2014 Seneca Niagara Summer Slam

$600 No-Limit Hold'em $100,000 Guaranteed Main Event
Day: 1b
1a1b2
Event Info
2014 Seneca Niagara Summer Slam
Final Results
Winner
Prize
$41,744
Event Info
Buy-in
$550
Prize Pool
$195,847
Total Entries
369
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Players Left 1 / 369
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$600 No-Limit Hold'em $100,000 Guaranteed Main Event

Day 1b Completed

Jimmy Thomson Bags Day 1b Chip Lead of 2014 Summer Slam Main Event

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Jimmy Thomson
Jimmy Thomson

The 2014 Summer Slam Main Event continued Saturday morning in Niagara Falls, New York with the second of two starting flights. The $600 tournament features a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool and two starting flights before a champion is crowned on Sunday.

After 130 entries were tallied on Day 1a, 239 more hit the felt on Saturday to create a total field of 369. That number nearly doubled the $100K guarantee and created a top prize of $47,000 which will go to Sunday’s champion.

After 14 and a half levels on Saturday it was Jimmy Thomson leading the final 33 survivors with 275,000 in chips. Thomson benefited from a timely suckout against Dennis Durante to stay alive late in the day and continued climbing to barely clip Blake Napierala and John Theofilopoulos for the Day 1b lead.

Day 1b attracted many of the best players in the region, including Travell Thomas, Nick Walker, Matthew Sande, Scott Aitchison and defending champ Andy Spears. However, only Thomas was able to punch his ticket to Day 2 from that group.

WSOP bracelet winner Jonathan Dimmig, who won the $1,500 Millionaire Maker Event in June for $1.3 million, made it through with a big stack. Dimmig won a massive three-way all in when he flopped middle set of queens against bottom set and top pair to take the chip lead with 245,000. The aggressive pro has the talent and experience to make a run for the title on Sunday.

Two-time Summer Slam champ Joe Ciffa also bagged a healthy stack when Day 1b came to a close. Ciffa was a huge pot in Level 9 to take a massive lead over the rest of the field. With the flop showing {Q-Spades}{A-Clubs}{3-Diamonds} Ciffa checked and Scott Aitchison bet 5,000. Ciffa called and the {2-Spades} hit the turn. Ciffa check-called again, this time a bet of 11,000, and the {9-Spades} completed the board on the river. Ciffa checked for a third time and Aitchison bet 20,000, leaving about 16,000 behind. Ciffa moved all in and a startled Aitchison shrugged his shoulders and announced a call.

Ciffa: {4-Spades}{3-Spades}
Aitchison: {A-Hearts}{A-Spades}

Ciffa went runner-runner for a flush to crack Aitchison's set of aces, sending the pro out of the tournament.

But the most memorable hand of the day involved the chip leader Thomson. We heard a commotion at Table 8 and saw Dennis Durante standing up and staring at the {9-Spades}{2-Clubs}{10-Hearts}{6-Diamonds}{8-Hearts} board in disbelief.

"This is some sick s***, man."

Durante told us that Thomson had opened to 7,000 from early position and Durante three-bet to 17,500 from the button. Thomson called and then checked the flop. Durante bet 17,500 and Thomson moved in for about 55,000. Durante called and was a huge favorite with the {A-Spades}{A-Clubs} against Thomson's {A-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds}, but Thomson went runner-runner for a straight to double up to 160,000. He then doubled up again when he flopped a set against an overpair to finish the day atop the leaderboard.

Durante was eliminated in the last level of the night. Others who failed to make Day 2 were Josh Knight, Jeff Joseph, Cameron Bartolotta and Johannes Mueller.

The Summer Slam Main Event continues Sunday at noon ET when the final 49 play down to a champion. We’ll have complete coverage of the tournament until a winner is crowned so keep your browsers locked to PokerNews.com until the conclusion!

Summer Slam Main Event Day 1b Top 10

PlacePlayerChips
1Jimmy Thomson275,000
2Blake Napierala274,500
3John Theofilopoulos273,000
4Scott Szatkowski224,000
5John Grace222,500
6Todd Saffron222,500
7Jonathan Dimmig213,500
8Guy Klass204,000
9Joe Ciffa203,500
10Buck Ramsay186,000

Official Day 1b Chip Counts (full)

