Reichard Off to Strong Title Defense as 53 Advance from Day 1c of the HPT Season XV Championship Event
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!
board, and Austin Tjaden went into the tank on the button. He eventually settled on a call.
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.
board, sending Dawson, who already won three preliminary events in this series, out the door.
flop to Clark, who bet 6,100. Both of Clark's opponents called.
turn was checked through to the 
river, where Dawson bet 5,700. Clark raised to 18,000, and after the cutoff folded, Dawson called.
flop to Heine, who bet 5,500. The button folded, and Tjaden check-raised all in. Heine instantly shoved his remaining 43,500 in chips forward, with good reason.
river, he responded to a fellow player's comment that his call was "Hellmuthian in nature" by saying, "I haven't had a hand like that all week!"
board from middle position, and Stephen Nussrallah double-fisted in his last 15,300 in chips from the button.
flop was checked through to the 
board over to Jean Gaspard in the hijack, who bet 11,000 into a pot of 20,000. Clark took his remaining 28,600 in chips and placed them on a miniature tractor-trailer truck that he was using as a card protector and rolled it into the pot, saying, "All in," as he did.
sent the double to Clark.
board from the big blind, and two-time HPT champ Aaron Massey bet 12,000 from the hijack. The big blind went deep into tank for a few minutes before flicking a single chip into the pot to call.
for a rivered gutshot straight, and his opponent mucked.
board from the big blind, and Pratap Golla bet 3,600 from the hijack. Hawkins responded with a check-raise to 8,400, and Golla called.