The 2015 Seneca Niagara Falls Summer Slam continued at the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel poker room today with the third of four starting flights for Event #1, a $200 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament featuring 30-minute levels, 15,000-chip starting stacks, and a $50,000 guarantee.
This third flight was the biggest so far, drawing a total of 175 entries, but just 33 players survived through 14 levels of play. Blake Napierala grabbed the chip lead after a solid day of play that saw him build a big stack turning into a boat, then using it to apply pressure to shorter stacks for the rest of the afternoon. In the end, he bagged a little over 200,000 becoming only the second player headed to Day 2 to manage that so far.
All 33 players will return for Day 2 Sunday at 11 a.m. local time to play down to a champion. They will be joined by the 34 survivors from Friday's first two starting flights and anyone who makes it through 14 levels of play from one more that began at 6 p.m. local time this evening.
PokerNews' Live Coverage of this event will continue with the fourth and final starting flight now halfway through Level 3.
The list of players Rob Forbes has busted continues to grow as he just claimed another victim and moved into the top spot on the leader board.
This time he called a preflop raise with , then did the same when his heads-up opponent shipped it in on a flop. Forbes' opponent held but he wouldn't need to hit his gutshot to do him in as the turn and river made him trip aces.
The 2015 Seneca Niagara Falls Summer Slam $200 No-Limit Hold'em Event #1 saw a little bit of Hollywood glitz here today as veteran actor Kirk Acevedo joined the field.
Having earned acting credits in films like Boiler Room, Invincible and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Acevedo has also appeared in a number of top TV shows including The Walking Dead, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Fringe.
Acevedo is no stranger to poker either, having $99,570 in career tournament earnings and a solid resume that boasts cashes in events all the way back to the 2006 Legends of Poker in Los Angeles.
His appearance here in Niagara Falls was ever so brief, however, as he got it in with a straight draw in a battle of the blinds against an overpair, missed and busted.
Lancaster, NY's Jim Girdelstone, not to be confused with his brother Marvin Girdelstone who also has a big stack, has emerged as the chip leader here, pushing up close to the six-figure mark.
Girdelstone has been on the right side of two set-over-set hands and managed to get it in with pocket kings versus pocket aces, making a flush to crack the rockets thanks to the and a board full of clubs.
There's a new sheriff in town and it's Fairport, NY's Bill Snead.
Snead turned into a rivered boat on a board to snatch a huge pot from Dennis Durante, who had turned a straight. He also rivered a flush early on to collect a big pot and has it up to 70,000 chips now.
Burlington, Ontario, Canada's Rob Forbes - Not to be confused with former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford who is famous for smoking crack while in office and reportedly getting enough to eat at home - has emerged as the early chip leader here into Level 7.
Forbes picked up pocket aces twice in a row to collect huge pots and just became the first player past the 60,000-chip mark.
Willamsville, NY's Doug Zimmerman has busted not one, but two players at his table so far. The first went down when he picked up aces over jacks and the second fell bluffing into his two pair.
Zimmerman now finds himself in the enviable position of chip leader.
"Doesn't mean much right now," he laughed. "Hopefully I'll still be there tomorrow."
Toronto, Canada's Vadim Rozin is off to a quick start and into the chip lead here after picking up aces and fading the nut-flush draw of one opponent who pushed in post-flop.
The 2015 edition of Seneca Niagara Falls Summer Slam continues today with the the third of four starting flights for Event #1, a $200 buy-in No Limit Hold'em event with a $50,000 guarantee.
The annual multi-event series will run through August 2 with three major events culminating in the $600 NLHE Main Event with a $150,000 guarantee and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on the floor providing coverage of it all.
A total of 34 players are already through to Sunday's Day 2 from two Event #1 flights Friday and things will get started at 11 a.m. today with 30-minute levels and 15,000-chip starting stacks in the battle to join that group.
Registration will remain open until the start of Level 9 and there is unlimited re-entries until then, plus a fourth and final flight set for 6 p.m. tonight.
Keep it locked here on PokerNews for updates on all the action from start to finish.
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into a boat, then using it to apply pressure to shorter stacks for the rest of the afternoon. In the end, he bagged a little over 200,000 becoming only the second player headed to Day 2 to manage that so far.
, then did the same when his heads-up opponent shipped it in on a 
flop. Forbes' opponent held 
but he wouldn't need to hit his gutshot to do him in as the 
turn and 
river made him trip aces.
and a board full of clubs.
into a rivered boat on a 
