2019 Heartland Poker Tour East Chicago

Main Event
Day: 1c
Event Info

2019 Heartland Poker Tour East Chicago

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a10
Prize
$183,899
Event Info
Prize Pool
$820,800
Entries
570
Level Info
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
80,000

Main Event

Day 1c Completed

Wolfe Hunts Down Lead, Raymer Falls Late on Day 1c

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

Day 1c proved to be the largest flight yet at the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Ameristar East Chicago $1,650 Main Event, as 174 entries were logged and 31 of those players advanced to secure seats in Day 2.

When the chips found their way to the bottom of bags and the players hustled out of the doors to get some much-needed sleep after the lengthy grind, Billy Wolfe had his name on the bag containing the most chips. Wolfe finished with 371,000, a relatively modest total in comparison to the titanic stacks bagged by the Day 1a and Day 1b leaders Craig Casino (464,000) and Nadya Magnus (497,000), respectively.

Wolfe caught fire a little after the dinner break. He won a huge pot off Brek Schutten when he value-bet the nut flush big on the river and got paid off to surge past 350,000. Later, he'd win a sizable flip with tens against ace-king, spiking a ten on the river after being out flopped.

All night, neighbor Yoon Kim anointed him a luckbox, and Wolfe was undoubtedly happy to make the big hands no matter what needles Kim wanted to fire at him.

Kim himself managed to accumulate 233,000 himself and was joined by Mike O'Neill (315,000), Larry Ormson (230,000), Rob Wazwaz (206,000) and Kou Vang (110,000) in seeing the last hand. O'Neill and Wazwaz are both former HPT champs, with Wazwaz winning this very event in 2017.

A handful of accomplished players also bagged south of 100,000. Ravi Raghavan, Mike Shin and Alex Ziskin all have $900K-plus in tournament winnings but have plenty of work ahead of them if they want to add a six-figure score here.

A chip in a bag is still a chip in a bag, though, something several others who fired are envying at this point.

Most notably, Greg Raymer appeared set to find a bag after working his way to around 150,000, but a late slide sent the former Main Event packing. He lost a sizable race when his tens failed to hold against ace-jack and said the rest of his chips were gone in another flip shortly thereafter.

Raymer and the other players without Day 2 tickets will have one last chance to get a crack at the prize pool, which has worked its way north of $600,000. Day 1d kicks off at noon local time on Sunday. So, those fading Mother's Day festivities or getting flowers and brunches out of the way early can return to Ameristar East Chicago then to fire away, with PokerNews providing more live updates.

Tags: Billy WolfeGreg Raymer

End of Day 1c Counts (full)

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Billy Wolfe us
Billy Wolfe
371,000 -24,000
Mike O'Neill us
Mike O'Neill
315,000 227,000
Alan Krockey us
Alan Krockey
280,000 280,000
Mike Shanahan us
Mike Shanahan
270,000 270,000
Nick Davidson us
Nick Davidson
239,000 239,000
Kalpesh Shah us
Kalpesh Shah
234,000 234,000
Yoon Kim us
Yoon Kim
233,000 135,000
Larry Ormson us
Larry Ormson
230,000 50,000
Paul Elfelt us
Paul Elfelt
217,000 58,000
Brad Sailor us
Brad Sailor
216,000 111,000
Kevin Maals us
Kevin Maals
209,000 209,000
Rob Wazwaz us
Rob Wazwaz
WSOP 1X Winner
206,000 37,000
Eric Salazar us
Eric Salazar
191,000 -49,000
David Short us
David Short
181,000 181,000
Brad Rhodes us
Brad Rhodes
164,000 97,000
Taylor Firebaugh us
Taylor Firebaugh
161,000 -4,000
Keith Heine us
Keith Heine
158,500 -5,500
Anwar Baig us
Anwar Baig
156,000 75,000
Nik Budzakoski us
Nik Budzakoski
145,000 145,000
Kenneth Rawlinson us
Kenneth Rawlinson
140,000 140,000
James Stern us
James Stern
137,000 137,000
Ian Matakis us
Ian Matakis
WSOP 1X Winner
136,000 -2,000
Kou Vang us
Kou Vang
110,000 45,000
Alan Cutler us
Alan Cutler
109,000 109,000
Bryant Miller us
Bryant Miller
101,000 101,000

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Late Flips Costs Raymer Big

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

Paul Elfelt ripped under the gun for 74,500 and Greg Raymer shoved on his left. Everyone else folded.

Greg Raymer: {10-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}
Paul Elfelt: {a-Hearts}{j-Diamonds}

The {a-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds} brought what Elfelt sought, and the {3-Clubs} turn and {2-Clubs} river were bricks. Raymer shipped over most of his stack to "Big Daddy."

Each table will pitch four more hands before bagging.

Player Chips Progress
Paul Elfelt us
Paul Elfelt
159,000 48,000
Greg Raymer us
Greg Raymer
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner
65,500 -37,500

Tags: Greg RaymerPaul Elfelt

Heine Holds

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

Keith Heine just won a sizable flip, and he related how it went down.

Apparently, there was an open to 8,000 that Heine called, only to have the big blind rip all in for about 60,000. The opener mucked but Heine decided to call with his {3-}{3-} and hope for a flip. He got what he wanted as his opponent had {a-}{4-} and Heine said he won unimproved.

Player Chips Progress
Keith Heine us
Keith Heine
164,000 49,000

Tags: Keith Heine

Simon Clocked

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

John Simon bet 14,000 from the small blind on {10-Diamonds}{2-Spades}{q-Hearts}{3-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}. Taylor Firebaugh thought awhile and then moved in from his left. It was for Simon's remaining 58,500 and he went deep into the tank. After about four minutes, someone called a clock. When Simon's last 30 seconds were counting down, he stared intently at Firebaugh, finally mucking at the buzzer with a "nice hand."

Player Chips Progress
Taylor Firebaugh us
Taylor Firebaugh
165,000 2,000
John Simon us
John Simon
58,500 -75,500

Tags: John SimonTaylor Firebaugh

Level: 15

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Ante: 4,000

Wolfe Wins Dramatic Race

Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Billy Wolfe
Billy Wolfe

A player was all in from the hijack for what looked like a four-bet to around 75,000 and action was on Billy Wolfe in the cutoff. He had already put in 22,000 and slid in calling chips.

Billy Wolfe: {10-Spades}{10-Clubs}
Hijack: {a-Hearts}{k-Diamonds}

The {4-Hearts}{2-Clubs}{a-Spades}{q-Hearts} looked grim for Wolfe but he found the {10-Diamonds} on the river.

"He's a luckbox," Yoon Kim declared.

Player Chips Progress
Billy Wolfe us
Billy Wolfe
395,000 50,000

Tags: Billy Wolfe