$2,500 Championship Event Day 1b | HPT Season XV Championship

11-24-2019 01:17 UTC-5

Barfield, Lowery at the Top of the Counts as 39 Advance From Day 1b of the HPT Season XV Championship

BrandonTemple

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

Day 1b of the Season XV HPT $2,500 Championship Event at Hollywood Casino St. Louis saw 143 more players hit the felt, bringing the combined field from the first two flights to a tidy sum of 200 entrants, with Sunday's Day 1c flight still to come. Just 39 players managed to make their way through a tough field, and it was Brent Barfield who ended the day on top, coming out of nowhere late in the day to bag up a whopping 398,300, good for the overall chip lead through two flights.

Barfield has found success recently in the area, notching a seventh-place finish at September's WSOPC Ameristar St. Charles $1,700 Main Event for a career-best cash of $18,810. Barfield will be able to smash that finish if he's able to end up on top.

The headliners in the counts for most of the day were Justin Coliny (132,800), who was able to spin his 30,000 stack up to over 180,000 before the end of Level 4, and Dan Lowery (292,700), who was the first to crack the 250,000 marker early in Level 9.

Following Barfield and Lowery, the rest of the top five includes Kevin Hopkins (218,100), two-time HPT Main Event champ Nick Davidson (213,400), and Christopher Audrain (206,100). Other notable players to make it through include BJ McBrayer (171,100), Jerod Smith (131,700), Melissa Bryne (105,500), Bobby Noel (77,800) and Aaron Johnson (45,700).

Josh Reichard, the defending HPT Season Champ, was unable to get anything going today, and will be returning tomorrow to make one more attempt at a title defense. Current HPT POY leader Nick Pupillo also failed to bag up chips, leaving him with one more flight to bag up a stack and protect his lead.

Other notables that'll be looking for one last chance to bag up after coming up short include former HPT Main Event champs Craig Casino and Reginald "Shawn" Roberts, WSOP Bracelet winners Blair Hinkle and Stephen Song, Aaron and Ralph Massey, and Keith Heine.

The final flight of the Season XV $2,500 Championship Event will kick off on Sunday, November 24th at Noon, with players starting with 30,000 in tournament chips. Late registration and a single re-entry option are available to players up until the beginning of Level 9.

Stay tuned right here to PokerNews as we track all the action from the final flight of the crown jewel of the HPT's successful fifteenth season, and good night from St. Louis!

Tags: Aaron Massey Blair Hinkle Brent Barfield Craig Casino Dan Lowery Eric Salazar Josh Reichard Justin Coliny Keith Heine Nick Davidson Nick Pupillo Ralph Massey Stephen Song

11-23-2019 23:39 UTC-5

Mangold Doubles Through Noel

BrandonTemple

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

Bobby Noel raised to 2,500 from the hijack, and was called by Jason Mangold in the cutoff, as well as the small blind and Bryan Skreens in the big blind.

Action checked to Noel on a flop, and he bet 4,000. Mangold instantly shoved his last 10,300 in the pot, and after the blinds folded, Noel flicked a chip in the pot to call.

Jason Mangold:
Bobby Noel:

Mangold's top pair faded the five-outer on the turn and river to earn the double.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bobby Noel	61,000 -25,000	-25,000
Jason Mangold	35,000 -43,000	-43,000

Tags: Bobby Noel Bryan Skreens Jason Mangold

11-23-2019 23:28 UTC-5

Lowery Crests a Quarter-Million

BrandonTemple

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

Dan Lowery raised to 3,000 on the button, and was called by Blair Hinkle in the small blind and Kyle Cartwright in the big blind.

All three players checked the flop, and Hinkle led out for 6,000 on the turn. Only Lowery called.

Hinkle bet 18,000 on the river, and Lowery raised to 36,500. Hinkle tanked for a minute before making the call, only to muck after Lowery tabled for a runner-runner flush.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dan Lowery	255,000 69,000	69,000
Blair Hinkle	57,000 -31,000	-31,000

Tags: Blair Hinkle Dan Lowery Kyle Cartwright

11-23-2019 23:06 UTC-5

Cartwright Ends Wallace's Day

BrandonTemple

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

Kyle Cartwright raised to 2,000 from middle position, and was called by Anthony "Tone" Wallace in the cutoff and Bryan Skreens in the big blind.

