Main Event Day 1a | 2019 Heartland Poker Tour Ameristar East Chicago

08-30-2019 06:41 UTC

Johnson Triples Up

Anthony Thompson

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Aaron Johnson opened action with a raise all in for 19,000 and was called by George Dietz. Action on the table folded around to Ruslan Saldkov who three-bet all in getting a fold from Dietz.

Ruslan Saldkov:
Aaron Johnson:

It was a classic race with Johnson's tournament life at risk as the flop fell giving Saldkoc a broadway draw and Johnson a sweat.

The turn paired the board and Johnson was able to breathe after the dealer completed the board with the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ruslan Sladkov	315,000 15,000	15,000
George Dietz	145,000 25,000	25,000
Aaron Johnson	60,000 36,500	36,500

Tags: George Dietz Aaron Johnson Ruslan Saldkov

08-30-2019 06:43 UTC

Seven More Hands

Anthony Thompson

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

The remaining 22 players will play seven more hands before bagging and tagging for the evening. Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's action, as well as full chip counts of the remaining field.

08-30-2019 07:01 UTC

Player	Chips	Progress
Dan Sepiol	367,000 147,000	147,000

Ruslan Sladkov	291,000 -24,000	-24,000
Ed Sebesta	252,000 51,000	51,000
Brendan Shiller	216,000 156,000	156,000
Brian Gabriel	213,000 103,000	103,000
Chris Doan	204,000
Victor Gittorle	183,000
Chris Meyers	168,000
Michael Younan	163,000
Kevin Andriamahefa	160,000 45,000	45,000
Timothy Simpson	139,000 -41,000	-41,000
Nadya Magnus	124,000 54,000	54,000
Kevin Beck	106,000 106,000	106,000
Joe Messineo	103,000 63,000	63,000
Richard Crooks	90,000 90,000	90,000
Andrew Campbell	75,000
George Dietz	75,000 -70,000	-70,000
Tracy Sibson	65,000 5,000	5,000
Oleg Sobol	60,000

Dan Sepiol Edges Ruslan Saldkov for Chip Lead as 20 Advance From Day 1a HPT Ameristar East Chicago

Anthony Thompson

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Day 1a of the HPT Ameristar East Chicago $1,650 Main Event saw 103 entrants hit the felt in search of a Day 2 bag, and when the dust settled, just 20 made it through, with Dan Sepiol and his 367,000 stack leading the way edging Ruslan Saldkov's stack of 291,000 at the end of the night.

Next in line is Edward Sebesta as he finished with 252,000 with finding bags included Brendan Shillerl (216,000) and Brian Gabriel (213,000) rounding out the top five stacks.

A total of 103 entries turned up for the first of three starting flights in the unlimited reentry tournament, so the prize pool is off to a strong start.

Some of the players who contributed to that number but failed to make it through included Mike Shin, Brett Apter, Aaron Massey, Ralph Massey, Craig Casino, Artem Zverkhovskyy and Chris Moon.

Those players, along with any newcomers, will have two more flights in which they can attempt to advance to Day 2, during tomorrow’s Day 1b flight at 2 pm. All players that manage to make their way to Day 2 will return on Sunday, September 1st at 11 am to play down to the televised Final Table of nine Monday, September 2nd at Noon that will play down to a winner.

Come back to PokerNews for more coverage of HPT Ameristar East Chicago.

Tags: Aaron Massey Artem Zverkhovskyy Brett Apter Brian Gabriel Chris Moon Craig Casino Dan Sepiol Edward Sebesta Mike Shin Ralph Massey Ruslan Saldkov