Nader Wahdan Triumphs At HPT Golden Gates For $227k

Last weekend, the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) held its $1,650 Main Event at the Golden Gates Resort in Black Hawk, Colorado, and eventually emerging atop the 686 player field was Nader Wahdan who walked away with the title, as well as the $226,891 first place prize.
Following his impressive victory, a naturally jubilant Wahdan said : “It’s an awesome tournament. The structure’s beautiful. I love it.”
The Main Event attracted a large field of competitors to create a prize pool worth $1,008,420, and amongst the notable names finishing in a money spot was Greg Raymer (57th), Bryan Devonshire (24th), and Chris Tryba (21st).
Nader Wahdan (3.24m) subsequently entered the final table of nine in third place behind Adam Zimowski (3.67m), and Matthew Schierenberg (3.48m). Remaining finalists also included John Sacha (2.39m), Phil Mader (2.20m), Chad Leasure (1.89m), Nils Bardley (1.67m), Colin York (1.32m), and Edith Mortellaro (860k).
Nader Wahdan (A-K) then got lucky against Colin York (A-A) on a J-J-2-Q-10 board to send him to the rail in 7th for $30,253, and his good fortune would continue further after being dealt Kd-10s and calling Adam Zimowski’s (Kh-7h) shove on an Ad-Qh-10h flop. The turn and river subsequently produced an Ah and 10c to make Wahdan a full-house and send Zimowski from the competition in 4th for $63,833.
Soon after Chad Leasure (K-K) limped into the small blind and called Phil Mader’s (A-8) all-in shove to eliminate him in 3rd ($91,867) and usher in heads-up play.
As the final two opponents squared off, Wahdan held a 3-1 chip lead over Leasure and despite losing a 9-9 v A-J all-in, Wahdan was soon able to regain his advantage and zoom off to a 9-1 lead before the defining hand was played with a short-stacked Leasure moving all-in preflop holding Q-4 to his opponent’s 10h-7h. The dealer subsequently put out an Ah-9s-6h-Kc-4h board to consign Chad Leasure to a runner-up finish worth $140,170, while Nader Wahdan was crowned the champion.
Final Table Results:
1 Nader Wahdan – $226,891
2 Chad Leasure – $140,170
3 Phil Mader – $91,867
4 Adam Zimowski – $63,833
5 Matthew Schierenberg – $46,387
6 Nils Bardsley – $36,001
7 Colin York – $30,253
8 John Sacha – $25,211
9 Edith Mortellaro – $20,168