Welcome to Day 1b of HPT St. Louis!
The second of three starting flights is slated to kick off at 2 p.m. local time for the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Hollywood St. Louis $1,650 Main Event, and a much larger field is expected to converge on the felt in hopes of joining the five survivors from yesterday's Day 1a flight.
Ryan Tepen made his late entry count, as he surged to the top of the counts quickly and never relinquished the lead before bagging up a healthy 402,000 chips. Igor Holdaiy spun a stack of 19,000 all the way up to 295,000 in just two levels to bag the second largest stack, while WSOP Bracelet winner Brett Apter (270,000), Thomas Rennier (175,000), and Season XV HPT $2,500 Championship runner-up Christopher Audrain (88,000) were the only other players to bag chips at the end of the night.
Today's Day 1b flight will feature 40-minute levels, with a fifteen-minute break after every three levels, and a dinner break after Level 9. Registration remains open through the completion of the dinner break (approximately 9:30 p.m.) and a single re-entry option is available for players unfortunate enough to bust. Day 1a's flight ended with just under ten minutes remaining in Level 14, and the final two flights will stop at that point, or when 13% of the field (rounded down) remains, whichever comes first. One final flight is on tap for players, as Day 1c will kick off on Saturday at Noon local time.
Reigning HPT Player of the Year Nick Pupillo is expected to be in action again today, while Henry Zou, James Pupillo, and Keith Heine are also expected to make their initial appearance in this weekend's Main Event. Cards will be in the air at 2 p.m. local time, so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we continue our coverage here at HPT Hollywood Casino St. Louis.
flop together, and action checked to Carl Masters in middle position. Masters bet 2,000 into a pot of 3,000, and only Daniel Lowery, who tops Arkansas's All-Time Tournament Earnings leaderboard on Hendon Mob, called from the small blind.
on the turn, and Masters bet 1,600. Lowery called again.
river, and Masters tabled 
for tens and nines. Lowery mucked.
flop, and the small blind checked again on the 
turn. Bogert bet 3,500, and only Rodgers called.
, while Rodgers tabled 
for an open-ended straight draw that rivered top pair and the winner.
board out on the felt, and Mike O'Neill made the call next to act.
fell on the river, and the middle-position player bet 4,200. O'Neill raised to 12,000, and the middle-position player tanked for a minute before turning the 
up from his hand and folding. O'Neill responded by tabling 
to a few oohs and aahs from the table.
flop, and he bet 1,000. Action then folded to Roberts, who quickly check-raised to 2,000. Only the preflop raiser called.
turn, and his opponent called.
hit the river, and Roberts bet 20,000, enough to cover his opponent. The middle position player quickly folded.
flop, Mike Thompson had an opponent on the button at risk for his last 12,100.
flop over to Rieck, who bet 8,000. The small blind check-raised to 25,000, and Rieck three-bet shoved for 70,000. The small blind, who had 31,000 behind, went into the tank.
turn, but drilled the 
on the river for a pair of aces and the winner. Cartwright and the cutoff shared a handshake, and the cutoff wished the table luck before exiting the tournament area.
board to an opponent on the button, who bet 4,500 into a pot of 13,500. Roberts check-raised to 45,000, enough to put his opponent to the test for his last 32,000 total. 