Main Event Day 1a | 2019 Hollywood St. Louis

08-01-2019 12:45 UTC-5

Welcome to Day 1a of the HPT Hollywood St. Louis Main Event!

Anthony Thompson

Season XV of the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) continues today at Hollywood Casino in St. Louis, Missouri. The $1,650 buy-in Main Event, which will be live reported in its entirety right here on PokerNews, kicks off with Day 1a at 2 p.m. local time.

“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.”

Players will start with 30,000 in chips and play 40-minute levels. Day 1b will take place at noon on Friday, August 2nd, and Day 1c Saturday, August 3rd. The surviving players from the three starting flights will return for Day 2 action at 11 a.m. on Sunday, August 4th. The final table will then be live-streamed at noon on Monday, August 5th.

08-01-2019 14:30 UTC-5

Event #1: $350 NLH Ends in Three-Way Chop

Anthony Thompson

Level 1 : 100/100, 0 ante

Dino Galic, Nathaniel Stumpf and Taylor Hooper

This weekend’s HPT St. Louis Main Event is the culmination of a whole festival of tournaments, which actually kicked off over a week ago.

One of those tournaments was Event #1: $350 No-Limit Hold’em, which attracted 1,129 entries and created a $338,700 prize pool paid out to the top 114 places.

Among those to cash were Mike Rieck (13th - $3,489), defending champ Craig Welko (16th - $2,506), Kyle Parrish (30th - $1,727), Clarence Murray (49th - $1,382), Boris Ronko (68th - $1,075), Ron Amos (90th - $870), and Kenneth Davis (111th - $760).

The tournament ended in a three-way deal that saw Dino Galic and Nathaniel Stumpf each lock up $42,202, while Taylor Hooper took a buck less with $42,201 in prize money.

Event #1 Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Dino Galic	$42,202*
2	Nathaniel Stumpf	$42,202*
3	Taylor Hooper	$42,201*
4	Austin Schaal	$18,967
5	Zachary Carey	$14,395
6	Jeffrey Levinson	$11,008
7	David Lee	$8,298
8	Curtis Waggoner	$6,943
9	Ross Neumann	$5,724
10	Kum Nam Dollison	$4,505

_{*Denotes three-way deal.}

Tags: Dino Galic Nathaniel Stumpf Taylor Hooper

08-01-2019 14:50 UTC-5

Here's What's in Store for Season XV of the HPT

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 100/200, 0 ante

HPT logo and cards

Season XV of the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) is a big one with stops at the Hollywood Casinos in St. Louis and the Cincinnati area (Lawrenceburg, Indiana), The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Pittsburgh, and Ameristar East Chicago. What's more, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team plans to be at each of them to capture all the action.

“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.”

Here’s a look at the remaining Season XV schedule. For more information, visit hptpoker.com and follow them on Twitter @HPTPoker.

Remaining HPT Season XV Schedule

Series Dates	Venue	Location	Main Event Buy-In
July 25 - August 5	Hollywood St. Louis	St. Louis, MO	$1,650
August 1-12	Ameristar Vicksburg	Vicksburg, Mississippi	$1,100
August 22-September 2	Ameristar East Chicago	Gary, Indiana	$1,650
September 9-15	Mini Series at Hollywood Casino Toledo	Toledo, Ohio	$350
September 11-23	Golden Gates Casino & Poker Parlour	Black Hawk, CO	$1,650
September 26 - October 7	The Meadows Casino	Pittsburgh, PA	$1,100
October 17-28	Daytona Beach Racing & Card Club	Daytona Beach, Florida	$1,100
January 25-February 1, 2020	HPT on the High Sears	Western Caribbean	$1,100

08-01-2019 16:03 UTC-5

James Finch Wins Event #2: $300 Seniors 50+

Anthony Thompson

Level 3 : 100/300, 0 ante

This weekend’s HPT St. Louis Main Event is the culmination of a whole festival of tournaments, which actually kicked off over a week ago.

One of those tournaments was Event #2: $300 No-Limit Hold’em Seniors 50+, which attracted 259 entries and created a $66,255 prize pool paid out to the top 27 places.

Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Christopher Moore (12th - $1,364), Patrick Fleming (15th - $1,065), Scott Statland (19th - $732), Paul Hornung (23rd - $732), and Ralph Sitzes (27th - $732).

In the end, James Finch of Granite City, Illinois finished as the last player standing to capture the title and accompanying $15,975 first-place prize.

