$1,000 Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2016 Western New York Poker Challenge
$1,000 Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2016 Western New York Poker Challenge
Buy-in
$910
Prize Pool
$215,379
Entries
244
Level
27
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000
Jeff Kandefer Leads with 30 of 141 Surviving Day 1b of the Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event
![[user127999]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
The second of two starting flights for the 2016 Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event drew 141 entries to the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino on Saturday.
This brought the grand total of entries up to 244 and ensured the $200,000 prize pool guarantee would be more than met. By the time 15 levels of play were through, just 30 players survived the carnage, meaning a total of 50 are now through to Sunday's Day 2.
Jim Burkett grabbed the chip lead early and appeared to be running away with the day until his hot run cooled off. He still bagged a respectable 324,000, but was leapfrogged by two players.
Mike "The Mayor" Rellinger switched gears successfully several times on Day 1b on the way to bagging 332,500, and thanks to a huge set-over-set pot right near the end of play between "Jersey" Chris Meyers and Jeff Kandefer, it was Kandefer that bagged both the Day 1b and overall lead, ending with a massive 425,500-chip stack.
Several local heroes also bagged big, including perennial contender Joseph Elia and 2015 Seneca Fall Poker Classic champ Kurtis Boutelle. Others that did not fare so well and busted included Cameron Bartolotta, Kristan Mackiewicz, Nick Walker, Silvio DeRubeis, and Jason Stockfish.
The 50 survivors from both starting days combined will play together for the first time on Day 2, kicking things off at 11 a.m. local time Sunday in the hunt for a seat at the 2016 Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event final table.
Of course, PokerNews will be here for all the action from the call to shuffle up and deal until the final table is set and you are welcome to follow along right here in this space.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
425,500
5,500
|
5,500 |
|
332,500
122,500
|
122,500 |
|
324,000
84,000
|
84,000 |
|
259,000
44,000
|
44,000 |
|
208,500
73,500
|
73,500 |
|
205,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
200,000
37,000
|
37,000 |
|
194,500
194,500
|
194,500 |
|
172,000
172,000
|
172,000 |
|
159,000
159,000
|
159,000 |
|
||
|
152,500
2,500
|
2,500 |
|
|
150,000
150,000
|
150,000 |
|
133,000
61,000
|
61,000 |
|
123,500
123,500
|
123,500 |
|
|
121,000
121,000
|
121,000 |
|
114,500
114,500
|
114,500 |
|
106,500
11,500
|
11,500 |
|
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
94,500
94,500
|
94,500 |
|
82,500
-22,500
|
-22,500 |
|
80,500
-69,500
|
-69,500 |
|
|
77,500
77,500
|
77,500 |
|
74,500
74,500
|
74,500 |
|
63,000
-47,000
|
-47,000 |
|
62,500
62,500
|
62,500 |
Kandefer Leads; Three More Hands!
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
Jeff Kandefer just cooled off a red hot Chris Meyers, grabbing the chip lead in the process.
He flopped a set of kings on a 
board. It checked to the 
turn, where he check-min-raised a 10,000-chip lead from Meyers. Meyers called, then hit a set of tens on the river. Kandefer led for 50,000 with about 60,000 in the middle and Meyers ripped it in.
Kandefer snapped it and showed Meyers the bad news. The 420,000-chip pot was pushed to Kandefer and immediately after, the clock was stopped with 10 minutes left in the level and a 'Brian Bartoe'-style draw was conducted to determine the number of hands left to play. They drew a three and it looks like Kandefer is going to bag the big lead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
420,000 | |
|
|
105,000
-80,000
|
-80,000 |
The Slow Roll
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
Mike Rellinger isn't making any friends at his table right now.
Apparently he's returned to his loose-aggressive ways, playing a ton of hands and busting players left and right, getting it in bad and finding multiple ways out of jail.
The table talk has also been on the aggressive side, with several players sniping back and forth. Then about a minute ago, he actually slow rolled Silvio DeRubeis out the door, opening to 10,000, then taking his sweet time before making the call with jacks when DeRubeis shoved the big blind for little more than twice that.
DeRubeis had tens and with the whole table calling for one, Rellinger's jacks held.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
210,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
Busted |
The Bartolotta Blues
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
Cameron Bartolotta was cruising right along when he picked up pocket aces and got one shorter stack to commit all of his stack preflop with 
.
Bartolotta, who apparently runs uncannily bad in dominating positions like this, did so again, with his opponent flopping a backdoor Broadway straight draw and going perfect-perfect to get there.
Left short, he ran a weak king into kings and 
into tens before finally saying goodbye.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Level: 15
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 400
Shah Lands Stockfish
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
Jonathan Shah won a huge race with the 
versus Jason Stockfish' jacks, spiking a king to bust him and collect more than 200,000 in chips.
He's up near the top of the counts now and at the same table, Hassan Jamil has risen from the ashes to 150,000 by simply grinding away and avoiding big confrontations.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
215,000
215,000
|
215,000 |
|
|
150,000
150,000
|
150,000 |
|
Busted |
Foster Shows Rellinger The Other Side
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
Chris Meyers opened, Mike Rellinger three-bet and when it got over to Adam Foster, he made it four bets.
Meyers folded, but Rellinger called before shoving queens on a flop. Foster made the call with aces and they held to cool off Rellinger a bit and give him a healthy stack now into Level 14.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
185,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
|
165,000
-35,000
|
-35,000 |
|
|
150,000 |
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,200/2,400
Ante: 300