A Champion is Crowned Today

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Welcome to our Day 3 coverage of the 2013 Seneca Niagara Fall Poker Classic $1,500 Main Event! Over the past two days inside the Seneca Niagara Hotel & Casino Events center, a field of 146 entrants was trimmed down to nine. The conclusion of the tournament will take place today inside the poker room, where each of the nine players will play for the trophy and a top prize of $52,410.

Leading the way entering the final table is 25-year-old Andy Spears, a part-time poker pro who is making a name for himself on the felt in 2013. In August, Spears won the Summer Slam Series Main Event at Seneca Niagara for $23,700. He followed that up with a victory at the World Series of Poker Circuit stop in Cincinnati where he collected his first WSOP-C ring. Spears will take 1,549,000 in chips to today's final table, more than 1 million ahead of his closest competitor.

Spears will be joined by some familiar faces at the final table. Two-time WSOP-C winner Travell Thomas enters the final table sixth in chips and his talkative demeanor will add some entertainment value to the Day 3 action. Alex Barker is third in chips going into the final table and is attempting to one-up his second-place finish in this event from last year. Also among the final nine is local pro Jason Nablo, who has racked up several victories inside the poker room he's playing in today.

The underdog story of this Main Event belongs to Brian McCormick. Unknown to most of the field coming into the event, McCormick won a seat to a Main Event qualifier through a cash game "hot seat" drawing this month. He has parlayed that into a chance to win more than $50,000.

Here's a look at today's final table seat draw:

$1,500 Main Event Final Table

Seat	Player	Chips
1	Brian McCormick	507,000
2	Budway Salhab	440,000
3	Ryan Hall	194,000
4	Jason Nablo	249,000
5	Andy Spears	1,549,000
6	Johannes Mueller	392,000
7	Alex Barker	501,000
8	Scott Gaddi	292,000
9	Travell Thomas	339,000