Event #2 Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	James Finch	Granite City, Illinois	$15,975
2	Randy Dack	Overland Park, Kansas	$9,850
3	Louis Pedroli	St. Louis, Missouri	$6,656
4	Earl Morford	Chesterfield, Missouri	$4,725
5	Arthur Dodd	St. Joseph, Illinois	$3,361
6	Stephen Green	Wentzville, Missouri	$2,995
7	Ricky Hendrickson	Arnold, Missouri	$2,496
8	Anthony Edgar	Belleville, Illinois	$2,096
9	Roy Davis	Greenwood, Indiana	$1,730
10	John Wanko	St. Louis, Missouri	$1,364

Tags: James Finch

08-01-2019 18:58 UTC-5

Defending HPT St. Louis Champ Bill Byrnes Wins Event #3: 7-Game Mix

Anthony Thompson

Level 7 : 300/600, 600 ante

This weekend’s HPT St. Louis Main Event is the culmination of a whole festival of tournaments, which actually kicked off over a week ago.

One of those tournaments was Event #3: $200 7-Game Mix, which attracted 112 entries and created a $17,920 prize pool paid out to the top137 places.

Among those to cash but fall short of the final table was Michael Snow (9th - $493), Bradley Beetz (10th - $448), Kevin Conger (11th - $403), Craig Welko (12th - $403), and Stefanie Christiana (13th - $403).

Bill Brynes, who back in March topped a 444-entry field to win the HPT St. Louis Main Event for $148K, wound up as the last player standing to capture another title at Hollywood St. Louis, this one good for $5,197.

Event #3 Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Bill Byrnes	Wentzville, Missouri	$5,197
2	Josh Turner	Missouri City, Texas	$3,226
3	Clifford Schinkoeth	Maryville, Illinois	$2,150
4	Josh Kilthau	Belleville, Illinois	$1,586
5	Leit Nelson	Cape Girardeau, Missouri	$1,192
6	Gilbert Shadowens	Pevely, Missouri	$986
7	Thomas Wall	Ballwin, Missouri	$806
8	Chadwicke Haynes	Collinsville, Illinois	$627

Tags: Bill Byrnes

08-01-2019 19:54 UTC-5

Meckem Can't Be Hooked, Doubles Through Opponent

Anthony Thompson

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

Donald Meckem found himself all in preflop and found one caller.

Donald Meckem:
Opponent:

Meckem was behind with two overcards but was able to connect with the flop.

The turn brought the giving Mechem's opponent the heart flush draw with one card to go.

Luckily for Meckem, the river fell the and he got the double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Donald Meckem	40,000 15,000	15,000

Tags: Donald Meckem

08-01-2019 20:37 UTC-5

Moore Eliminates Hughes

Anthony Thompson

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Jeffery Hughes open-jammed for 3,500 from early position, Woo Moore called sitting directly on his left and Dino Galic defended his big blind.

Galic check-folded the flop after Moore bet 5,000 and the two players tabled their hands.

Woo Moore:
Jeffery Hughes:

Hughes was way behind Moore and didn't receive any help from the turn nor the river. With that Hughes exited the tournament field.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dino Galic	105,000 20,000	20,000
Woo Moore	80,000 28,000	28,000
Jeffery Hughes	Busted

Tags: Dino Galic Jeffery Hughes Woo Moore

08-01-2019 22:28 UTC-5

A Look at the Current HPT Season XV POY Race

Anthony Thompson

Level 11 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

The Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Player of the Year race is always competitive, and right now Nick Pupillo is out in front with 203.70 points, which is a good margin ahead of Nick Davidson in second place with 163.80 points.

Sitting in third thanks to back-to-back final tables and winning the HPT Lawrenceburg for $119,101 is Greg Wood with 152.5 points.

Whoever wins the POY title will claim more than bragging rights. Our POY earns a $10,000 package to use next season as well as complimentary hotel accommodations at those six stops. In case of a tie, all winning players will split the POY prize package evenly.

Here's a look at the current top 10 headed into the HPT St. Louis stop:

Place	Player	Points
1	Nick Pupillo	203.7
2	Nick Davidson	163.8
3	Greg Wood	152.5
4	Mike Sabbia	146.4
5	Chris Moon	141.3
6	Spenser Cramer	140
7	Bill Byrnes	134.8
8	Shawn "Reginald" Roberts	132
9	Austin Peck	130
10	Dan Wagner	114

08-01-2019 23:22 UTC-5

Mitchell Eliminates Tryba

Anthony Thompson

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Robert Mitchell opened for 4,500 from under the gun and Chris Tryba jammed for 35,200 on the button Mitchell called.

Robert Mitchell:
Chris Tryba:

Tryba was dominated by Mitchell and couldn't find the pair as the board ran out and he was eliminated from the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Robert Mitchell	162,300 17,300	17,300
Chris Tryba	Busted

Tags: Chris Tryba Robert Mitchell

08-01-2019 23:31 UTC-5

Sauer Eliminates Doherty

Anthony Thompson

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

David Doherty opened for 4,500 from early position, Jeffery Schroeder called from late position and Jeff Sauer three-bet to 30,000 from the small blind. Doherty then moved all in for roughly 60,000 getting a fold from Schroeder and a call from Sauer.

David Doherty:
Jeff Sauer:

Doherty was behind but was able to pair his ten on the flop, unfortunately, Sauer paired his queen as well .