Welcome to Day 2 of HPT St. Louis
Day 2 of the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Hollywood Casino St. Louis $1,650 Main Event is set to kick off at 11 a.m. local time, as 72 players return from the 391 entrants that combined through three flights (41 Day 1a, 140 Day 1b, and 211 Day 1c). The returning field will play down to the nine-handed, nationally televised final table, which will also be live-streamed at the HPT's Twitch channel. Day 2 will start with 9:46 in Level 14 (1,500/3,000/3,000), and at the beginning of Level 16, the level length will increase to one-hour in length for the remainder of the day.
The final 45 players will earn part of the $570,360 prize pool, with a min-cash worth $3,137. Making it through to the final table guarantees a payday of $12,776, while the eventual champion will take home $131,184, along with a $3,500 Championship Package.
BJ McBrayer leads the returning field of 72, with a 473,000 chip stack to work with. The rest of the top five include Mark Koeln (453,000), Day 1a chip leader Ryan Tepen (402,000), Day 1c chip leader Kevin Garosshen (376,000), and Vincent Moscati (364,000).
Other notable names that'll be in action today include three-time HPT champ Reginald "Shawn" Roberts (320,000), reigning HPT Player of the Year Nick Pupillo (281,500), WSOP Bracelet winners Kyle Cartwright (280,000) and Brett Apter (270,000), and a host of former HPT champs, including Mike O'Neill (183,000), Jay Friedman (131,000), and Bill Byrnes (124,000).
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Position | Name | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BJ McBrayer | 473,000 | 158 |
| 2 | Mark Koeln | 453,000 | 151 |
| 3 | Ryan Tepen | 402,000 | 134 |
| 4 | Kevin Garosshen | 376,000 | 125 |
| 5 | Vincent Moscati | 364,000 | 121 |
| 6 | Austin McCormick | 349,000 | 116 |
| 7 | Jimmy Bussey | 327,500 | 109 |
| 8 | Shawn Roberts | 320,000 | 107 |
| 9 | Matt Clerk | 312,000 | 104 |
| 10 | Hyndi Khomutetsky | 311,000 | 104 |
PokerNews will be live on the felt all day long, as the field reaches the money and plays down to the final nine. Be sure to stay tuned right here for updates, chip counts, and photos from Day 2 action here at Hollywood Casino St. Louis.