Cord Garcia Wins HPT Golden Gates For the Second Time In a Row

Cord Garcia Wins HPT Golden Gates

Cord Garcia is the winner of the HPT Golden Gates Main Event and has won back-to-back HPT Golden Gates. He will take home $248,732 for his effort and is on top of the HPT Player of the Year Leaderboard. On top of all that, he also wins his second HPT Bracelet, which he says he will be giving to his mother.

Garcia topped a field of 787 players and eventually defeated Dan O'Brien heads up thanks to a little help from the ace of spades that came on the river to earn him a huge double and leave O'Brien with a little more than ten big blinds.

The final hand saw Garcia get all in with king-nine. He was against the eight-four suited of O'Brien. O'Brien flopped a gut-shot straight and turned a pair, but again Garcia pulled some magic on the river, hitting a nine and winning his second HPT Golden Gates and $248,732.

Garcia started off the day eliminating the first two players, Torii Beeding (9th) and Justin Enger (8th). Then O'Brien eliminated the next two, Ed Sebesta (7th) and Ben Keeline (6th). Then Garcia eliminated Zo Karim (5th), before O'Brien eliminated Saad Vazquez (4th).

Garcia then eliminated Andrew Dean (3rd) and went on to eliminate O'Brien to win his second HPT Gold Gates HPT Main Event in a row.

Here is a list of the final table payouts:

Player	Place	Payout
1	Cord Garcia	$248,732
2	Dan O'Brien	$153,982
3	Andrew Dean	$100,881
4	Saad Vazquez	$69,760
5	Zo Karim	$50,903
6	Ben Keeline	$39,103
7	Ed Sebesta	$32,277
8	Justin Enger	$26,956
9	Torii Beeding	$21,634

Thanks for keeping up with HPT Golden Gates and congratulations to the HPT's newest champion, Cord Garcia. The next HPT kicks off in Florence, IN at Bellterra Casino. The series starts March 10 and the Main Event kicks off March 16.

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Heads Up at HPT Golden Gates: Cord Garcia Catches a Big One

Cord Garcia spikes an ace on the river

After Dan O'Brien came out of the break hot, it looked like he might win the tournament when he got all in with pocket kings against the  of Cord Garcia.

Dan O'Brien

Garcia opened to 650,000 and O'Brien reraised to 2,000,000. Garcia said all in and O'Brien snap-called. O'Brien showed  and was ahead until the river when the  hit and gave Garcia the crucial double up.

That left O'Brien with a little more than 3-million.

Blinds - 150,000/300,000
Antes - 50,000
Entries - 2/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Heads Up at the HPT Golden Gates: Two in a Row for O'Brien

Dan O'Brien

In the first two hands back from the break, Dan O'Brien has retaken the lead and won two pots in a row.

The first hand, Garcia opened to 700,000 and O'Brien called. The flop came  and O'Brien checked. Garcia bet 600,000 and O'Brien raised to 1,500,000 before Garcia folded.

The next hand, O'Brien opened to 600,000. Garcia called. The flop came  and Garcia checked. O'Brien bet 400,000 and Garcia folded.


Blinds - 150,000/300,000
Antes - 50,000
Entries - 2/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Heads Up at HPT Golden Gates: Cord Garcia Up Slightly at the Break

Cord Garcia

The last few levels have been relatively uneventful. Dan O'Brien was behind when the two began their heads up match. He managed to come back, and take the lead after winning two big hands. Garcia then used the next two levels to slowly chip up and overtake O'Brien again just before the break.

Dan O'Brien

Here are the counts at the break.

Cord Garcia - 12,605,000
Dan O'Brien - 11,055,000


Blinds - 150,000/300,000
Antes - 50,000
Entries - 2/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Heads Up at HPT Golden Gates: Garcia Evens It Out

Cord Garcia

Nothing special has happened over the last 20 minutes or so of play, but Cord Garcia has managed to even out the stacks heading into the next level.

Seat	Player	Chip Count
1	Dan O'Brien	12,000,000
2	Cord Garcia	11,600,000

Blinds - 100,000/200,000
Antes - 25,000
Entries - 2/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Heads Up at the HPT Golden Gates: O'Brien Pulls Further Away

Dan O'Brien

Dan O'Brien has turned the tables on Cord Garcia. When the heads up match started, O'Brien was about 6-million down and now he holds the 5.3-million lead.

