Brett Reichard bagged the chip lead on Day 1a of the $1,110 Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) St. Louis Main Event thanks in large part to a pot he won against his poker champ son, Josh Reichard, on the bubble.
The first session of the $300,000 guaranteed tournament at Hollywood Casino attracted 67 entrants on Thursday. Seven players bagged chips, all of whom are officially in the money. There were still two Day 1 starting flights remaining, to take place on Friday and Saturday, before the tournament wraps up on Sunday in Missouri.
Josh Reichard, according to The Hendon Mob, has over $4.4 million in live tournament cashes. That includes 15 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) rings, a World Poker Tour (WPT) title, and he's an MSPT Hall of Famer and Player of the Year. But his dad, who has $530,000 in cashes, can also play poker at a high level.
The younger Reichard's superior tournament resume didn't help him in a hand against his father in the Main Event. Both players were all in preflop with eight players remaining on Day 1a with the blinds at 3,000/5,000. "Pops" had his son in bad shape with 10♥10♦against 9♠9♣with over 60 big blinds in the pot.
Josh Reichard would get no help when the board ran out 7♠2♣8♥J♥5♥, and he was eliminated in eighth place on the Day 1a bubble. Brett Reichard, however, catapulted into the lead with 671,000 chips to finish off the night. Brad Heitmeyer bagged the second largest stack at 513,000 chips.
| Place | Player | Chip Counts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brett Reichard | 671,000 |
| 2 | Brad Heitmeyer | 513,000 |
| 3 | Mark Koeln | 327,000 |
| 4 | Andros Ioakimides | 274,000 |
| 5 | Chris Audrain | 106,000 |
| 6 | Aaron Johnson | 92,000 |
| 7 | Robert Shallenberger | 30,000 |
Robert Shallenberger benefited greatly from the Reichard on Reichard crime as he finished the session with just six big blinds and still reached the money.
The MSPT champion who had the option to try again to bag chips on Day 1b and/or 1c told PokerNewshis dad "was on the Budweisers" and that is why he "happily" called off an all in bet preflop with a middling pocket pair, implying that "Pops" may have been playing too loose while under the influence of alcohol. But, as it turned out, father took son to school.
Brett Reichard still had the largest stack entering Saturday's Day 1c flight as the Day 1b chip leader, Matt Genebacher, ended with 561,000, and was one of 15 players to bag chips during the session.
