Welcome to Day 3 of HPT Ameristar Vicksburg
A field of 146 players has been reduced down to the final table of nine here at the HPT Ameristar Vicksburg $1,100 Main Event, and those players will return today at Noon local time to battle it out to see who will walk away with the $36,895 top prize, the HPT Championship trophy, and a $3,500 Championship package to the HPT Season XV finale.
Leading the way with the only seven-figure stack at the final table is Yousef Saleh (1,020,000). Saleh already has one mid-major title under his belt this year, as he took down the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Tunica Main Event title in March for $32,000 after a five-way chop at the final table. Saleh, who had a hand in many of the Day 2 eliminations here yesterday, will be looking to utilize his more than 100 big blind stack to continue piling up the knockouts today.
The next two players in the chip counts had wildly different Day 2 experiences, as Jaron Bailey (806,000), who started the day in the lower end of the chip counts, skyrocketed to second in chips by hitting quads not once, but twice in a three-hour span. On the contrary, the start of Day 2 chip leader Sley Sanchez (604,000) actually lost 48,000 chips on the day, but he was still able to bag the third-largest stack. CT Hoffecker (546,000) is the only other player over 400k.
Kip Jones (322,000), Shomari Williams (309,000), two-time HPT Ameristar Vicksburg final table member Judge Leo Boothe (281,000), and JW Carter (255,000) all sit within a few big blinds of each other, while defending HPT Ameristar Vicksburg champ BJ McBrayer (234,000) starts the day as the short stack, albeit with a still workable stack of just over 23 big blinds to start the day. McBrayer, who's wife Morgan also cashed in this event in fifteenth-place, is looking to make his third final table here at Vicksburg turn into his second HPT title.
Cards will be in the air at the final table at Noon local time with a live stream following on a 10-minute delay. (Hole cards will not be shown on the stream due to local gaming laws.) Play will begin where we left off from yesterday, with 28:00 left in Level 19 (5,000/10,000/10,000). Levels will be forty minutes in length until heads-up play begins, at which point they will become thirty minutes each until a champion is crowned. Updates will be provided here at PokerNews all day long, and they will correspond with HPT��s live stream on the same 10-minute delay. Stay tuned to both the stream and the blog and make sure to catch all the action as we crown the latest HPT champ today at Ameristar Vicksburg.
Final Table Seat Draw and Chip Counts
| Table | Seat | Name | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Kip Jones | 322,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Shomari Williams | 309,000 |
| 1 | 3 | BJ McBrayer | 234,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Jaron Bailey | 806,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Yousef Saleh | 1,020,000 |
| 1 | 6 | CT Hoffecker | 546,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Judge Leo Boothe | 281,000 |
| 1 | 8 | Sley Sanchez | 604,000 |
| 1 | 9 | JW Carter | 255,000 |
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates and be sure to visit HPT��s Twitch channel to watch all the action unfold in real-time as a champion is crowned and presented with the HPT trophy along with a first-place prize of $36,895 and a $3,500 Championship package.