2015 Western New York Poker Challenge

Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2015 Western New York Poker Challenge

Final Results
Winner
Prize
$56,352
Event Info
Buy-in
$910
Prize Pool
$241,491
Entries
275
Level Info
Level
26
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
5,000

End-of-Day 1a Chip Counts (full)

Level 13 : 1,000/2,000, 200 ante
Player Chips Progress
Damian Baird us
Damian Baird
443,700
33,700
33,700
Jonathan Botier
Jonathan Botier
198,800
198,800
198,800
Veerab Zakarian ca
Veerab Zakarian
179,300
-700
-700
WPT 1X Winner
Andy Spears us
Andy Spears
177,800
67,800
67,800
Blake Napierala us
Blake Napierala
170,700
116,700
116,700
Peter Raimondi ca
Peter Raimondi
163,900
Vic Adams
Vic Adams
143,500
-11,500
-11,500
Charles Johnson us
Charles Johnson
131,300
131,300
131,300
Adam Foster us
Adam Foster
127,200
-14,800
-14,800
Joseph Elia us
Joseph Elia
123,500
-500
-500
Lawrence Schumacher
Lawrence Schumacher
107,300
107,300
107,300
Sil Derubeis
Sil Derubeis
92,600
92,600
92,600
Budwey Salhab us
Budwey Salhab
91,000
91,000
91,000
Frank Parisi us
Frank Parisi
89,900
89,900
89,900
Armando Pagliari
Armando Pagliari
70,800
70,800
70,800
Johannes Mueller us
Johannes Mueller
64,900
23,900
23,900
Sharman Olshan us
Sharman Olshan
61,400
-3,600
-3,600
Erik Hewitt
Erik Hewitt
57,400
57,400
57,400
David Conron us
David Conron
55,800
3,600
3,600
Pat Moeller
Pat Moeller
55,600
35,600
35,600
Justin Villa
Justin Villa
45,900
45,900
45,900
Greg Miller us
Greg Miller
32,300
-32,700
-32,700
Fred Bolla
Fred Bolla
31,000
6,000
6,000
Paul McLean ca
Paul McLean
25,400
-8,600
-8,600
Ike Haigas
Ike Haigas
19,100
19,100
19,100

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Damian Baird Dominates on Day 1a of Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event

Level 13 : 1,000/2,000, 200 ante
Chip Leader Damian Baird
Chip Leader Damian Baird

After a week of preliminary events at the Seneca Niagara Hotel & Casino, the Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event kicked off Friday morning in Niagara Falls, NY. The $1,000 buy-in event features a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool and two Day 1 starting flights, and Friday's flight saw a total of 92 entries hit the felt. Only 25 made it through the day, with Damian Baird finishing with the biggest stack after dominating play late in the evening.

Baird stormed to the top of the leaderboard after eliminating Jacob Ostrander, but the lion's share of his chips came during a confrontation against Dave Grana when he turned a Royal Flush with the {A-Clubs}{10-Clubs} on a {K-Clubs}{J-Clubs}{3-Spades}{Q-Clubs} board. Grana moved all in with the {K-Hearts}{J-Hearts} and Baird snap-called, and the rest was history. Baird bagged more than double the stack of his next closest competitor, Jonathan Botier.

The Top 10 of the leaderboard is filled with the top players in the region. Andy Spears, a two-time Main Event winner at Seneca Niagara, finished third in chips, while Seneca Fall Poker Classic Main Event runner-up Veerab Zakarian finished third. Zakarian, a 19-year-old from Canada, was allowed to play in this event because it takes place on Native American soil.

Zakarian showed his creativity late in the day against Adam Foster. Zakarian led out on a {7-Spades}{9-Clubs}{8-Diamonds} flop only to be raised by Foster. Zakarian called and they both checked the {6-Clubs} turn. Then on the river, with about 30,000 sitting in the middle, Zakarian checked. Foster made it 17,000 and without hesitation, and Zakarian check-raised all in. Foster gave it some thought before giving it up. Foster rebounded later on by eliminating two players in the same hand to finish with 127,200.

Defending WNY Poker Challenge champion Nick Walker was among the casualties on Friday. Walker was short stacked after dinner and made his last stand with {A-}{K-}, but was unable to improve against the pocket eights of Budwey Salhab. Others hitting the rail were Josh Knight, Travell Thomas, Jason Nablo, Jeremy Joseph and DJ MacKinnon.

The WNY Poker Challenge Main Event continues Saturday at 11 a.m. with Flight 1b, and a bigger field is expected for the weekend. We’ll have complete coverage of the tournament until a champion is crowned so keep your browsers locked to PokerNews.com until the conclusion!

Tags: Andy SpearsDamian BairdNick WalkerWNY Poker Challenge

Main Event

Day 1a Completed