Welcome to Day 1c of Mid-States Poker Tour Golden Gates
Another 28 have qualified for championship Sunday after Day 1b of Mid-States Poker Tour Golden Gates, and there's just one Day 1 flight left to try to grab a chunk of this growing prize pool. That day is 1c, set to kick off at noon local time here in Black Hawk, Colo.
Two Day 1 flights have seen 50 players total advance, and last night, Jay Robb established his superiority over the field by bagging a monstrous 470,000, putting him nearly 100,000 ahead of second-place Jason Burruss and even farther ahead of Day 1a leader Matt Bingel. Others advancing included Jon Cohen (260,000), Eric Maier (231,000), Bryan Devonshire (205,000), Travis Northrope (159,500), Will Givens (140,000), Mark Hodge (138,500), and Bruce Carter (98,500). Of those, Devonshire's is the name that certainly jumps out, and he'll be one of the favorites come Sunday.
Day 1c is expected to be the largest field yet of the starting flights, and it will follow the same basic format as the other two, with expanded starting stacks of 30,000 and levels lasting 40 minutes. Fifteen levels will be played today, and when it all wraps up, players will have a final chance to reenter the tournament and throw 30,000 in a bag for Sunday. Of course, they will be buying just a handful of big blinds at that point.