$2,500 Championship Event
Day 1c Completed
HPT Season XV Championship
$2,500 Championship Event
Day: 1c
Reichard Off to Strong Title Defense as 53 Advance from Day 1c of the HPT Season XV Championship Event
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
The final flight of the HPT Season XV $2,500 Championship Event brought 153 more entrants to the felt, bringing the total for all three flights up to 353 players. A $790,720 prize pool was built up by the field, surpassing the $700,000 guarantee, and the final 36 players will earn a piece of the pie, with the winner walking home with $181,874.
At the end of Day 1c, just 53 managed to bag up chips, with Nebraska's Mike Vanier and his 217,600 chip inching past defending champ Josh Reichard and his 215,500 chip stack. Vanier and Reichard shared a table for much of the final few levels, and both of their stacks hovered between 200,000 and 250,000 for the majority of the time. Vanier, who has over $420,000 in lifetime tournament earnings, sits well behind Day 1b chip leader Brent Barfield and his 398,300 chip stack.
Reichard will be looking to notch his third career HPT title with a win in the finale, and a win would also bring him within striking distance of the man at the top of the HPT career earnings list, Mr. HPT himself, Craig Casino. Another player looking for a title of his own is Nick Pupillo, who bagged up 94,400 chips. With only two players eligible to catch him for HPT Player of the Year, Pupillo is looking to add a second HPT title to an already impressive season on tour.
Rounding out the top five are John Michalak (195,200), Brett Reichard (179,900), and Robert Watson (153,300). Other notables include Maurice Hawkins (144,200), Stephen Song (140,700), Aaron Massey (92,400), Neil Patel (76,800), and the aforementioned Casino (69,500).
Charlie Dawson had already claimed three titles in the preliminary events leading up to this weekend's Main Event, but his quest for the biggest of all the titles of the series came up short, as he fell to Blake Whittington just an hour before the end of the night. Former HPT champs Yousef Saleh, Roger Campbell, and Shawn Roberts all fell during the day's play, as did WSOP Bracelet winner Jean Gaspard, Lily Kiletto, and Jeff Banghart.
The final 110 players will return tomorrow at 11 a.m. local time, and the plan is to play down to the final table of nine. Blinds will start at 800/1,600/1,600 for Day 2 play, and levels will remain one hour in length. Stay tuned to PokerNews to follow all the action as we reach our nationally televised final table of nine here in St. Louis, Missouri!
End Of Day 1c Chip Counts (full)
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
217,600 | 17,600 |
|
215,500 | -29,500 |
|
195,200 | 195,200 |
|
179,900 | 29,900 |
|
|
153,300 | 98,300 |
|
|
149,400 | 49,400 |
|
145,100 | 45,100 |
|
144,200 | 4,200 |
|
140,700 | 10,700 |
|
121,200 | -18,800 |
|
|
121,100 | 121,100 |
|
116,900 | 116,900 |
|
116,400 | 7,400 |
|
|
111,400 | 68,400 |
|
110,000 | 110,000 |
|
102,000 | 16,000 |
|
101,200 | 101,200 |
|
94,400 | -4,600 |
|
93,600 | 14,600 |
|
92,400 | -7,600 |
|
92,300 | |
|
90,600 | 90,600 |
|
80,300 | 21,300 |
|
79,000 | 45,000 |
|
77,200 | 15,100 |
Patel Avoids Last-Minute Bust with Bullets
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Neil Patel pushed in his remaining 16,700 in position on a runout of 
with about 45,000 in the middle. His opponent gave it some thought and called it off.
Neil Patel: 
Opponent: 
Barring any disastrous events in these final moments, this pot will enable Patel to transfer a very playable stack into a bag following the last few hands of play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
77,000 | 43,800 |
Six More Hands
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
The remaining field will play six more hands before bagging and tagging for the evening. Stay tuned for full chip counts and a full recap of the day's action.
Casino Goes for the Gamble
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Following a cutoff open of 2,800, Craig Casino decided that wasn't quite enough and pushed his 30,300 into the middle. The cutoff asked for a count and gave the choice some thought before laying it down.
Casino flipped over the 
as he passed his hand to the dealer.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
36,000 | -2,000 |
Pupillo's Three-Bet Pays Dividends
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Brett Reichard raised to 2,600, and was called by Neil Patel next to act, as well as Scotter Clark in the hijack. Nick Pupillo three-bet to 14,000 from the button, and Reichard and Patel quickly folded. Clark paused for a moment, glancing at Pupillo's stack, before thinking better of it and folding, as well.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
150,000 | 46,000 |
|
|
140,000 | 35,000 |
|
|
99,000 | 37,000 |
|
|
33,200 | -4,300 |
Two Bracelet Winners in Three-Bet Pot
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Blair Hinkle opened to 3,000 from early position, and Stephen Song decided on a three-bet sizing of 9,000 in response. Action folded back to Hinkle, who considered it for a moment before calling.
Hinkle tapped the table upon seeing the 
flop, and Song began to grab chips. Before his 5,500 even hit the felt, Hinkle's cards were in the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
130,000 | 25,000 |
|
54,000 | -14,000 |
Hawkins Takes a Chunk Out of Tjaden
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Maurice Hawkins bet 12,700 from the cutoff on a 
board, and Austin Tjaden went into the tank on the button. He eventually settled on a call.
Hawkins bet 15,800 on the 
river, and Tjaden went into the tank again. After about a minute, he slid in a stack of chips to call, and Hawkins revealed 
for a combo draw that found a pair of kings on the river. Tjaden mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
140,000 | 85,000 |
|
40,000 | -70,000 |
Schaal-In with Worse
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
With Austin Schaal having opened the action to 2,600 from the hijack, the small blind jammed his last 10 big blinds for 12,000 on the nose.
Schaal took his time doing some mental math, pointing to the pot and looking at his opponent behind reflective orange lenses, eventually making the call.
His at-risk opponent turned over his hand before Schaal slammed down his own.
Small Blind: 
Schaal: 
The 
popped up in the window, pairing Schaal. "Ah. Eight on the flop," said the small blind as the dealer finished laying out 
. "Don't worry—it's coming," said Schaal.
The small blind picked up a gutshot on the 
turn, and Tom Hammers shouted, "Nine on the river!" from the other end of the table. But the river was the 
, and Schaal sent his opponent packing.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
79,000 | 6,500 |