Main Event
Day 1a Started
2019 Heartland Poker Tour Ameristar East Chicago
Main Event
Day: 1a
Welcome to Day 1a of 2019 HPT East Chicago
One of the Heartland Poker Tour flagship events is set to kick off as it is time once again for HPT Ameristar East Chicago $1,650 Main Event after a solid week of preliminary action here just outside of the Windy City.
The Main Event gets rolling with Day 1a, the first of three starting flights. Cards and chips are scheduled to start flying at 2 p.m. local time.
While the tournament doesn't carry a guarantee, it has typically gone well north of a $500,000 guarantee in the past, with the prize pool often reaching around $1 million.
This past May, HPT Ameristar Casino crowned a new Main Event Champion as Chris Moon topped a field of 570 to take down a career-best $183,899 and a $3,500 HPT Championship package to join the likes of Nick Davidson, Josh Reichard, Aaron Massey, and Nick Pupillo as HPT titleholders at the Ameristar Casino in East Chicago.
HPT Ameristar East Chicago Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Moon | $183,899 |
| 2 | Artem Zverkhovskyy | $113,605 |
| 3 | Eric Salazar | $74,456 |
| 4 | Craig Casino | $51,735 |
| 5 | Bryant Miller | $37,596 |
| 6 | Mike O'Neill | $29,178 |
| 7 | Paul Elfelt | $24,519 |
| 8 | Dennis Ng | $20,433 |
| 9 | Bret Martin | $16,346 |
Starting Flight
The plan for Day 1a is to play 15 levels, lasting 40 minutes apiece, with breaks after every three levels including a 60-minute dinner break after Level 9. Alternately, play may end if 13 percent of the field — rounded down — is left at some point.
Everyone will receive 30,000 chips to start with blinds beginning at 100/100 and progressing to 2,000/4,000/4,000 with the big blind ante coming into play at the start of level four. Players can reenter as many times as they wish, should they go bust.
The surviving players from all starting flights will return for Day 2 action at 11 am on Sunday and will play down to a final table which will be live-streamed with a 10-minute delay Monday, September 2nd.
“HPT is excited to have PokerNews providing additional event coverage in 2019,” said Korey Stewart, HPT Marketing Manager. “Season XV is shaping up to be another record-breaking year for the tour. We’ve already added several new venues to the schedule and we’re hoping to announce a few more new additions soon. There will be plenty of opportunities for poker enthusiasts across the country to take a shot at winning life-changing money at nationally televised final tables. We’re looking forward to having an industry leader like PokerNews there to report on it every step of the way.”
Main Event Structure
| Level | Length | Small Blind | Big Blind | BB Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40 minutes | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| 2 | 40 minutes | 100 | 200 | 0 |
| 3 | 40 minutes | 100 | 300 | 0 |
| 4 | 40 minutes | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| 5 | 40 minutes | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 6 | 40 minutes | 200 | 500 | 500 |
| 7 | 40 minutes | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 8 | 40 minutes | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 9 | 40 minutes | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 10 | 40 minutes | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| 11 | 40 minutes | 800 | 1,600 | 1,600 |
| 12 | 40 minutes | 1,000 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| 13 | 40 minutes | 1,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| 14 | 40 minutes | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 15 | 40 minutes | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
PokerNews will be here all weekend long catching all the action straight from the tournament floor, so be sure to stay tuned as the action gets underway here at Ameristar East Chicago!
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 0
Shuffle Up and Deal
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
Cards are in the air for Day 1a of the HPT Ameristar East Chicago Main Event!
Update Your Own Chip Count Using the PokerNews MyStack App!
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
PokerNews has activated the MyStack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.
Early Notable Faces
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
Kroll Calls Esquival's Continuation Bets, Wins Pot
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
Jonathan Williams opened for 300 from late position and was called by Jerry Kroll from the cutoff. Action was on Michael Esquival who three-bet to 800 on the button, both Willams and Kroll called.
The 
flop was checked to Esquival who bet 700 and was called by Kroll after Willams folded.
Kroll check-called Esquival's 2,500 bet after the 
fell on the turn.
The dealer completed the board with the 
river that was checked by both players and Kroll tabled 
for the winner.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
35,000 | 35,000 |
|
29,200 | 29,200 |
|
|
25,000 | 25,000 |
More Familiar Face Join The Crowd
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
|
30,000 | |
|
|
30,000 | |
|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
|
30,000 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 0
Check Out Oddschecker US Today
Level 2
: 100/200, 0 ante
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