Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2019 Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates Casino
Main Event
Day: 1a
Geller Bags Chip Lead Again on Day 1a of HPT Black Hawk
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The Heartland Poker Tour is back in action and HPT Black Hawk $1,100 Main Event Day 1a is in the books. The first of four starting flights saw 82 entries and at the end of 15 40-minute levels, 17 advanced with Greg Geller leading the way.
Geller, who was also the chip leader of the Kick Start event by a wide margin after Day 1 built his stack steadily throughout the afternoon, reaching a stack of 85,000 at the first break. He then dropped to around 50,000 briefly before building back to a stack of 130,000 at the dinner break after Level 9.
It was in Level 12 that Geller won his biggest pot of the day when he called off his chips with an ace-high flush draw on the turn against the pocket aces of Matt Grisham and hit a spade on the river to earn a full double. From there, he avoided bad spots and chipped up with his good hands en route to reaching his peak stack of 336,000 at the end of the night.
Second in chips for the day is Carlos Lopez, who coasted throughout most of the day, accumulating his stack before winning two big pots at the end of the night with a full house and pocket aces to pocket queens to earn two knockouts on his way to bagging a stack of 313,000.
Rounding out the top five for the day are Angel Howell (219,000), Thomas Fuller (193,500), and Michael Hinde (190,000). Another notable player to advance was Chris Tryba who finished in sixth for the day, bagging a total of 166,000.
A couple of players who did not advance from the day include 2018 HPT Black Hawk Champion Mike Englert and 2018 HPT Chicago runner-up Jason Mangold.
There are three more starting flights left, with Day 1b starting Thursday at noon local time. Stay tuned to PokerNews for live reporting of the 15 levels that are on the schedule as HPT Black Hawk unfolds.
End of Day 1a Chip Counts (full)
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Day 1a is officially in the books with 17 players making it to the end of day and advancing to Day 2 on Sunday. Here are the official chip counts for the remaining players.
A recap of all the action will also be posted shortly
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
336,000 | 51,000 |
|
313,000 | 10,500 |
|
219,000 | 67,000 |
|
193,500 | 500 |
|
190,000 | 9,700 |
|
166,000 | 82,500 |
|
128,500 | 3,300 |
|
120,500 | -24,100 |
|
111,000 | -42,000 |
|
108,500 | -20,300 |
|
107,000 | 34,800 |
|
|
99,500 | -16,000 |
|
94,500 | -26,300 |
|
|
81,500 | -11,800 |
|
|
79,000 | -19,000 |
|
|
63,500 | 14,300 |
|
|
49,000 | -27,500 |
Three More Hands
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The tournament director drew the 
as the clock hit the 10-minute mark and announced that the remaining two tables will each play three more hands before bagging and tagging their chips for the night.
Hinde Gets Fold on River
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Michael Hinde opened to 11,000 from under the gun and Thomas Fuller called from his direct left. All remaining players folded and the two went heads up to the flop 
. Both players checked, bringing the turn 
. Hinde checked again and Fuller fired a bet of 10,000, which Hinde called.
The river came 
and Hinde put out a bet of 18,000. Fuller thought for around 90 seconds before flashing his cards at Hinde and sending them down onto the felt face down.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
193,000 | -19,500 |
|
|
180,300 |
Lopez' Boat Blasts Boortz
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Carlos Lopez saw action folded to him on the cutoff and opened to 10,000. Bill Boortz defended his big blind and the two saw a flop of 
. Boortz led out for 16,000 and Lopez called.
The turn came 
and Boortz quickly pushed forward his stack of at least 60,000. Lopez beat him to the pot, announcing a call.
Lopez immediately tabled 
for a full house, jacks full of aces, and Boortz sat there frozen for a moment. He then tabled 
, in need of the case ace in the deck to chop and stay alive.
The river fell 
and Boortz was eliminated in 18th place for the evening while Lopez now has over 300K in his stack with the end of the night in view.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
302,500 | 94,500 |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 15
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Lopez Blasts Faecher's Ladies
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Action folded to Joel Terranova who opened to 6,000 from the cutoff. Barry Faecher announced he was all in from the button for around 70,000 and Carlos Lopez shoved all in over the top for a bit more. Terranova quickly folded, saying he was just playing around when he opened.
Barry Faecher: 
Carlos Lopez: 
Faecher was in need of spiking a queen in order to avoid being sent home at the end of the penultimate level of the night. Unfortunately for him, the board ran out in Lopez' favor, coming 
and he was eliminated in 19th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
208,000 | 28,000 |
|
|
93,300 | -5,200 |
|
Busted |
Crededio Four-Bet Shoves
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Adrian Crededio opened to 7,500 from early position and was three-bet to 25,000 by Michael Hinde on the button.
Action folded back to Crededio and he shoved for around 120,000. Hinde folded and Credidio took down the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
153,000 | 44,000 |
|
|
126,000 | -12,200 |
Hinde Wins With River Raise
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Michael Hinde raised to 6,500 from early position and was called by Travis Poncik in the small blind. The two saw a flop of 
and both players checked.
The turn came 
and Poncik checked again. Hinde bet 4,000 and Poncik called.
The river fell 
and Poncik led out for 10,000. Hinde put in a raise of 25,000 and Hinde lifted up his cards and folded them face up, showing 
while Hinde sent his cards to the dealer face-down in exchange for the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
138,200 | 27,200 |
|
|
128,800 | -25,400 |