Aaron Thomas wins HPT Golden Gates for $246,833

The latest stop on the Heartland Poker Tour was at the Golden Gates Casino in Colorado, where 781 players entered the $1,650 Main Event to create a prize pool worth $1,148,070. Six days of action later, and it would be Aaron Thomas who would finish atop of the field to take home $246,833 in prize money, as well as a seat through to the HPT Championship scheduled to take place later this year.
The HPT Main Event attracted a number of notable pros to the Golden Gates Casino, with those subsequently seeing a return on their buy-ins including Allen Kessler (80th), Aaron Massey (56th), Javier Zarco (26th), Ben Keeline (24th), Reginald Shawn Roberts (21st), Keven Stammen (16th), and Kevin Boudreau (10th).
By the time the final table of nine had been reached, Aaron Thomas was the leader with 4.7m in chips, followed close behind by Rich Monroe (4.065m), and Matt Livingston in 6th place on a 2.48m stack.
Aaron Thomas (Q-Q) then scored a double of elimination of  Danny Gonzales (J-10) and Joseph Pergola (A-K), who exited in 6th and 5th places respectively after the board ran out 8-4-2-7-3. During three-handed play, Aaron Thomas (As-2s) then made a flush on a 6s-5s-4s-9c-x board to send Rich Monroe (Q-Q) to the rail, and thus usher in heads-up play against Matt Livingston for the title.
At this stage, Thomas held a 6-1 chip advantage over his remaining opponent, and a short while later the deciding hand was played after Livingston (Kc-4c) check-shoved on a 9s-4d-3d flop. Thomas (10d-9d) made the call, and after the turn and river failed to improve his hand, Matt Livingston finished the runner-up for a $152,808 payday, while Aaron Thomas was crowned the 2016 HPT Golden Gates champion.
Final Table Results:
1: Aaron Thomas – $246,833
2: Matt Livingston – $152,808
3: Rich Monroe – $100,112
4: Al Hart – $69,229
5: Joseph Pergola – $50,515
6: Danny Gonzales – $38,805
7: Christopher Busch – $32,031
8: Michael Comisso – $26,,750
9: Rex Clinkscales – $21,469