Breyfogle, Matt Alexander, Peixin Liu, Terry Ring, Tyler Caspers, Dan Sun, David Gonia, Matt Kirby, Marc "Poker Joker" Powers, Jeremy Dresch, Brett Kuznia, Ken Payne, and Aaron Johnson.
Play will resume tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. local time, so be sure to come back to PokerNews bright and early for all of the live updates on the final day of this tournament.