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

09-22-2019 00:42 UTC-6

Levy Bags Chip Lead on Final Flight of HPT Golden Gates

HillKerby

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

The third and final starting flight of the Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates $1,650 Main Event was the largest by a wide margin, seeing 182 entries throughout the day to bring the three-day total to 412.

When chips went into bags, 33 players remained. Of those 33, David Levy was the one atop the chip counts. Levy was one of the biggest stacks in the room for the entirety of the day, roughly doubling his stack in the first hour of play. He eclipsed 100,000 by the second break of the day and went into the dinner break after Level 9 near the top of the chip counts with just under 200,000.

Shortly after dinner, Levy won a huge pot with aces to kings to get him to 300,000. He was then seen over the last three-plus hours of the evening consistently increasing that figure, little by little until reaching a final resting point of 424,000.

Three more players finished the day with over 300,000 in chips. Michael Campbell (379,000), Slater Dean (377,000), and Danny Gonzales (306,000) will all take top 10 stacks into Sunday’s Day 2. Others to advance include Nick Pupillo (254,000), Spencer Champlin (227,000), Alex Greenblatt (184,000), Will Berry (117,000), and David Levi (105,000).

Many more were not so fortunate. Defending champion Wendy Freedman, Adrian Buckley, Will Givens, and Chris Tryba were among those to make their exits on shortly after dinner on Day 1c. Svetlana Martie and Ruth Graham also fell shy of Day 2 after the pair were eliminated in quick succession shortly before play ended for the evening.

Seventy-one players will return for Day 2 action on Sunday at 11 a.m. local time, a start that is one hour earlier than the Day 1 flights. Blinds will resume at the start of Level 16 (2,000/5,000/5,000). Day 2 levels are increased to one hour in length, with 45 of the 71 remaining players set to make it into the money, locking up at least a first-level payout of $3,297 along the way.

Come back to PokerNews to catch updates as the day unfolds.

Tags: Alex Greenblatt Chris Tryba Danny Gonzales David Levi David Levy Jeff Fielder Michael Campbell Nelson Resendiz Nick Pupillo Ruth Graham Slater Dean Spencer Champlin Svetlana Martie Will Berry

09-21-2019 21:32 UTC-6

Garshofsky Finds a Huge Triple

HillKerby

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

There was already a chunk of chips in the middle on a board of in a three-way pot between the small blind, Mitch Garshofsky in the big blind, and Danny Gonzales in middle position.

Action was back on Gonzales with both blinds all in and Gonzales thought for over a minute before deciding to call.

Mitch Garshofsky:
Small Blind:
Danny Gonzales:

Both blinds had two pair with Garshofsky looking primed for a triple. The other two were in contention for the side pot with the small blind having two pair, sevens and sixes to be ahead of Gonzales' aces. The river fell to give Garshofsky a full house in addition to helping improve Gonzales to aces up to secure the side pot.

As a result, Gonzales still finds himself with over 150,000 in chips going into the last break of the night; meanwhile, Garshofsky now sits firmly above average with around 173,000 in his stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mitch Garshofsky	173,000	132,600
Danny Gonzales	156,300	-700

Tags: Danny Gonzales Mitch Garshofsky

09-21-2019 20:45 UTC-6

Pupillo Over 200,000

HillKerby

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

A regular to the Golden Gates Poker Parlour, Nick Pupillo wasted no time making his way to Colorado after taking seventh place at the WPT Borgata $3,500 Main Event just two days ago.

In a recent hand, Pupillo was seen with a bet of 22,000 in front of him on a board of to put action on Svetlana Martie. Pupillo was in early position and Martie was in middle position with about 50,000 already in the middle.

Martie went deep in the tank and eventually found a fold.

On the following hand, Pupillo raised to 4,000 from under the gun and received four callers. He then took down the pot with a continuation-bet of 8,000 on a flop of .

After the pot was sent to him, racks were dispersed across the table as the dealer high-carded for new seat draws. Pupillo was kind enough to share some of the details as he went to his new seat.

According to Pupillo, he won a couple large pots with a few smaller ones scattered in between. The two of note that he shared involved him making a set of sevens and two pair. He bet 16,000 on the river on both occasions and got paid off.

At the time of moving to a new seat, Pupillo's stack appears to be 229,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nick Pupillo	229,000	190,500
Svetlana Martie	49,600	2,600

Tags: Nick Pupillo Svetlana Martie

09-21-2019 20:31 UTC-6

Champlin Survives On Final Card

HillKerby

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

Spencer Champlin had 11,200 out in front of him from middle position and was facing a three-bet to 30,200 by Aaron Messmer, who was on the button. He thought for some time and then announced he was all in.

Messmer asked Champlin how much he had and his stack was totaled to be 47,600. Messmer called.

Spencer Champlin:
Aaron Messmer:

Champlin was flipping for his tournament life and in need of improving to stay in contention. The flop came , resulting in his equity dropping significantly. The turn then came , leaving him with one chance left to stay alive. The river was just the card he needed, giving him kings up to beat Messmer's queens up; Messmer then paid off Champlin and the table got ready for the next hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Spencer Champlin	102,400	55,600
Aaron Messmer	49,500	-39,700

Tags: Aaron Messmer Spencer Champlin

09-21-2019 17:36 UTC-6

Graham Doubles and More

HillKerby

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

Ruth Graham was in early position and raised to 1,600. Action folded around to Aaron Messmer, who called from the cutoff. Nate Zoller was on the button and also called. Pat PIneda then called from the small blind and the big blind defended, taking action five ways to the streets.

