Main Event
Day 1c Completed
2019 Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates Casino
Main Event
Day: 1c
Sater Bags Day 1c Chip Lead at HPT Golden Gates
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The third of four starting flights at HPT Golden Gates $1,100 Main Event has become one with its two predecessors after 15 levels of action. Day 1c nearly doubled the total from the first two flights combined, seeing a massive 204 entries for the day. When the dust settled, it was Jason Sater who bagged 590,000 to find himself in pole position among the 34 players to advance.
After building his stack steadily throughout the day, Sater played one major hand where he backed into a straight in a three-bet pot against Jeff Fielder and raised Fielder’s bet to 110,000. Upon being called, Sater found himself with over a half-million in his stack and he climbed further from there before play finished.
Sater finds himself second in chips among all players to have advanced to Day 2, following behind Day 1b chip leader David Berger who ended yesterday’s flight with 628,000. They are the only two people to bag stacks north of 500,000 after three flights.
Maz Keshavarzi (460,500) and Bruce Russell (419,000) round out the top three in chips for the flight with both players finding themselves above everybody else in the field besides Berger and Sater. Russell had a boisterous day, with “Bruce is on the loose” heard across the Poker Parlour throughout the day as he built his stack by way of making quads twice and getting paid both times.
Other players to bag large stacks include Eric Smidinger (348,500), Robert Brubaker (287,000), and WSOP 2019 Main Event 39th place finisher Dapo Ajayi (264,500).
Players who were not fortunate enough to advance to Day 2 in today’s heat include Nick Pupillo, Chris Moon, Ben Keeline, Danny Gonzales, and Alex Rocha, who lost a big pot at the end of the night to find himself crippled and chose to forfeit his stack and try again tomorrow rather than put crumbs into a bag for a 35-hour hiatus.
The fourth and final initial flight of the tournament begins at noon, local time on Saturday. How many players will join the 69 to have advanced through the first three flights and who will they be? Tune back in to PokerNews tomorrow to find out.
Play Concluded for Day 1c (full)
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Play is finished for Day 1c and the remaining 34 players have bagged and tagged their chips. Here are the official chip counts with a recap of the day's action soon to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
590,000 | 100,000 |
|
460,500 | 460,500 |
|
419,000 | -60,500 |
|
348,500 | -17,800 |
|
287,000 | 180,000 |
|
264,500 | 74,500 |
|
240,000 | -45,000 |
|
227,000 | 227,000 |
|
220,500 | 220,500 |
|
215,000 | -67,000 |
|
198,500 | -43,500 |
|
196,500 | -7,500 |
|
174,000 | 51,000 |
|
164,000 | 164,000 |
|
160,500 | 160,500 |
|
|
155,500 | 28,500 |
|
|
153,000 | 153,000 |
|
144,000 | -41,000 |
|
142,000 | 87,000 |
|
127,500 | 127,500 |
|
|
126,500 | 126,500 |
|
119,000 | 31,000 |
|
119,000 | 119,000 |
|
103,500 | 103,500 |
|
|
101,500 | 101,500 |
Three More Hands
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Out of the options of 
-
-
-
, the three was chosen and the tournament director made the corresponding announcement for dealers to deal three more hands before bagging and tagging for the evening.
Jensen Gets a Knockout, Chips Up More Afterward
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Ben Jensen opened from the hijack to 4,000 and the player in the cutoff went all in for 15,600. Action folded back to Jensen and he made the call.
Ben Jensen: 
Opponent: 
The board ran out 
. Jensen's opponent was safe until the nine hit on the river, sending him to the rail while Jensen took down the small pot.
In the meantime, he was also seen stacking more chips as he collected a pot from a hand where he had 
versus 
on a board that ran out 
, bringing him to his current chip total.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
285,000 | 92,000 |
Martie Doubles Through Levi
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Bruce Russell saw action folded to him in the hijack and he limped in. The next two players folded and David Levi confirmed it was just a limp before completing. Svetlana Martie was in the big blind and shoved all in for her last 35,000. Russell quickly folded and Levi instantly called.
Svetlana Martie: 
David Levi:
Martie was slightly behind at risk for her tournament life but was able to improve on the flop and hold as the board ran out 
for her to get the double.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
479,500 | -4,500 |
|
|
204,000 | -33,000 |
|
78,000 | 78,000 |
Level: 15
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Smidinger Wins Race on River To Survive
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Eric Smidinger opened the action with a raise to 7,500 from under the gun and was three-bet to 22,000 by a player in middle position. Action folded around to Smidinger and he called.
The dealer fanned a flop of 
and Smidinger checked to his opponent, who fired a continuation-bet of 27,000 into the middle. Smidinger thought for about 30 seconds before announcing he was all in.
His opponent asked for a count which was totaled to be 157,400 and thought for a few moments before slamming a stack of red, T$5,000 chips forward to call.
Eric Smidinger: 
Opponent: 
Smidginger had shoved with two overcards to the board and a flush draw, though only one was live to his opponent's queens. The turn 
was no help to him and he was down to his final card. The dealer then burned and turned the on the river to give him a pair of kings and secure the double, putting him firmly above average in chips going into the last level of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
366,300 | 366,300 |
Another Chip Update
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
490,000 | -59,000 |
|
|
123,000 | -500 |
|
|
107,000 | -46,200 |
|
|
88,000 | -33,000 |
|
74,200 | 19,700 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Meyer Makes Tens Up
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Dapo Ajayi had bet 30,000 on a board of 
from under the gun into Caleb Meyer who was on the button and called. The river came and Ajayi bet another 30,000. Meyer quickly called.
"Pair of tens," Ajayi said.
"Tens and sevens," responded Meyer, showing 
.
Ajayi sent his cards to the muck. After the hand Meyer said that Ajayi had opened to 6,000 preflop and action went at least five ways to the flop. Ajayi made a continuation-bet of 20,000 which only Meyer had called. After Meyer improved on the turn, the rest was history.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
282,000 | 197,000 |
|
|
190,000 | 65,500 |