O'Brien opened to 240,000 and Garcia three-bet to 625,000. O'Brien called. The flop came  and both players checked. The turn was the  and Garcia checked. O'Brien bet 800,000 and Garcia called.

Cord Garcia

The river was the  and Garcia checked again. O'Brien bet 1,375,000 and Garcia called. O'Brien won the pot when he showed king-nine for two pair.

Level - 31
Blinds - 60,000/120,000
Antes - 15,000
Entries - 2/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Heads Up at HPT Golden Gates: Dan O'Brien Takes the Lead

Dan O'Brien

After a couple of smaller hands, Dan O'Brien won a big pot and took the chip lead over Cord Garcia.

O'Brien opened to 250,000 and Garcia called. The flop came all spades, . Garcia checked and O'Brien bet 200,000. Garcia raised to 500,000 and O'Brien called.

Cord Garcia

The turn was the  and Garcia led this time. He bet 800,000 and O'Brien called. The river was the  and Garcia checked. O'Brien bet 1,500,000 and Garcia  called.

O'Brien showed  for a flush, and Garcia mucked.

Seat	Player	Chip Count
1	Dan O'Brien	12,200,000
2	Cord Garcia	11,400,000

Level - 31
Blinds - 60,000/120,000
Antes - 15,000
Entries - 2/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Heads Up at HPT Golden Gates: Cord Garcia v Dan O'Brien

The action was quick with the last three players being eliminated in the last half an hour, but HPT Golden Gates Main Event is now down to the final two players.

In one corner, the defending HPT Golden Gates Champion, The Colossus winner, with $1,612,592 in life time earnings: Cord Garcia.

Cord Garcia

Garcia has the chip lead and perhaps a little momentum, after knocking out Andrew Dean in a huge pot three-handed.

In the other corner, Dan O'Brien, a creative force behind the "worst" podcast in poker "Fighting Chance." He brings strong political opinions, a great smile, and $2,948,783 in lifetime earnings to the table.

Dan O'Brien

He and Garcia are the only ones to knock out anyone from this final table.

Seat	Player	Chip Count
1	Dan O'Brien	9,585,000
2	Cord Garcia	14,075,000

Level - 31
Blinds - 60,000/120,000
Antes - 15,000
Entries - 2/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Andrew Dean Eliminated in 3rd Place ($100,881)

Cord Garcia and Dan O'Brien have just taken turns knocking out their final table opponents and are now heads up after Garcia eliminated Andrew Dean.

Andrew Dean (left) and Cord Garcia (right)

After some preflop action, Garcia checked the  flop to Dean, who bet 450,000. Garcia then went all in for over 7-million and put Dean in the tank. Dean eventually called and showed . He was behind the  of Garcia. The turn, , and the river, , didn't change a thing and Garcia won the hand with king-queen high.

Level - 30
Blinds - 50,000/100,000
Antes - 10,000
Entries - 2/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Saad Vazquez Eliminated in 4th Place ($69,760)

Saad Vazquez - 4th Place

Saad Vazquez was eliminated shortly have Zo Karim and finished in fourth place for $69,760. He got all in preflop with Dan O'Brien who had pocket aces against the sevens of Vazquez.

O'Brien flopped a set and didn't look back. He eliminated Vazquez and is now three-handed with Cord Garcia and Andrew Dean.

Level - 30
Blinds - 50,000/100,000
Antes - 10,000
Entries - 3/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates

Zo Karim Eliminated in 5th Place ($50,903)

Zo Karim - 5th Place

Cord Garcia eliminated another player, this time it was Zo Karim. Garcia opened to 200,000 and Karim three-bet shoved. Garcia called.

Hands:
Garcia - 
Karim - 

The board ran out  and that spelled the end of Karim's run at HPT Golden Gates. He entered the day as the slight chip leader over Cord Garcia.

Level - 30
Blinds - 50,000/100,000
Antes - 10,000
Entries - 4/787

-- Brent Harrington - Hold'em Live Updates