Mike Marn Bags Top Stack of Day 1a of Hard Rock Tulsa's Oklahoma State Poker Championship Main Event
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Day 1a of the $675 Oklahoma State Poker Championship Main Event at Hard Rock Casino Resort is officially in the books. The first starting day saw 118 entries and at the end of play only 15 players bagged to advance to Sunday's Day 2. Mike Marn leads the way with 632,000, nearly double his closest finisher.
Second in chips, Shane Mullens, opened up a big chip lead early. After the first few levels, he had climbed to 154,000, which was 70,000 more than his closest competitor. His stack steadily grew until he lost some momentum and cruised into Day 2 with 336,000.
Lauren Bunch (216,000), Steve Seffense (196,000), and Lawrence Layton (166,000) round out the top five stacks.
Pamela Belote, a two-time WSOP Circuit ring winner at Oklahoma series stops in 2019, punched her ticket to Day 2 after an unlikely comeback. After running into quads in Level 4, Belote was down to just 900 chips but regrouped and finished the day with a stack of 139,000.
Notable players who did not advance from the first day include Daniel Hughes, Will Berry, Reginald Roberts, and Cory Smith.
The second and final starting day begins Saturday, August 17 at noon local time. Action is planned for 15 levels or until 12% of the field remains. Stay tuned to PokerNews for live reporting of all action that unfolds.