Tim Burden raised to 85,000 UTG +1 and action folded around to Keith Heine who shoved all in for 365,000. The big blind folded and Burden called.
Heine: 
Burden: 
Heine's tournament was at risk but he held on after the board after it ran out 
and his ace high gave him the double up.
We just had our first elimination of the day.
After Tim Burden raised to 80,000 from middle position, Greg Wood shoved all in from the cutoff position.
Action folded around to Stephen Green, and he made the call from his big blind.
Burden then asked for a count, and once the dealer confirmed 415,000, Burden folded, leaving Wood and Green heads up.
Wood: 
Green: 
The flop of 
was no help to Wood, but the gave him outs to a straight.
Unfortunately, the 
was not one of those outs, and Wood was the first elimination at the final table.
A series of side events played out leading up to the Main Event and amazingly Craig Welko managed to win three of them.
His heater began in Event #1: $350 No-Limit Hold’em, a tournament that drew a Missouri state record 1,283 entries. There was a six-way deal worked and Welko was not only deemed the champion, but took the most prize money with $37,402. It marked the biggest score of his aspiring career.
Then in Event #6: $200 NLH Bounty ($50 bounties), he bested a 191-entry field to win his second title. While he wasn’t able to get anything going in the Main Event, Welko closed out the stop strong by topping a 189-entry to win Event #12: $300 NLH Bounty ($100 bounties) for $5,200 after a three-way deal.
Prior to the HPT St. Louis, Welko had $164,612 in live tournament earnings including a prior career-best of $33,000 for finishing third in a $550 NLH event at last year’s Wynn summer Classic.
Action folded around to Andy Echele who raised to 85,000 from the hijack. Tim Burden called from the big blind.
The flop of 
was checked by both players and the came on the turn. Burden lead out for 110,000 and was raised to 325,000 by Echele. Burden counted his chips and made the call.
Burden checked the 
river and Echele moved all in. Burden looked at Echele and mucked his hand.
Level: 24
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 30,000
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,800,000 | |
|
1,600,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
1,500,000
715,000
|
715,000 |
|
1,400,000
685,000
|
685,000 |
|
1,300,000
-780,000
|
-780,000 |
|
1,100,000
-715,000
|
-715,000 |
|
1,100,000
-120,000
|
-120,000 |
|
840,000
285,000
|
285,000 |
|
735,000
-65,000
|
-65,000 |
Action folded around to Andy Echele, and he raised it to 60,000 from the cutoff, and was called by Keith Heine on the button.
Kou Vang thought for a moment, then three-bet shoved all in from his small blind.
Dave Simon folded his big blind, Echele made the call, and Heine got out of the way.
The players tabled their hands.
Vang: 
Echele:
The flop of 
was a monster one for Vang.
The turn and 
river were a little bit of overkill, and secured vang's double up.
Final table action folded to Bill Byrnes on the button who raised to 75,000. Stephen Green three-bet to 215,000. Action folded back to Byrnes who shoved all in and was called by Green. Green's tournament life was at stake with the shorter of the two stacks with 665,00.
Byrnes:
Green:
The board ran out 
and Green's cowboys hold giving him the first double of the day.
Action folded around to Dave Simon, and he raised to 65,000 from the cutoff, getting called by Tim Burden on the button and Greg Wood from his small blind.
After Wood and Simon both checked the 
flop, Burden put out a bet of 105,000.
With action back on Wood, he then shoved all in.
Simon re-checked his cards before folding, and with, a fold from Burden, Wood took down the first pot of the final table.
