Dang Tops Day 1c of Golden Gates; Boudreau Bags a Heap
Danny Dang bagged 395,500 to top the Day 1c chip counts at the end of 15 levels at the 2015 Mid-States Poker Tour Golden Gates. Another one of the 38 runners to make it through will generate more buzz in the poker world, though. After skipping the first two Day 1 flights, Kevin "Phwap" Boudreau showed up and made his presence felt, finishing with 299,500 — the fifth biggest stack. Boudreau's performance comes just a few months after his big return to tournament poker at this very tournament in November, where he finished fourth for $34,678.
Others advancing to championship Sunday on the last Day 1 included Chris Maxwell (346,500), David Mathews (329,500), Jamal Sawaqdeh (327,500), November's third-place finisher Max Chrisp (213,000), Tyler Corbett (195,000), Svetlana Martie (154,000), and James Wilson (118,500). Wilson has seen a strong run on the tour of late, headlined by a second-place finish in the final event of 2014.
Boudreau had little luck on his first bullet, busting his last 10,500 in a flip with 
against an opponent with 
who flopped a pair of queens. He vacated the area for awhile before reappearing for attempt number two, which he was able to run up to a brief chip lead just before the end of the night. An isolation raise against a limper with in the last few hands ended up derailing Boudreau slightly, as a short stack behind him woke up with kings and shoved, holding for the double. Still, a second straight final table certainly looks doable as Boudreau will enter Day 2 with about 75 big blinds.
Dang picked off a huge semi-bluff shove in Level 13 (1,000/2,000/300) that helped him amass a good portion of his stack. He had a bet of 50,000 in front of him on the button with the flop having come 
, and an opponent under the gun shipped it for 67,200 more. Dang quickly called with the 
and easily faded his opponent's 
gutterball.
Some of those who failed to make it through the day included recent World Series of Poker Circuit winner Josh "JT" Turner, Jason Vanstrom, Henry Tran, Michael St. John, and defending champion Reza Yazdi. Vanstrom and St. John were also seeking back-to-back MSPT Golden Gates final table appearances. Yazdi was able to run up a couple of nice stacks, but ultimately found himself walking out the door empty-handed.
Day 2 play begins at 11 a.m. local time on Sunday here in Black Hawk, Colorado, so be sure to return to see who the next MSPT champ will be.