Welcome to Day 3 of 2019 HPT The Meadows
It started with 345 players and it comes down to these nine. The official final table is set and ready to rock for the Heartland Poker Tour The Meadows $1,100 Main Event.
Everyone's looking up in the chip counts at Dan Wagner, the only one over 100 big blinds with just a hair north of 2.5 million as play returns with just a few minutes remaining at 12,000/24,000/24,000. Wagner has plenty of experience with several wins and big cashes on his ledger, so he'll be a tough man to take down with his lead.
Wagner's followed in the counts by Anthony McIe at just under 2 million and nobody else is particularly close to the pair.
However, one massive obstacle a little lower in the counts is Andy Spears. The tournament vet has more than $1.3 million in cashes and owes his middling stack only to a rough beat where he had an opponent coolered with ace-king over ace-queen blind versus blind only for a queen to arrive on the river. If his luck turns around, he'll certainly be the favorite.
The competition begins here at The Meadows at noon local time, with a live stream following on a 30-minute delay. They'll play 40-minute levels until a winner claims the $76,165. You can follow the updates to see who emerges here on PokerNews, and here's a link to HPT's stream.
HPT The Meadows Final Table
| Seat | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelly Becker | 477,000 |
| 2 | Anthony McIe | 1,981,000 |
| 3 | Marcus Gaunt | 527,000 |
| 4 | Christopher Lee | 1,275,000 |
| 5 | Lydia Waltonbaugh | 578,000 |
| 6 | Andy Spears | 1,094,000 |
| 7 | Jason Pickup | 893,000 |
| 8 | George Stathers | 1,022,000 |
| 9 | Dan Wagner | 2,509,000 |
in the cutoff, Anthony McIe shoved on his left with 
and Stathers called it off for 783,000.
and Stathers was first to hit the rail at the final table.
and Jason Pickup reraised all in from the big blind with 
. After some thought, Becker opted to call off her last 275,000 and they went to showdown.
flop helped Becker not at all, and the 
left her in need of a seven and a seven only. The 
river wasn't it and she headed for payouts.
and Lydia Waltonbaugh checked 
flop and Waltonbaugh called. On the 
turn, Lee bet 200,000 and called off his last 350,000 when Waltonbaugh jammed. Without an out in the deck, Lee just stood up and began to head out as the dealer finished out the board with a meaningless 
.
. Lydia Waltonbaugh reraised all in to 2,600,000 with 
was a brick, as was the 
. Jason Pickup checked his 
from the small blind and the two went to the 
flop. Waltonbaugh checked her flopped set to Pickup, who bet 150,000 with his pair of twos. The turn brought the 
, giving Pickup two pair. Waltonbaugh again checked, and Pickup announced all in for around 1.7 million, which was nearly three times the pot. Waltonbaugh snap called and tabled her hand, and Pickup was down to the final two nines in the deck. The river fell 
to Dan Wagner's 
on a 
runout, and takes home $22,518 for his efforts.
.
flop and Wagner bet 525,000. Waltonbaugh peeled and the 
river.
flop helped Waltonbaugh not at all but the 
turn was exactly what she needed. However, an 
, and the river was the 
