2019 Heartland Poker Tour St. Louis

Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2019 Heartland Poker Tour St. Louis

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aa
Prize
$148,587
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,650
Prize Pool
$646,020
Entries
444
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
50,000

Main Event

Day 1b Completed

Josh Mullins Bags Chip Lead as 53 Players Survive Day 1B Flight

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

Day 1b of the HPT St. Louis is now in the books. After 280 entries and 15 levels of play, 53 are moving on and joining the 28 players that advanced from Day 1a.

They are all chasing Josh Mullins, who bagged the biggest stack on Day 1b and the second-biggest stack overall heading into Day 2. He doubled up early in Level 1 and never looked back, steadily building his stack throughout the day, which included a couple of monster pots.

The field had many of its usual familiar faces in Craig Casino, Dennis Phillips, Mike Rieck, John Richards, Paul Bianchi, Allen Kessler and two-time HPT champion Nick Davidson, to name a few. The ladies number was small but well-represented by the likes of Carolyn Adams, Mary Struges, Kathleen McNeal, Helen Denton and Barbara Hunsel.

Those were just a few of the players who came to take their shot, some more than once, at the $646,020 prize pool. The top 45 players will get paid, with a min-cash worth $3,553, but most, if not all, players have their sights set on the HPT final table and the $148,587 first-place prize.

Like yesterday, today saw no shortage of action, which included early coolers and three-way all-ins. Mullins doubled early in Level 1 after his aces held against the kings of another player all in preflop. In another early hand, Mike Rieck went from worst to first with a rivered straight after a three-way all-in on the flop.

Along with Mullins, Shawn Roberts (408,000), Tim Burden (340,000), Helen Denton (337,000) and H.B. Sablotny (329,000) rounded out the top five in chip stacks.

Other notables moving on to Day 2 include Kou Vang (250,000), Ryan Tepen (173,000), Keith Heine (140,000), Rieck (125,000) and Tim Vance (112,000) .

Some notable players to fall short of advancing include Dennis Phillips, Craig Casino, two-time HPT prelim winner Craig Welko, Jason Ramos, John Richards, Jeff Fielder, and two-time HPT champion Nick Davidson, who went out late in the day after losing a flip with sevens against the ace-king of Shawn Roberts after Roberts spiked a river king.

The 81 remaining players return tomorrow at 11 a.m. local time and will play down to the final nine players, who will all be part of the Monday's final table, which is set to air on television at a later date.

Please be sure to follow the PokerNews Live Reporting team as we once again bring you updates on the all the action as it happens.

Tags: Josh Mullins

End-of-Day 1b Chip Counts

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Josh Mullins us
Josh Mullins
532,000 143,000
Shawn Roberts us
Shawn Roberts
408,000 178,000
Tim Burden us
Tim Burden
340,000 70,000
Helen Denton us
Helen Denton
337,000 225,000
HB Sablotny us
HB Sablotny
329,000 329,000
Bill Byrnes us
Bill Byrnes
277,000 277,000
Kou Vang us
Kou Vang
250,000 150,000
Jason Darland us
Jason Darland
232,000 17,000
Brad Johnson us
Brad Johnson
208,000 208,000
Grant Bridwell us
Grant Bridwell
200,000 -45,000
Greg Wood us
Greg Wood
196,000 196,000
Rick Blythe us
Rick Blythe
193,000 193,000
Steven Graham us
Steven Graham
192,000 192,000
John Hughes us
John Hughes
185,000 185,000
Josh Shmerl us
Josh Shmerl
174,000 61,000
Bryan White us
Bryan White
167,000 117,000
Andy Echele us
Andy Echele
162,000 162,000
Larry Conners us
Larry Conners
153,000 113,000
Steve Sheldon us
Steve Sheldon
152,000 152,000
Matt Dougherty us
Matt Dougherty
151,000 151,000
Brian Nguyen us
Brian Nguyen
147,000 147,000
Frank Mondello us
Frank Mondello
144,000 114,000
Lance Hendricks us
Lance Hendricks
144,000 144,000
Stephen Green us
Stephen Green
143,000 123,000
Doug Holland us
Doug Holland
140,000 -30,000

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Six More Hands

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

The tournament staff just announced the remaining players will play six more hands before bagging and tagging for the night. Stay tuned for a list of survivors with chip counts, a recap of the Day 1b action, and the Day 2 seat draw.

Dill Cracks the Ladies

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

Action folded around to Steve Dill in the cutoff who moved all in for 40,000. He was called by the player on the button who had less chips.

Button: {q-Clubs}{q-Spades}
Dill: {a-Clubs}{j-Hearts}

The flop of {3-Clubs}{9-Spades}{a-Clubs} put Dill in the lead with a pair of aces.

The turn {4-Hearts} and river {5-Hearts} finished the board and Dill sent his opponent packing,

Player Chips Progress
Steve Dill us
Steve Dill
80,000 80,000

Tags: Steve Dill

Level: 15

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Ante: 4,000

Mullins Takes Out Another One

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

Action folded around to Josh Mullins in middle position, and he raised to 11,500, got a call from the player in the hijack, and the two players went heads up to the flop.

After Mullins checked the {j-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}{j-Clubs} flop, the hijack-player shoved all in.

Mullins went into the tank for about a full minute before he made the call, tabling {k-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}, which was ahead of the hijack-player's {6-Clubs}{7-Clubs}.

The {10-Diamonds} turn and {6-Hearts} river were of no help to the hijack-player, and Mullins remained one of the big stacks in the room.

Player Chips Progress
Josh Mullins us
Josh Mullins
389,000 95,500

Tags: Josh Mullins

Darland Keeps Stacking

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

Jason Darland raised to 13,000 from the cutoff. The player in the small blind called.

The {10-Spades}{k-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds} flop was checked by the small blind and Darland fired 13,000, his opponent called.

The {j-Hearts} on the turn was checked to Darland who bet 22,000. His opponent called.

Darland moved all in for 86,500 after his opponent checked the {3-Spades} river, making his opponent fold.

Player Chips Progress
Jason Darland us
Jason Darland
215,000 65,000

Tags: Jason Darland