Welcome to Day 2 of the HPT Season XV $2,500 Championship Event
Day 2 of the HPT Season XV $2,500 Championship Event is set to kick off at 11 a.m. local time, as 110 players return from a field of 353 players, all looking to navigate their way to Day 3 and the nationally televised final table, which will also be live-streamed at the HPT's Twitch channel.
The final 36 players will all take home a share of the $790,720 prize pool, with a min-cash worth $5,930. Making it to the final table of nine guarantees a payday of $19,056, while the eventual champion will take home $181,874 in prize money.
Brent Barfield comes into the day as the overwhelming chip leader, sitting over 100,000 chips above his closest competetor in Dan Lowery. Defending champ Josh Reichard sits with a comfortable top 5 stack of 215,500, and both Nick Davidson and Eric Salazar, the last two players standing between Nick Pupillo and the coveted HPT Player of the Year crown, also lurk in the top ten in chips.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Position | Name | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brent Barfield | 398,300 |
| 2 | Dan Lowery | 292,700 |
| 3 | Joshua Henrichs | 230,300 |
| 4 | Mike Vanier | 218,100 |
| 5 | Josh Reichard | 217,600 |
| 6 | Nick Davidson | 215,500 |
| 7 | Christopher Audrain | 213,400 |
| 8 | John Michalak | 195,200 |
| 9 | Eric Salazar | 191,500 |
| 10 | Chris Moon | 180,800 |
Season XIV HPT Player of the Year Aaron Johnson advanced to Day 2, but he'll have a little work to do as he sits in the lower half of the chip counts, bringing back 45,700 for Day 2 action. We'll also be keeping an eye on former HPT champs Chris Moon (180,800), Dan Wagner (109,300), Gary Herstein (72,000), Craig Casino (69,500) and Mike Shin (59,300).
PokerNews will be live on the felt all day long as the field reaches the money and plays down to the nationally televised final table of nine. Stay tuned here for live updates and photos from the HPT Season XV $2,500 Championship Event at Hollywood Casino St. Louis.
board, where Johnson bet 7,000. Hawkins raised to 14,000, and Johnson three-bet shoved to put Hawkins at risk. Hawkins instantly flung 
up on the felt, preserving his remaining 75,000.
runout, finishing with a full house for the near triple.
flop after a raising war with Ron Ong, and Ong called to put Burns at risk for an over 500,000 chip pot.
turn gave Ong a flush and left Burns needing the board to pair in order to survive. The 
river gave Burns a full house, and he celebrated with a fist pump as he scooped in the massive pot.
flop, and Burns sent over the double after the 
turn and 
river hit the felt.
board left him dead on the turn.
flop gave him a straight, and although Jennings turned a Broadway draw with the 
river left Jennings shaking hands again, this time before heading to the payout desk.