The flop fell and Pineda, first to act, thought for a bit before checking. The big blind followed suit, putting action on Graham, who made a continuation-bet of 3,000. Messmer and Zoller folded to put action back on Pineda, who check-raised all in. The big blind folded and Graham called all in for less.

Ruth Graham:
Pat Pineda:

Graham's aces had found themselves up against the flopped two pair that Pineda held. She called for a jack as the turn fell. She then stayed silent as the river became visible behind it.

"That works," she said, having improved to aces up after the river to double. Her stack was totaled to 12,100, which Pineda paid off as the pot was sent her way.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aaron Messmer	89,200	2,400
Nate Zoller	64,500	-5,400
Ruth Graham	33,000	14,000
Pat Pineda	29,400	13,400

Tags: Aaron Messmer Nate Zoller Pat Pineda Ruth Graham

09-21-2019 16:58 UTC-6

Messmer Backs Into a Flush

HillKerby

Level 7 : 300/600, 600 ante

Ruth Graham opened to 1,500 from early position and action folded around to Aaron Messmer, who called from the cutoff. Nate Zoller was on the button and came along as well, as did the big blind.

The four saw a flop of and the big blind checked. Graham made a continuation-bet of 2,000 and was called by both Messmer and Zoller. The big blind then folded and the turn came .

Graham fired again, betting 3,500. Messmer went into his statue-esque position for about 45 seconds and then put out a raise to 11,200. Zoller quickly got out of the way and Graham put in chips to call.

The river fell and Graham checked. Messmer put out a bet of 15,000 and Graham put in chips to call.

Messmer tabled for a flush and Graham mucked.

"No," said tablemate Pat Pineda upon seeing the hand. A few people chuckled a bit at the manner at which Messmer had filled up.

"Hell no," Pineda added as Messmer raked in his newly-acquired chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Aaron Messmer	86,800	41,700
Nate Zoller	69,900	-4,200
Ruth Graham	19,000	-36,000

Tags: Aaron Messmer Nate Zoller Pat Pineda Ruth Graham

09-21-2019 16:50 UTC-6

Abuzar Wins a Flip To Knock Out Fielder

HillKerby

Level 7 : 300/600, 600 ante

Stacks had gotten in before the flop between Karim Abuzar, who was in early position, and Jeff Fielder, who was at risk for his tournament life from middle position.

Jeff Fielder:
Karim Abuzar:

The two were off to the races as the board ran out , with Fielder unable to improve as he was eliminated from the tournament, wishing Abuzar a nice hand and the table good luck as he made his way from the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
Karim Abuzar	96,000	61,400
Jeff Fielder	Busted

Tags: Jeff Fielder Karim Abuzar

09-21-2019 15:33 UTC-6

Zoller Sends Buckley Back To Registration Desk

HillKerby

Level 5 : 200/400, 400 ante

A player in middle position raised to 1,200 and was called by Nate Zoller, who was in the hijack. Action folded around to Adrian Buckley, who was down to his last 2,000 and committed them all from the small blind. Both the original raiser and Zoller called.

With future action going to a side pot, the flop came and the middle-position player checked. Zoller bet 4,000 and quickly got a fold, resulting in both him and Buckley tabling their hands.

Adrian Buckley:
Nate Zoller:

Buckley had flopped a pair of sevens but was behind Zoller's pocket tens. The turn and the river ran out clean for Zoller and Buckley was left dry on chips as he got up from his seat and went back to the registration desk to fire again.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nate Zoller	46,600	14,800
Adrian Buckley	30,000
Ryan Dodson	Busted

Tags: Adrian Buckley Nate Zoller

09-21-2019 15:07 UTC-6

Driggers Dusts Holland

HillKerby

Level 5 : 200/400, 400 ante

A player in early position raised to 900 and was three-bet all in by Maxx Holland to 4,700 out of middle position. Action folded around to Stephen Driggers, who was in the big blind and went all in over the top for a pile. The original raiser folded.

Maxx Holland:
Stephen Driggers:

Holland would need to improve to stay away from the rail and was unable to do so as the board ran out .

Player	Chips	Progress
Stephen Driggers	41,700	41,700
Maxx Holland	Busted

Tags: Maxx Holland Stephen Driggers

09-21-2019 13:38 UTC-6

Berry Raises the River

HillKerby

Level 3 : 100/300, 0 ante

Ryan Dodson was in the process of throwing out a bet of 1,200 into a pot of close to 7,000 from under the gun. The board read and Dodson's bet put action onto Will Berry, who was on the button.

Berry put out a raise to 9,000 and Dodson quickly folded, resulting in a won pot for Berry sans showdown.

Player	Chips	Progress
Will Berry	41,200
Ryan Dodson	31,300

Tags: Ryan Dodson Will Berry