Barfield, Lowery at the Top of the Counts as 39 Advance From Day 1b of the HPT Season XV Championship
Day 1b of the Season XV HPT $2,500 Championship Event at Hollywood Casino St. Louis saw 143 more players hit the felt, bringing the combined field from the first two flights to a tidy sum of 200 entrants, with Sunday's Day 1c flight still to come. Just 39 players managed to make their way through a tough field, and it was Brent Barfield who ended the day on top, coming out of nowhere late in the day to bag up a whopping 398,300, good for the overall chip lead through two flights.
Barfield has found success recently in the area, notching a seventh-place finish at September's WSOPC Ameristar St. Charles $1,700 Main Event for a career-best cash of $18,810. Barfield will be able to smash that finish if he's able to end up on top.
The headliners in the counts for most of the day were Justin Coliny (132,800), who was able to spin his 30,000 stack up to over 180,000 before the end of Level 4, and Dan Lowery (292,700), who was the first to crack the 250,000 marker early in Level 9.
Following Barfield and Lowery, the rest of the top five includes Kevin Hopkins (218,100), two-time HPT Main Event champ Nick Davidson (213,400), and Christopher Audrain (206,100). Other notable players to make it through include BJ McBrayer (171,100), Jerod Smith (131,700), Melissa Bryne (105,500), Bobby Noel (77,800) and Aaron Johnson (45,700).
Josh Reichard, the defending HPT Season Champ, was unable to get anything going today, and will be returning tomorrow to make one more attempt at a title defense. Current HPT POY leader Nick Pupillo also failed to bag up chips, leaving him with one more flight to bag up a stack and protect his lead.
Other notables that'll be looking for one last chance to bag up after coming up short include former HPT Main Event champs Craig Casino and Reginald "Shawn" Roberts, WSOP Bracelet winners Blair Hinkle and Stephen Song, Aaron and Ralph Massey, and Keith Heine.
The final flight of the Season XV $2,500 Championship Event will kick off on Sunday, November 24th at Noon, with players starting with 30,000 in tournament chips. Late registration and a single re-entry option are available to players up until the beginning of Level 9.
Stay tuned right here to PokerNews as we track all the action from the final flight of the crown jewel of the HPT's successful fifteenth season, and good night from St. Louis!