WENDY FREEDMAN - HPT BLACK HAWK CHAMPION

Wendy Freedman becomes the first woman to win a @HPTPoker title in more than five years, going wire-to-wire at the final table to earn the @Gates_Poker championship and the $167,696 first-place prize.

Freedman held the lead for all but 11 hands at the final table, keeping constant pressure on all challengers throughout play. She eliminated five of her eight challengers at the final table en route to her victory, going set-over-set to knock off Mark Morris heads-up and secure the title.

With this cash, Freedman surpasses $1 million in career earnings. She also joins Teresa Hemingway as the two women to win the HPT Black Hawk title. Hemingway - the most-recent woman to win a HPT - did so in March 2013.

Morris came to Black Hawk with Jake Baumgartner, who two weeks ago won the HPT Main Event in East Chicago. Baumgartner mincashed and is 3rd in the season-long HPT Player of the Year race. With his runner-up, Morris moves in to the Top-20, with Daytona Beach and the Season Championship at East Chicago still on the HPT season 14 schedule.

Paul Richardson picked up his second final-table finish in 8 days, finishing 3rd for $67,504 just 8 days after a WSOPC Thunder Valley 4th place $50k cash. Corey Zedo improved on his HPT-career-best 5th place (Daytona Beach) finish by taking 4th here for $47,247, while September 2017 HPT Black Hawk champ Alex Greenblatt made a run at being a two-time HPT champ, ending in 5th place.

Both Reginald 'Shawn' Roberts (7th) and Matt Bond (28th) moved in to the Top-15 in the POY race with their cashes at Black Hawk. Others who made the money included Greg Geller (12th) Ben Keeline (21st) Cord Garcia (27th) Maxwell Young (36th) Chris Tryba (41st) Danny Gonzales (42nd) and Matt Livingston (43rd).

Here's the final results.

	9/19-24/18	HPT
	$1,650	Main Event
	496	Entries
	$729,120	Prize Pool
	54	Places Paid
PLACE	NAME		CITY	PAYOUT
1	Wendy	Freedman	Las Vegas, NV	$167,696
2	Mark	Morris	Spring Lake, MI	$102,514
3	Paul	Richardson	San Ramon, CA	$67,954
4	Alex	Greenblatt	Santa Clara, CA	$47,247
5	Corey	Zedo	Denver, CO	$35,362
6	Chris	Barrett	Comm. City, CO	$27,342
7	Reginald	Roberts	Nixa, MO	$22,238
8	Richard	Alsup	Minneapolis, MN	$18,228
9	Carl	Oman	Vancouver, WA	$14,582
10	Jacob	Burnett	Houston, TX	$11,812
11	Jeff	Baxter	Oakland, OR	$11,812
12	Greg	Geller		$11,812
13	Mihai	Itoafa	Littleton, CO	$8,822
14	Carlos	Aguirre	Denver, CO	$8,822
15	Michael	Williamson	Seattle, WA	$8,822
16	Tony	Piazza		$6,781
17	Jackson	White	Houston, TX	$6,781
18	Derrick	Montano	n/a	$6,781
19	Caleb	Shumard	Pueblo, CO	$5,177
20	John	Menapace	Rock Springs, WY	$5,177
21	Benjamin	Keeline	Longmont, CO	$5,177
22	Mark	Tekavec	Aurora, CO	$5,177
23	Jarred	Simmer	High. Ranch, CO	$5,177
24	Lukas	Volman	Grand Junct., CO	$5,177
25	Nils	Bardsley	Denver, CO	$5,177
26	Danny	Pham	Denver, CO	$5,177
27	Lance	Garcia	Katy, TX	$5,177
28	Justin	Bond	Dallas, TX	$4,229
29	Bobby	Sanoubane	Aurora, CO	$4,229
30	Andrew	Hong	Denver, CO	$4,229
31	Darek	Spring	Engelwood, CO	$4,229
32	Bradley	Beetz	Hollister, CA	$4,229
33	Christopher	Latham	Graham, TX	$4,229
34	Joseph	Landazzi	Des Plaines, IL	$4,229
35	Bryan	Johnson	Edwards, CO	$4,229
36	Maxwell	Young	N. Palm Beach, FL	$4,229
37	Hugh	Rowe	Denver, CO	$3,427
38	James	Frisk	Ft. Pierce, FL	$3,427
39	Truong	Nguyen	Arvada, CO	$3,427
40	Corey	Dodd	Plantation, FL	$3,427
41	Christopher	Tryba	Evergreen, CO	$3,427
42	Danny	Gonzales	Denver, CO	$3,427
43	Matthew	Livingston	Windsor, CO	$3,427
44	Bobby	Garcia	Denver, CO	$3,427
45	David	Olson	Denver, CO	$3,427
46	Mario	Medina	Colo Springs, CO	$3,135
47	Brady	Osterman	Mesa, AZ	$3,135
48	Christopher	Ocksrider	Albuquerque, NM	$3,135
49	Samuel	Spiwak	Denver, CO	$3,135
50	Thomas	Gabriel	Boulder, CO	$3,135
51	Paul	Holder	Crawford, CO	$3,135
52	Heinz	Schuter	Kiel, Germany	$3,135
53	Jacob	Baumgartner	Spring Lake, MI	$3,135
54	Eric	Smith	Windsor, CO	$3,135

-- Dan Ross, Hold'em Live Updates