$1,650 Main Event Day 1a | Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates

09-20-2019 00:21 UTC-6

Frei Leads the Way on Day 1a of HPT Golden Gates

HillKerby

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.

Tags: Aaron Frei Andreas Ramadanis Austin Peck Ben Keeline Brian Leitch Chris Moon Danny Gonzales John Beauprez Steve Wilkie Tan Hoang Wendy Freedman Will Berry

09-19-2019 23:25 UTC-6

Pham Sends Freedman Home

HillKerby

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
Danny Pham	339,000	22,500
Wendy Freedman	Busted

Tags: Danny Pham Dave Hampel Wendy Freedman

09-19-2019 22:54 UTC-6

Jones Cooked By Hoang; Chip Counts from Table 9

HillKerby

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

Noomis Jones raised to 9,000 from under the gun and was called by Syd Masters in the hijack. Action folded around to Tan Hoang, who three-bet to 27,000. Jones then four-bet all in over the top of Hoang, prompting a fold from Masters. Hoang looked back at his cards to make sure he had what he thought he did and quickly announced a call, tabling his hand immediately thereafter.

Noomis Jones:
Tan Hoang:

Hoang had Jones covered by a bit and was way out in front with the opportunity at a huge knockout. The flop came to give Hoang top set and secure the knockout as the turn and river sealed the deal, sending Jones to the rail and making Hoang one of the two largest stacks in the room as the penultimate level of play looks to come to a close.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tan Hoang	433,000	173,000
Robert Meglich	213,000	4,000
Andreas Ramadanis	194,000	20,000
Brian Leitch	158,000	76,500
John Beauprez	142,000	49,000
Will Mietz	133,000	500
Dave Hampel	125,000	59,500
Syd Masters	119,000	-10,000
Ben Keeline	64,000	-12,000
Noomis Jones	Busted

Tags: Noomis Jones Syd Masters Tan Hoang

09-19-2019 21:59 UTC-6

Frei Doubles Through Nguyen

HillKerby

Level 13 : 1,200/2,400, 2,400 ante

Khoa Nguyen opened to 6,000 from middle position and was three-bet to 16,000 by Aaron Frei out of the cutoff. Action folded back to Nguyen and he called.

The flop fell and Nguyen checked. Frei made a continuation-bet of another 16,000 and Nguyen check-raised all in. Frei instantly called.

Khoa Nguyen:
Aaron Frei:

Frei's aces were ahead and in need of holding against Nguyen's open-ended straight draw. The turn came , giving him one more card to sweat. The river then fell and Frei's stack was counted out to be 70,500. Nguyen paid him off leaving himself just 1,500 behind as Frei now finds himself with a comfortable stack as play moves into the final two hours of the evening.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aaron Frei	179,000	97,200
Khoa Nguyen	1,500	-138,100

Tags: Aaron Frei Khoa Nguyen

09-19-2019 21:09 UTC-6

Jones Unexpectedly Wins at Showdown

HillKerby

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

There was a little over 30,000 in the pot on a board of and Robert Goldstein had checked from the small blind to put action on Noomis Jones, who was in the cutoff. Jones bet 22,000 and received a call from Goldstein.

The river came and Goldstein checked. Jones missed the action and asked for confirmation, which he received and checked back. After checking back, he lifted up his cards with the intent of mucking them.

Goldstein tabled for nothing more than ace-queen kickers to the pair of fives on board. Jones then turned over his hand, showing for fives up.

"I guess I did make something," he said as the pot was sent his way, bringing his stack up to 175,000 in the process.

Player	Chips	Progress
Noomis Jones	175,200	86,700
Robert Goldstein	131,800	3,800

Tags: Noomis Jones Robert Goldstein

09-19-2019 20:22 UTC-6

Ertl Sends Bardsley to the Rail

HillKerby

Level 11 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Nils Bardsley was seen standing up behind his seat with no chips in play on the felt. After he left, Zach Gutierrez was kind enough to share some of the details. According to Gutierrez, the two got stacks in on the flop.

Nils Bardsley:
Fred Ertl: suited

When stacks went in, Bardsley had second pair and was up against the nut flush draw and overcards of Ertl. Ertl filled up to the nut flush on the turn and Bardsley was left dry on chips for Day 1a.

Player	Chips	Progress
Fred Ertl	241,100	19,100
Nils Bardsley	Busted

Tags: Fred Ertl Nils Bardsley Zach Gutierrez

09-19-2019 19:49 UTC-6

Wilkie Doubles Through Bardsley

HillKerby

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Nils Bardsley opened to 3,200 from the cutoff and was three-bet all in by Steve Wilkie from the big blind. Bardsley asked for a count, which was totaled to be 15,400, and threw in chips to call.

Steve Wilkie:
Nils Bardsley:

Wilkie was in prime shape for the double and secured it as the board ran out , bringing him back to a starting stack and giving him fresh life.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nils Bardsley	38,400	-41,600
Steve Wilkie	31,600	1,600

Tags: Nils Bardsley Steve Wilkie

09-19-2019 18:18 UTC-6

Monroe Makes the Nuts to Double

HillKerby

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Noomis Jones limped in from middle position and saw action fold around to Rich Monroe, who went all in from the small blind for 22,000. Will Berry was in the big blind and went all in over the top for 28,200, putting action back on Jones.

"I hate folding, you know?" said Jones after around 40 seconds in the tank. "I fold," he said as he showed .

Rich Monroe:
Will Berry:

The board came out , giving Monroe the nut flush to crack Berry's tens, securing the double while leaving Berry short with less than half of Level 9 remaining before the dinner break and the last chance to register.

Player	Chips	Progress
Noomis Jones	132,600	-4,700
Rich Monroe	58,400	34,400
Will Berry	6,200	6,200

Tags: Noomis Jones Rich Monroe Will Berry

09-19-2019 17:44 UTC-6

Ramadanis Flops Broadway To Cooler Opponent

HillKerby

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

Andreas Ramadanis opened to 2,000 from the hijack and was called by the player on the button. The big blind then squeezed, three-betting all in, which prompted Ramadanis to ask for a count. The number was totaled to be 14,000 and he slid in a stack of chips to reraise, pushing the player on the button out of the hand.

Big Blind:
Andreas Ramadanis:

The flop fell , leaving Ramadanis way out in front of his opponent's aces after flopping broadway. He faded chop outs as well as running full house outs on the runout, with the turn and river sealing the deal as he added his newly-acquired chips to his stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andreas Ramadanis	88,800	24,300

Tags: Andreas Ramadanis

09-19-2019 16:52 UTC-6

Gonzales Sends One Home

HillKerby

Level 7 : 300/600, 600 ante

A player limped in from under the gun and action folded around to Danny Gonzales, who was on the button and raised to 6,000. Andreas Ramadanis three-bet to 18,000 from the small blind and the big blind called all in for less, totaling around 13,000. The original limper folded and Gonzales went into the tank, eventually announcing he was all in. Action was then back on Ramadanis, who took a while before reluctantly letting his hand go.

Danny Gonzales:
All-In Player:

"I was worried you had aces or kings," said the all-in player. The under-the-gun player then said he folded an ace. Ramadanis chimed in, saying he folded ace-king. If both players were telling the truth, Gonzales was in need of fading the case ace as well as flush and Broadway outs to score the knockout. He would do just that as the board came , sending his opponent to the rail and vaulting him to nearly three starting stacks along the way.

Player	Chips	Progress
Danny Gonzales	88,500	37,000
Andreas Ramadanis	64,500	12,900

Tags: Andreas Ramadanis Danny Gonzales