Welcome To Day 3 of HPT Golden Gates
It took three starting flights and two full days of poker to make it this far. Over that time, 412 entries came to Black Hawk, Colorado with the hopes of becoming the next HPT champion. Nine players now remain, and are set return to the felt with their eyes on $137,876.
Welcome back to PokerNews coverage of Day 3 of the Heartland Poker Tour Golden Gates $1,650 Main Event. The final table has been set and the show is about to begin. Headlining the chip counts after a late Day 2 surge is Tan Hoang, who enters the day with 3.875 million as the only player with over 100 big blinds worth of chips to start the day.
Hoang is well ahead of his next-closest competitor. Roberg Meglich (2.175 million) comes into the day second in chips. Meglich is followed in the counts by Jeff Banghart (1.805 million). Banghart is perhaps the most accomplished player in the field, with over $1 million in live earnings, and it is likely he hopes to use that experience to his advantage under the bright lights when cards go in the air.
Two of the three Day 1 chip leaders are also still alive. Day 1c (and overall Day 1) chip leader David Levy (765,000) and Day 1b chip leader Jason Su (660,000) both enter the day amid a group of five players that all have under 26 big-blind stacks.
The final table is set to begin at noon local time upstairs in the Poker Overflow Room, and stack sizes are primed for action after what ended up being two hours of ten-handed play to end Day 2. Blinds are set to resume with 33:12 on the clock in Level 24 (15,000/30,000/30,000). Levels will last one hour in length until heads-up play begins, at which point they will be reduced to 30 minutes each until the eventual champion claims the HPT trophy and first-place prize of $137,876.
PokerNews will be providing accompanying final-table coverage with the live stream for the final table, which will be on a 30-minute delay. The live stream can be found at the Heartland Poker Tour’s Twitch channel.
HPT Golden Gates Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Small | 1,415,000 | 47 |
| 2 | Glenda McCall | 775,000 | 26 |
| 3 | David Levy | 765,000 | 26 |
| 4 | Tan Hoang | 3,875,000 | 129 |
| 5 | Jay McVeigh | 445,000 | 15 |
| 6 | Robert Meglich | 2,175,000 | 73 |
| 7 | Jeff Banghart | 1,805,000 | 60 |
| 8 | Corey Williams | 450,000 | 15 |
| 9 | Jason Su | 660,000 | 22 |
, leaving him still in need of help. The turn 
was of no avail, giving him one last chance to stay alive. The prettiest card in the deck came as the river fell 
, scoring the double for McVeigh to earn a double early on Day 3 and avoid becoming the ninth-place finisher for the time being.
. The turn 
. However, that luck would run dry as the turn fell 
to result in Su's departure from the tournament as the ninth-place finisher.
and the river came 
and Levy remained out in front. The turn came 
and both players checked again. The river came 
and Banghart put out a bet of 50,000. Small called.
and he secured the double to bring him back over 1 million in chips; meanwhile, Banghart now finds himself back as one of the short stacks at the table.