The final flight of the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Hollywood Casino St. Louis $1,650 Main Event saw 211 entrants take to the felt, bringing the total number of entrants between the three flights to 392. Just 45 players made it through to tomorrow's Day 2, joining the 27 from the previous two flights.
When the smoke had cleared, it was Kevin Garosshen bagging up 376,000 in chips, narrowly edging the stack of Vincent Moscati and his 364,000. Both Garosshen and Moscati shot up the counts late in the evening, Garosshen the beneficiary of a cooler hand with Keith Heine, while Moscati got into a huge blind-versus-blind showdown with Moscati's Big Slick holding over his opponent's ace-nine. Both players flirted with or held over 400,000 in chips at various points in the final levels, but ended up settling for healthy 120+ big blind stacks and solid footing for Day 2.
The rest of the top 5 include Jimmy Bussey (327,500), Matt Clerk (312,000), and Hyndi Khomutetsky (311,000), who were also the only players to eclipse 300,000 in chips. Other notables able to bag chips include reigning HPT Player of the Year Nick Pupillo (281,500), Mike O'Neill (183,000), Tim Vance (167,000), Jay Friedman (131,000), Greg Jennings (107,000), and Sameer Al Dbhany (78,000).
The aforementioned Heine, who finished runner up here in last year's event, was cruising along with a healthy stack in Level 11 (800/1,600/1,600) when he found himself with top set on an eight-high flop. Unfortunately for Heine, he ran into the flopped nut straight of Garosshen, and Heine couldn't fill up, leaving himself with crumbs. He was unable to spin up a stack from there, and hit the rail short of another HPT Day 2.
Other notable players that were unable to bag up chips include Maurice Hawkins, Hamid Izadi, Lily Kiletto, and David "rUeTaMa" Moses.
The remaining 72 players will return at 11 a.m. local time tomorrow, and play down to the final table of nine. Monday's final table kicks off at Noon local time, and will be available for streaming on Twitch. Forty-five players will make the money, with the top prize of $131,184 and a $3,500 Championship Package the goal for the Day 2 field. Be sure to stay tuned right here to PokerNews, as we play down to the televised final table here at Hollywood Casino St. Louis!
Tags:
Greg JenningsHamid IzadiHyndi KhomutetskyJay FriedmanJimmy BusseyKeith HeineKevin GarosshenLily KilettoMaurice HawkinsMike O'NeillNick PupilloSameer Al DbhanyTim VanceVincent Moscati
flop, and both players checked the 
turn. Khomutetsky sized up a bet of 19,000 on the 
river, and Garosshen quickly called.
for trip nines, and Garosshen said, "Sick!" before mucking his hand.