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jimmy Thomson
Jimmy Thomson
275,000
45,000
45,000
Profile photo of Blake Napierala us
Blake Napierala
274,500
38,000
38,000
Profile photo of John Theofilopoulos
John Theofilopoulos
273,000
Profile photo of Scott Szatkowski
Scott Szatkowski
224,000
70,500
70,500
Profile photo of Todd Saffron us
Todd Saffron
222,500
97,500
97,500
Profile photo of John Grace
John Grace
222,500
Profile photo of Jonathan Dimmig us
Jonathan Dimmig
213,500
35,500
35,500
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Guy Klass us
Guy Klass
204,000
Profile photo of Joe Ciffa us
Joe Ciffa
203,500
13,500
13,500
Profile photo of Buck Ramsay ca
Buck Ramsay
186,000
30,000
30,000
Profile photo of Vince Palma us
Vince Palma
158,000
Profile photo of Scott Gaddi
Scott Gaddi
149,500
29,500
29,500
Profile photo of Steven Phillips
Steven Phillips
146,000
Profile photo of Dave Olshan
Dave Olshan
145,000
145,000
145,000
Profile photo of Paul Butski us
Paul Butski
142,500
24,500
24,500
Profile photo of Travell Thomas
Travell Thomas
139,500
88,500
88,500
Profile photo of Andrew Ranaletti
Andrew Ranaletti
135,000
Profile photo of Dan Wagner us
Dan Wagner
131,500
1,500
1,500
Profile photo of Geoff O'Connor
Geoff O'Connor
129,500
69,400
69,400
Profile photo of Ricardo Ross
Ricardo Ross
129,000
Profile photo of Jim Burkett
Jim Burkett
117,500
8,500
8,500
Profile photo of Aaron Obstein us
Aaron Obstein
108,000
Profile photo of Kevin Rickner
Kevin Rickner
104,500
Profile photo of Alick Prudhoe
Alick Prudhoe
97,000
Profile photo of Jason Sardo us
Jason Sardo
96,500

Read full

Four More Hands

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 500 ante

The final four tables will play four hands each before bagging for the night. We'll have full chip counts after it's all over.

Gaddi Doubles Through Sande

Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

Matthew Sande opened from late position and Scott Gaddi shoved from directly behind. Sande called and the race was on.

Gaddi: {A-Clubs}{9-Spades}
Sande: {7-Spades}{7-Hearts}

The {8-Clubs}{7-Clubs}{6-Clubs} hit both, giving Sande a set and Gaddi straight and flush draws, and the {K-Clubs} turn and {10-Spades} river filled both draws to give Gaddi the win with a flush.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Scott Gaddi
Scott Gaddi
120,000
68,000
68,000
Profile photo of Matthew Sande
Matthew Sande
30,000
80,000
80,000

Level: 15

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Ante: 500

Last Break of Flight B

Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

The remaining 40 players are on their final color-up break of the day. They'll return in 10 minutes to play 20 more minutes and then bag up for the night.

Stacks on Stacks

Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Blake Napierala us
Blake Napierala
355,000
78,000
78,000
Profile photo of Jimmy Thomson
Jimmy Thomson
242,000
87,000
87,000
Profile photo of Joe Ciffa us
Joe Ciffa
217,000
17,000
17,000
Profile photo of Jonathan Dimmig us
Jonathan Dimmig
178,000
67,000
67,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Buck Ramsay ca
Buck Ramsay
156,000
66,000
66,000
Profile photo of Dan Wagner us
Dan Wagner
130,000
15,000
15,000
Profile photo of Jim Burkett
Jim Burkett
126,000
10,000
10,000
Profile photo of Todd Saffron us
Todd Saffron
125,000
21,000
21,000
Profile photo of Paul Butski us
Paul Butski
118,000
27,000
27,000
Profile photo of Matthew Sande
Matthew Sande
110,000
78,500
78,500
Profile photo of Anthony Pugliese
Anthony Pugliese
109,000
28,000
28,000
Profile photo of Andy Spears us
Andy Spears
100,000
14,000
14,000
Profile photo of Aaron Obstein us
Aaron Obstein
97,000
3,000
3,000
Profile photo of Greg Illig us
Greg Illig
90,000
50,000
50,000
Profile photo of DJ MacKinnon us
DJ MacKinnon
73,000
17,000
17,000
Profile photo of Mark Dobbertin
Mark Dobbertin
66,000
16,000
16,000
Profile photo of Scott Gaddi
Scott Gaddi
52,000
25,000
25,000
Profile photo of Travell Thomas
Travell Thomas
51,000
1,000
1,000
Profile photo of Jeffrey Joseph
Jeffrey Joseph
32,000
30,800
30,800
Profile photo of Dennis Durante us
Dennis Durante
20,000
15,000
15,000
Profile photo of Nicholas Walker us
Nicholas Walker
Busted
Profile photo of Maurice Sessum
Maurice Sessum
Busted
Profile photo of Dave Olshan
Dave Olshan
Busted

Thomson Bluffs, Gets There

Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

We heard a commotion at Table 8 and saw Dennis Durante standing up and staring at the {9-Spades}{2-Clubs}{10-Hearts}{6-Diamonds}{8-Hearts} board in disbelief.

"This is some sick shit, man."

Durante told us that Jimmy Thomson had opened to 7,000 from early position and Durante three-bet to 17,500 from the button. Thomson called and then checked the flop. Durante bet 17,500 and Thomson moved in for about 55,000. Durante called and was a huge favorite with the {A-Spades}{A-Clubs} against Thomson's {A-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds}, but Thomson went runner-runner for a straight to double up to 160,000.

"Some really good players at this place," said Durante, shaking his head. "Really good players."

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jimmy Thomson
Jimmy Thomson
155,000
55,000
55,000
Profile photo of Dennis Durante us
Dennis Durante
35,000
1,500
1,500

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,500/3,000

Ante: 400