The final heat of the Mid-States Poker Tour Golden Gates is set to begin at 5 p.m. local time here in Black Hawk, Colo. With 300 players already entered through the first two Day 1s, we can expect another field in the neighborhood of 150 today as players take their last shots at this rapidly growing prize pool.
Since the fields here at Golden Gates have been larger than normal by MSPT standards, 10 levels will be played instead of the usual nine. Players will begin with 25,000 in chips, and blinds start at 50/100. Levels will last 50 minutes throughout the day.
Nobody on Day 1b could match the 302,100 bagged by Gene Gioia on Day 1a, so we'll see if anyone on Day 1c can snag the overall chip lead. Be sure to tune in throughout the evening as we bring you all of the live updates here on PokerNews.
With the community having come , Jeremy Dresch bet 2,100 from the cutoff and saw his button opponent raise to 5,100. Dresch thought for a bit before making what appeared to be a very reluctant call. He showed for the nut flush, but the button had for a full house.
We didn't see the exact action, but it appeared John "JohnnyGstaks" Hayes three-bet out of the big blind and then called a shove from opener Rich Dixon in the cutoff.
Blake Bohn just got all in with against a shorter stack who held . The flop was safe enough for Bohn's opponent, but an river left him with one out and he took out his frustrations by whacking hit chair with his fist. The river was a , and Bohn collected his opponent's stack.
According to Blake Bohn, he shoved for about 13,000 after a raise and then a reraise to 6,000. The original raiser folded and the reraiser began thinking. Bohn said he told the player he couldn't fold, and the player got cross with him. Finally, he called with and busted Bohn.
After the hand, Bohn said, the player went on a tirade, yelling a string of expletives at Bohn while saying it was worth the penalty. Bohn claimed he had no idea what the source of the player's anger was.
"Normally, I could see how I might rub a guy the wrong way," Bohn said. "But I didn't say anything to this guy!"
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.