web1_JudgeField.jpg

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders AAron Judge enjoys All-Star Futures Game

Nanticoke, Swoyersville Legion rivalry resumes today

<p>A battle of two Pennsylvania players, including one from Luzerne County, has developed at the top of the World Series of Poker Main Event.</p><p>Hanover Area graduate Brian Hastings led the field into the money at the World Series of Poker Main Event and continues to battle for the chip lead nearly two days later.</p><p>An even 1,000 players arrived in the money at the Rio in Las Vegas shortly before 1 EDT Saturday morning with Hastings boasting the top chip count.</p><p>During the third of five levels to be played on Sunday, Hastings and Joe McKeehen from the Philadelphia suburb of North Wales wound up at the same table. McKeehen had the advantage of sitting immediately to Hastings&#8217; left and being able to use that position to react.</p><p>When they were placed together in the random table adjustments that occur as the field is trimmed, McKeehen was second and Hastings fourth among the chip leaders. An hour later, they were trading the lead back and forth as the tournament&#8217;s top two with 117 players remaining.</p><p>Instead of squaring off in a battle that could have been devastating to either of the title contenders, McKeehen and Hastings dominated the rest of their table.</p><p>The eventful weekend continued a <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/features/372838/hastings-progresses-at-wsop-steps-closer-to-1-million" target="_blank">strong tournament for Hastings</a>, who has been rolling since midway through his first day.</p><p>By the time the players cracked the money bubble, guaranteeing each of them at least a $15,000 return for their $10,000 investment, Hastings had been in the chip lead for all but a few minutes of a stretch of more than four hours.</p><p>The 27-year-old from Hanover Township was the first player in the field of 6,420 to turn his original starting stack of 30,000 chips into more than a million. At the time the field was whittled down to 1,000, only Amar Anand, the leader when Friday&#8217;s action began, was over the million mark with Hastings.</p><p>There were 1,796 players left when action began Friday. It was the third day of competition for each player in the event but the first in which they were all playing together at the same time. Hastings, seeking his third win of this year&#8217;s series and his fourth career WSOP bracelet, started the day in 13th place.</p><p>Hastings finished the official Day 3 &#8211; running from noon Las Vegas time Friday to well beyond midnight &#8211; in third place out of 661 players with 1,034,500 in chips. After Day 4 &#8211; following the same schedule Saturday &#8211; he was in fourth place out of the 237 players still in contention with 2,464,000.</p><p>McKeehen led at the end of Day 4 after being in second when it started.</p><p>By Sunday night, Anand had dropped from the group of three that had spent the most time with the chip lead. McKeehen and Hastings each passed the 5 million chip mark before Hastings dropped back below that threshold.</p><p>According to coverage on WSOP.com, no other player was above 4 million chips as of 9:45 EDT Sunday night.</p><p>The Main Event at the World Series of Poker, now in its 46th year, is recognized as determining the game&#8217;s world champion each year.</p><p>This is the second straight year that Hastings has reached the money in the Main Event. In 2014, he placed 64th out of 6,683 players, good for $103,025. Players went into Sunday&#8217;s play each guaranteed of at least $34,157 in winnings and were up to $46,890 by Sunday night.</p><p>Hastings is fifth in the World Series of Poker Player of the Year standings. He is one of two players with two wins, has reached three final tables and has now cashed in seven events.</p><p>Play will continue through the early morning hours of Wednesday until the nine final table participants are determined. The November Nine, as the finalists are known, will return months later, each already guaranteed at least $1,000,000.</p><p>First place pays $7,680,021.</p><p><a href="https://www.timesleader.com/features/371611/hanover-area-graduate-is-first-player-to-win-two-events-at-world-series-of-poker" target="_blank">Hastings</a> had his wins in the $10,000 buy-in Seven Card Stud Championship and $1,500 buy-in Ten-Game Mix.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_poker23.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Brian Hastings concentrates during a poker game. The Hanover Area graduate has emerged as one of the highest-profile players at the game&#8217;s most mainstream series of events. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_poker23.jpg</photo0><caption0>Brian Hastings concentrates during a poker game. The Hanover Area graduate has emerged as one of the highest-profile players at the game&#8217;s most mainstream series of events. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photos </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Hanover Area graduate is first player to win two events at World Series of Poker</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Robinson</p><p>For the Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the arts and entertainment department at 570-991-1311 or email <a href="mailto:ae@www.timesleader.com">ae@www.timesleader.com</a></p></shirttailMeta></div>

Hastings climbs the ladder at World Series of Poker