Defending Champ Davidson Amasses Heaps, Blazer Leads as 29 Advance From Day 1b of HPT Ameristar East Chicago
Day 1b of the HPT Ameristar East Chicago $1,650 Main Event brought 172 more entrants out for a full day of poker action. Combined with the 97 entrants in yesterday's Day 1a flight, a total of 269 entrants have participated in the Main Event, with the projected biggest flight, Day 1c, slated for tomorrow.
After fifteen levels of play, Edward Blazer put 463,000 chips in the bag for Day 2, giving him the overall chip lead after two flights. Blazer, who spent much of the day at or near the top of the counts, was a constant force in the tournament, but his surge truly began in Level 7 (200/500/500), when he rivered a six-high straight and won a six-figure pot off an opponent with an inferior straight. Blazer kept his name in the top two or three in chips for most of the rest of the day, and ended up as the man to beat in the standings.
Right on his tail is last year's champ Nick Davidson (430,000), who had a mini heater of his own in the later levels, catching hand after hand and sending scores of foes to the rail. "We're on fire," he said at one point, and with the second largest stack after two flights, it's hard to argue against Davidson, who will be looking to go back to back and notch another HPT Ameristar East Chicago trophy for his coffers.
The rest of the top five include Peter Palanca (359,000), Roger Campbell (347,000), and Brian Dewindt (344,000). Joining them to Day 2 are Bradley Beetz (191,000), Donald Shaver (141,000), Mike Shin (116,000), and former HPT Player of the Year and WSOP Main Event champ Greg Raymer (82,000).
Paul Bianchi, who won the Season XV HPT $2,500 Championship last month in St. Louis, was unable to hit a big draw against Todd Ivens to bust. Chicago pro Ravi Raghavan succumbed to Davidson in Level 14 when Raghavan's king-queen couldn't catch up to Davidson's ace-jack.
Others who were unable to end the day with chips include Mike O'Neill, Hamid Izadi, former HPT Player of the Year Aaron Johnson, Event #1: $350 NLH Monster Stack champ Nicola Ditrapani, and Rich Alsup.
The final starting flight for the Main Event will kick off at Noon local time on Saturday. Players will receive 30,000 in tournament chips, and registration and a single re-entry option are available for players until after the dinner break after Level 9, or approximately 7:30 p.m. local time.
Be sure to tune in to PokerNews tomorrow, as we finalize the field for Sunday's Day 2 here at Ameristar East Chicago.