For three days, poker players inside the Seneca Poker Room attempted to advance to Day 2 of the Fall Poker Classic $50,000 guaranteed event. Most tried and failed, but 110 will return this afternoon to play down to a champion.
Event #2 of the Fall Poker Classic resumes at noon ET on Wednesday. Marc Pusmucans enters the day with the chip lead after bagging 188,000 in Flight B, but he's followed closely by Peter Raimondi, Mirko Medic, Darrin Bracken and Steven Solodiuk. Other notables still in contention include Rick Block, Nick Walker, Alex Rivera and Josh Knight.
Play will resume in Level 13 with the blinds at 1,200/2,400/300. We will be on the floor from start to finish today so follow this space for live updates from Event #5!
Carol Leonardi's run in this event just ended in ninth place. Leonardi moved all in for 63,000 from under the gun and Siavash Banai reraised from directly behind. The rest of the table folded, and Leonardi needed to improve.
Leonardi:
Banai:
Leonardi picked up some help on the 7c3d8h] flop but the bigger pair held up, sending her to the rail.
Tomasz Werstler shoved for 405,000 from under the gun and Peter Raimondi flatted from middle position. Action folded over to Alex Rivera, who counted his chips and pushed him into the pot. Raimondi called, creating a huge three-way all-in.
Raimondi:
Werstler:
Rivera:
A runout of gave Raimondi the entire pot, making him the new chip leader. Rivera and Werstler made their way to the cashier.
Peter Raimondi spent much of the day atop the chip counts. The first time he was the short stack, he couldn't recover.
Raimondi and Michael Sweeney saw a flop of and Raimondi got all of his chips in with against Sweeney's . The turn and river secured the win for Sweeney. We're now heads-up for the title!
Michael Sweeney raised his button and Darrin Bracken called to see a flop. Bracken bet 500,000 and Sweeney called, bringing the on the turn. Bracken moved all in, and Sweeney snapped him off.
Bracken:
Sweeney:
Sweeney turned a set of queens and slammed them proudly onto the felt, but Bracken was drawing live to straight and flush draws. Sure enough, the landed on the river to deliver Bracken's flush. Sweeney will have to be content with a second-place finish for $7,710.
Bracken, meanwhile, collects $12,502 for his first place finish, along with the Event #2 trophy. Stay tuned for a full recap from the final day of action.
It took three days, six starting flights and hundreds of re-entries, but Event #2 of the Seneca Fall Poker Classic finally came to a close Wednesday night. A total of 560 entries put up the $125 buy-in, creating a prize pool $53,200 to surpass the $50,000 guaranteed prize pool.
In the end it was cash game player Darrin Bracken who came away with the title and the $12,502 top prize. Bracken came from behind to beat Michael Sweeney in a battle of contrasting styles of heads-up play. The final hand saw Bracken river a flush against Sweeney's turned set; it was one of several made-for-TV hands we witnessed at the final table.
The day began with 110 players who advanced from one of the six starting flights. Only 45 positions were being paid, meaning more than half of the remaining field would go home empty-handed. The eventual bubble player was Atif Choudhury, who shoved with into Tomasz Werstler's pocket aces.
The final table was reached this evening with several Seneca Poker regulars still in contention. After Mirko Medic exited in 10th place, Carol Leonardi busted in ninth when her came up short against the of Siavash Banai.
A double knockout occurred moments later when Peter Raimondi busted Werstler and Alex Rivera. Werstler shoved for 405,000 from under the gun and Raimondi flatted from middle position. Action folded over to Rivera, who counted his chips and pushed him into the pot. Raimondi called, creating a huge three-way all-in.
Raimondi:
Werstler:
Rivera:
A runout of gave Raimondi the entire pot, making him the new chip leader.
Brackin then eliminated Bania and Sonny Rattan to take the pole position. The hand against Rattan was a wild one as Bracken flopped a set, Rattan turned Broadway and Bracken rivered quads, sending Rattan to the rail in fifth place.
Chris Ventura and Raimondi followed, setting up a heads-up duel between Bracken and Sweeney. Bracken, with the cash game background, was looking to see a lot of flops, while Sweeney was applying pressure preflop by putting Bracken to a decision for his chips.
Sweeney opened with the sizable lead but Bracken fought back and claimed victory on an exciting final hand. Sweeney raised his button and Bracken called to see a flop. Bracken bet 500,000 and Sweeney called, bringing the on the turn. Bracken moved all in, and Sweeney snapped him off.
Bracken:
Sweeney:
Sweeney turned a set of queens and slammed them proudly onto the felt, but Bracken was drawing live to straight and flush draws. Sure enough, the landed on the river to deliver Bracken's flush.
That does it for our coverage of Event #2! Be sure to check in tomorrow morning as we continue our coverage of the Seneca Fall Poker Classic with Event #3 on the hotel balcony. See you then!