2014 MSPT Golden Gates Day 1c: Field Reaches 453 Entries; Rosie Paules Lads
The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Golden Gates Casino continued Saturday with the third and final starting flight from Blackhawk, Colorado. With the 137 entries from Day 1a and Day 1b’s 163 entries, the 153 runners from Day 1c brought the total number of entries up to an astounding 453.
That means 45 players will receive a minimum payday of $2,265, with a hefty $114,156 reserved for first. The player best positioned from Day 1c to make a run at the top prize is Rosie Paules, who stacked 242,800 after 10 levels of play. However, Nader Wahdan (234,900), who led for much of the night, finished right behind her, while Colin York (215,600), Olimpia May (194,900), and Brian Hartner (172,100) also ended the night with top-five stacks.
Top 10 Day 1c Stacks
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosie Paules | 242,800 |
| 2 | Nader Wahdan | 234,900 |
| 3 | Colin York | 215,600 |
| 4 | Olimpia May | 194,900 |
| 5 | Brian Hartner | 172,100 |
| 6 | James Pursley | 167,100 |
| 7 | Kevin Alexander | 160,700 |
| 8 | Lance Harris | 148,100 |
| 9 | Milton Amaya | 145,700 |
| 10 | Clarence Medina | 144,000 |
Paules dragged two pots that were recorded by the PokerNews Live Reporting Team, including a bust of the red-hot Kou Vang, coming off consecutive MSPT final tables in Gary, Ind., and Baton Rouge, La. Vang check-shipped on a board of K♠2♣K♣Q♠ after Paules had bet from late position. Paules called with the A♦K♦, and Vang was drawing dead with the Q♣10♦.
A little while later, Aaron Frei was all in with the 4♥4♣ against the Q♥Q♠ of Paules. The board ran out a dry K♦10♥8♣8♥5♣ and Frei was eliminated from the tournament.
Lance Harris was perhaps the highest profile player to bag a top stack. He started the day off bluffing, but it was the hands when he had the goods that drove his count up. First, he got a shorter stack all in on a 2♣10♣9♠2♦ board. Harris' opponent showed K♥K♣, but he had run into the A♦A♥ of the Minnesotan. The 6♦ blanked on the river, and Harris bagged up one of the larger stacks in the room.
A bit later, it was QxQx leading to another bust when his ladies stayed in front of a short stack's sevens all in preflop.
Finally, Harris opened for 4,200 in the hijack, and John Hayes moved all in from the cutoff for about 24,000. When it got back to Harris, he wasted little time in making the call.
Harris: K♣K♠
Hayes: A♦5♦
Hayes' three outs turned to nothing but backdoor possibilities as the K♦9♥4♥ flop delivered Harris top set. A 5♣ turn gave Hayes a worthless pair, and actually left him drawing dead.
Others who failed to make it through to Day 2 were Dave Orvis, Justin Enger, Jason Gole, Jim Morrison, Renee Kessel, and Jeremy Dresch.
Day 2 will see 121 players return to action, which will kick off at Noon local time. Gene Gioia, who finished as the Day 1a chip leader, will begin as the top stack with 302,100. Of course the PokerNews will be on the scene to bring all of the live updates.
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