Paules Tops Day 1c Field at Golden Gates

Rosie Paules stacked 242,800 after 10 levels to top a field of 153 runners here at Mid-States Poker Tour Golden Gates Day 1c. 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.

Forty-two players finished out the night with chips, and they'll return tomorrow at noon for the combination of three Day 1 fields. Among the survivors: Lance Harris (148,100), Bill Romer (112,600), Kou Vang (98,700), Matt Alexander (77,600), Patrick Steele (66,100), Blake Bohn (25,000), Matt Kirby (25,000), and John Hayes (25,000).

Paules dragged two pots that we recorded, 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 after Paules had bet from late position. Paules called with , and Vang was drawing dead with .

A little while later, we found Aaron Frei all in with against the of Paules. The queens held when the board came , eliminating Frei from the tournament.

Paules didn't seem to have any significant setbacks, as her stack stayed hefty every time we checked on her.

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 board. Harris' opponent showed , but he had run into the of the Minnesotan. The was a blank on the river, and Harris has one of the larger stacks in the room.

A bit later, it was QQ leading to another bust when he stayed in front of a short stack's sevens all in preflop.

Finally, he opened for 4,200 in the hijack, and Hayes moved all in from the cutoff for about 24,000. When it got back to Harris, he called right away.

Harris:
Hayes:

Hayes' three outs turned to nothing but backdoor possibilities on the flop. A turn gave him a worthless pair, leaving him drawing dead.

Thanks for tuning in to PokerNews' coverage of Day 1c, and be sure to come back tomorrow at noon for Day 2.

Player	Chips	Progress
Rosie Paules	242,800 242,800	242,800
Nader Wahdan	234,900 -11,100	-11,100
Colin York	215,600 400	400
Olimpia May	194,900 21,900	21,900
Brian Hartner	172,100 22,100	22,100
James Pursley	167,100 167,100	167,100
Kevin Alexander	160,700
Lance Harris	148,100 -4,900	-4,900
Milton Amaya	145,700 145,700	145,700
Clarence Medina	144,000 144,000	144,000
Michael Campbell	125,800 -9,200	-9,200
Brian Gallegos	115,800 25,800	25,800
Bill Romer	112,600 35,600	35,600
Pierre Pichot	102,300 102,300	102,300
Rich Alsup	100,000 40,400	40,400

Matt Bingel	99,800 -37,500	-37,500
Kou Vang	98,700 41,700	41,700
Adam Hudson	91,300 56,800	56,800
Kevin Wolff	90,300 90,300	90,300
Kelly Whitlock	83,200 8,200	8,200
Evan Ross	79,400 79,400	79,400
Matt Alexander	77,600 47,600	47,600
Kenneth Kottwitz	74,500 17,500	17,500
Patrick Steele	66,100
Jesse Mills	64,400 64,400	64,400
Osama Aweida	60,600 60,600	60,600
Eric Klemann	59,800 -45,200	-45,200
Jonathan McCray	53,000 53,000	53,000
Miguel Torres	47,300 47,300	47,300
Michael McCloud	47,100 47,100	47,100
Kyle Golden	38,300 38,300	38,300
Todd Freyer	36,800 36,800	36,800
Jamal Sawaqdeh	33,800 33,800	33,800
Martin Stevens	30,800 30,800	30,800
Shawn Collett	30,300 30,300	30,300
Jason Vanstrom	28,300 28,300	28,300
Karim Abuzar	25,500 25,500	25,500
Richard Klein	25,000 25,000	25,000
Matt Kirby	25,000 25,000	25,000
John Hayes	25,000 25,000	25,000
Blake Bohn	25,000 25,000	25,000
Alice Woolworth	25,000 25,000	25,000