$1,650 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates
$1,650 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates
Buy-in
$1,650
Entries
412
Level
30
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
120,000
Entries
102
Players Left
16
Frei Leads the Way on Day 1a of HPT Golden Gates
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Twelve hours and 15 levels are in the books on Day 1a of the Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates $1,650 Main Event, with 16 players advancing to Sunday’s Day 2 out of a total 102 entries.
Aaron Frei (408,000) ended the day as the chip leader after a surge to the top of the chip counts in the last two hours of the night. Frei had 81,000 before the last break of the night with blinds going up to 1,200/2,400/2,400. He then found a double up with pocket aces, chipped up a bit further, and then found pocket aces again and took down a huge pot against Steve Wilkie to put him over 400,000 in chips.
Tan Hoang (331,000) and Andreas Ramadanis (315,000) round out the top three. Both Hoang and Ramadanis experienced relatively smooth days, watching their stacks grow steadily as play went on. Other players to advance include Brian Leitch (214,000), John Beauprez (87,000), and Ben Keeline (72,000).
Some players who did not advance were recent HPT Golden Gates champions Wendy Freedman and Austin Peck as well as Will Berry, Chris Moon, and Danny Gonzales.
Two more starting flights remain, with Day 1b starting Friday at noon local time. Come back to PokerNews for updates throughout the rest of the tournament.
End of Day 1a Chip Counts (full)
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Play has concluded for Day 1a with 16 players putting chips into bags. Here's the official end-of-day chip counts. Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's action.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
408,000 | 10,500 |
|
331,000 | -58,000 |
|
315,000 | 121,000 |
|
300,000 | 83,000 |
|
250,000 | -89,000 |
|
227,000 | 94,000 |
|
214,000 | 9,000 |
|
169,000 | -15,000 |
|
161,000 | -30,000 |
|
156,000 | -8,000 |
|
120,000 | -500 |
|
111,000 | -22,000 |
|
109,000 | 51,000 |
|
87,000 | -55,000 |
|
72,000 | 8,000 |
|
56,000 | -69,000 |
Masters Won't Argue
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Syd Masters was under the gun and limped in. Brian Leitch then raised to 20,000 from the hijack and Masters called, taking action to the flop 
.
"All in," said Masters
"Well, you got lucky!" said Leitch, sending his cards to the muck.
"Yeah," responded Masters with a laugh. "I ain't gonna argue that!" he added as he stacked his newly-acquired chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
205,000 | 47,000 |
|
|
184,000 | 65,000 |
Two More Hands
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The number two was drawn out of the available seat cards, resulting in two more hands being played before play concludes for the evening.
Martin Gets a Quick Fold
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Fred Ertl saw action folded to him on the button and opened to 11,000, getting a call from Mark Martin who defended his big blind. The flop came 
and Martin checked to Ertl, who threw out a continuation-bet of 13,000. Martin called.
Both players checked the turn 
and Martin fired out a bet of 20,000 on the river 
. Ertl instantly helicoptered his cards onto the felt about a foot in front of him, resulting in the pot being sent Martin's way.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
164,000 | 25,000 |
|
|
133,000 | -90,500 |
Pham Sends Freedman Home
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Cards were tabled and a runout was in the process of happening between Wendy Freedman, who was all in for her last 20,000 or so and Danny Pham, who had given her action.
Wendy Freedman: 
Danny Pham: 
Pham was way out in front, finding his king-ten suited dominating Freedman's jack-ten offsuit. The board ran out 
, giving Freedman no help along the way as she hit the rail shortly after the likes of Steve Wilkie, leaving 16 players remaining with just over 20 minutes of play left in the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
339,000 | 22,500 |
|
Busted |
Meglich Raises Out Hoang; McCall Sends Wilkie Home Before Night's End
Level 15
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Tan Hoang opened to 8,000 from early position and was called by Robert Meglich, who was in the hijack. The two went heads up to a flop of 
and Hoang put out a continuation-bet of 9,000.
Meglich raised to 20,000 and Hoang confirmed the amount, taking about 20 seconds thereafter before relinquishing his cards.
Meanwhile, Steve Wilkie was eliminated at an adjacent table after getting all in preflop with pocket tens versus Glenda McCall's king-queen. McCall was able to improve and send Wilkie to the showers at the beginning of the final level of the evening.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
389,000 | -44,000 |
|
|
217,000 | 48,500 |
|
|
191,000 | -22,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 15
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Pham Outkicks Monroe; Chip Counts from Table 6
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Danny Pham raised to 7,500 from early position and action folded around to Rich Monroe, who called from the small blind. Aaron Frei was in the big blind and defended to take action three ways to the streets.
The flop fell 
and action checked to Pham, who made a continuation-bet of 16,500. Monroe called and Frei folded, resulting in heads-up action to the turn . Both players checked.
The river came and Monroe put out a bet of 27,000. Pham asked to confirm the number and immediately dropped in a chip to call upon seeing the figure.
Monroe tabled 
for a pair of aces with a nine kicker and Pham turned over 
, with his top pair and a jack kicker proving best to take down the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
397,500 | -40,500 |
|
|
316,500 | 116,500 |
|
|
223,500 | -45,500 |
|
|
168,500 | 65,800 |
|
|
139,000 | 75,500 |
|
|
120,500 | 41,200 |
|
|
58,000 | -21,300 |
|
|
46,000 | -36,000 |
|
|
23,000 | -85,000 |