Skreens checked the flop to Cartwright, who bet 2,000. Wallace jammed his last 20,000 in, and after Skreens folded, Cartwright quickly called.

Tone Wallace:
Kyle Cartwright:

Cartwright hit immediately on the turn, leaving Wallace drawing dead to the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kyle Cartwright	95,000 45,000	45,000

Tone Wallace	Busted

Tags: Bryan Skreens Kyle Cartwright Tone Wallace

11-23-2019 22:15 UTC-5

Defending Champ Reichard Enters the Fray

BrandonTemple

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

The field here at the HPT Season XV $2,500 Championship Event just got a little tougher, as defending champ Josh Reichard just took his seat.

Reichard topped a field of 434 runners at Ameristar East Chicago and walked away with $221,294 after defeating Bobby Noel in heads-up play in last year's Championship Event. Reichard managed to follow up his success in Season XIV with another victory this season, taking down September's HPT Ameristar East Chicago Main Event for another $186,812 in prize money after besting a field of 579 entries.

Reichard will be looking to not only defend his title, but add a third HPT trophy to an already packed wall of accolades for the young Wisconsin pro, and we'll be following him all weekend long.

Player	Chips	Progress
Josh Reichard	30,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Bobby Noel Josh Reichard

11-23-2019 22:07 UTC-5

Welko Raises the Turn

BrandonTemple

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

A player raised to 2,400 from middle position, and Jonathan Lawson called in the small blind, as did Craig Welko in the big blind.

All three players checked the flop, and Lawson bet 3,500 on the turn. Welko raised to 11,000, and both the middle-position player and Lawson quickly folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonathan Lawson	95,000 54,000	54,000
Craig Welko	75,000 12,000	12,000

Tags: Craig Welko Jonathan Lawson

11-23-2019 21:52 UTC-5

Skreens Takes From Wallace

BrandonTemple

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

Bryan Skreens raised to 2,300 from middle position, and Anthony "Tone" Wallace, who won a preliminary event here at Hollywood Casino St. Louis earlier in the week, called in the big blind.

Wallace checked the flop to Skreens, who bet 2,000. Wallace called.

The turn was checked again by Wallace, and Skreens bet 4,000. Wallace folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Bryan Skreens	39,600 9,100	9,100
Tone Wallace	32,000 -9,500	-9,500

Tags: Bryan Skreens Anthony Wallace

11-23-2019 18:42 UTC-5

Davidson Falls to Wagner

BrandonTemple

Level 6 : 200/500, 500 ante

Season XV HPT The Meadows champ Dan Wagner raised to 1,200 from middle position, and Season XV HPT Ameristar East Chicago champ Nick Davidson three-bet shoved for 8,300 from the button. The big blind cold-called, and Wagner four-bet jammed for 31,900. The big blind snap-called.

Nick Davidson:
Dan Wagner:
Big Blind:

Davidson picked up a little hope on the flop, but that was extinguished after Wagner drilled the turn, giving Wagner a set of queens and leaving the big blind looking for a two-outer of his own to score the double knockout. The bricked off, and Wagner scooped in the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dan Wagner	75,000 54,500	54,500
Nick Davidson	Busted

Tags: Dan Wagner Nick Davidson

11-23-2019 18:30 UTC-5

Zou on the Rise

BrandonTemple

Level 5 : 200/400, 400 ante

Peter Nigh raised to 900 from early position, and Henry Zou, who's been on a tear in the last level, made the call in middle position.

Both players checked the flop, and Nigh checked again on the turn. Zou bet 1,600 and Nigh called.

Nigh checked again on the river, and Zou bet 3,000. Nigh, who had just 10,000 behind, tanked for a minute before calling, only to muck after Zou flipped over for trip eights.