PHILLIPS AND NGUYEN HIT THE RAIL

Dennis Phillips (@Dennis_Phillips) is arguably the most recognizable poker player in the St. Louis area. Phillips is best known for his third-place finish in the 2008 WSOP Main Event where he earned over $4.5 million.

Phillips made a deep run in the opening HPT event here at Ameristar St. Charles but ultimately fell short of the title going out in seventh place for $5,544.

Brian Nguyen has had some nice scores at recent HPT events. The O'Fallon, Missouri man finished third in this very event earlier this year. He was hoping to improve on that finish by two spots this time around but, alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Nguyen went out in sixth place today and earned $6,597 for his efforts.

Level: 27 (11:00 remaining)

Blinds: 40k/80k

BB Ante: 80k

Total Players: 616

Buy-In: $350

Remaining: 5