Salazar Lurking, Henrichs Leading as 18 Survive Day 1a of the Season XV HPT $2,500 Championship Event
The Season XV $2,500 Championship Event at Hollywood Casino St. Louis kicked off today with the first of three starting flights. 57 entrants hit the felt, all looking to navigate ten one-hour levels and find a bag. At the conclusion of play, just 18 remained, with Joshua Henrichs and his 230,300 chips leading the way.
Henrichs started his rise to the top by winning a three-way showdown between himself, Stephen Song and Mark Burgess. Henrichs applied the pressure late, and found himself with a comfortable stack of nearly 200 big blinds to take on to Day 2 play.
Eric Salazar, currently second in the Season XV HPT POY race, kept his slim hopes of taking over the top spot alive with a healthy bag of 191,500. Rounding out the top three is Season XV HPT East Chicago champ Chris Moon with 180,800 in chips. Other notables to make it through to Day 2 include WSOP Bracelet winner Brett Apter (105,000), Andreas Ioakmides (93,600) and Season XV HPT St. Louis champ Mike Shin (59,300).
Not everyone managed to make it through the day's play, however, and a few notables were unable to make it through to Monday's Day 2. Mike O'Neill, currently sitting in fourth place in the Season XV HPT POY race, was unable to get much going today and hit the felt early on. WSOP Bracelet winner Kyle Cartwright also found himself sans chips at the end of the night, as did Lily Kiletto, Jason Mangold, and Will Berry.
Current HPT POY points leader Nick Pupillo has arrived and will be in action tomorrow in what looks to be a much larger Day 1b flight, as other HPT regulars such as last year's Season XIV $2,500 Championship winner Josh Reichard, Todd Sladek, and Gary Herstein, will all be looking to join the 18 that managed to find a bag today in their quest for the final HPT trophy of the year.
Be sure to stay tuned right here to PokerNews as we catch all the action straight from the tournament floor as the second of three starting flights kicks off at Noon here at Hollywood Casino St. Louis.