$1,000 Main Event
Day 1b Started
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
Day 1b of the 2016 Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event Starts Now!
![[user127999]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
The second and final starting flight for the 2016 Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event will get going just steps from Niagara Falls on the Hotel Balcony of the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino beginning at 11 a.m. local time this morning.
The tournament features a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool and is already well on its to surpassing that, drawing 103 entries for the first starting flight Friday.
An even bigger field of players is expected to pony up the $1,000 buy-in today, for which they will receive a 30,000-chip starting stack.
As it was yesterday, the plan is to play through 15 40-minute levels. The levels will increase to 50 minutes on Day 2, and 60 minutes on Day 3. There will be a 45-minute dinner break at the end of Level 10 today and registration and reentry will be open until it ends with the start of the 11th level.
On Friday, just 20 players pushed through to tomorrow's Day 2 with a familiar face grabbing the overnight lead. Alex Visbisky, who led the final table of of the 2015 Seneca Fall Poker Classic Main Event this past November before posting a third-place finish, set the pace, bagging 358,500. In fact, he was the only player over the 300,000 mark when play wrapped up.
Poker events at Seneca consistently draw the top rounders from in and around Western New York and a tough field is expected today.
Canadian Buck Ramsay, who also won the 2014 Seneca Niagara Summer Slam Main Event and made a final table appearance in the Fall finale in November, comes in as defending Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event Champion. He took two kicks at the can yesterday, but ran bad both times, getting aces cracked and losing a race, although chances are he'll take at least one more shot today.
PokerNews will be on hand from start to finish today, and you can follow all the 2016 Western New York Poker Challenge Main Event action right here in this space.
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Get Tracking With The PokerNews My Stack App
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
PokerNews has activated the MyStack App for the Main Event of the Western New York Poker Challenge, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone!
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.
Be forewarned, however, that any abuse of the app will result in account suspension or termination.
The Early Bird Special
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
There's just 24 entries on the board right now, playing at five short-handed tables. The room should start to fill up fast, however, with a steady stream of late entries at the cage and yet another $145 satellite running now with three or four seats up for grabs.
A quick look around shows 2015 Seneca Fall Poker Classic Main Event Kurtis Boutelle is in the house. A quick word with Boutelle revealed he's in after winning his seat through one of those very same $145 satellites.
2015 Seneca Fall Poker Classic prelim winner Kristan Mackiewicz is here early as well, after busting a late-reg bullet on Friday. Plus, a handful of Seneca regulars have trickled in.
The 2015 Western New York Poker Challenge $1,000 Main Event drew 183 entries last year, so we can set the over under there, despite the slow start.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 75/150
Ante: 0
The Power of Positive Thing
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Toronto, Canada's Evan Jarvis, who does a bit of poker and life coaching through Gripsed.com, is a firm believer in the power of positive thinking and visualization.
So when he raised it up with the 
and got one caller, he pictured in his mind a board of 
. It came 
and he bet and called a raise. The turn made his vision a reality, and he got both a check-raise and a river bet paid off by a set of sixes.
Then, just as he was explaining what happened, he defended the big blind with the 
, made another straight and got paid again by the same player making two pair. Now Jarvis has the early lead, a whipping boy across the table, and he's likely starting to visualize a big bag of chips in his possession at the end of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
52,500
52,500
|
52,500 |
Level: 3
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 0
Big Mack's Big Stack
Level 3
: 100/200, 0 ante
Niagara Falls, Canada's Thomas Mackenzie is off to a hot start, moving up to the top of the counts here in the day's third level.
"There hasn't been anything major," he said, when asked about how he accumulated the chips. "Just progressing right along."
No big hands or massive showdowns, but Mackenzie still has almost twice what he started with here in the early going.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
55,000 |
Big Slick Does The Trick
Level 3
: 100/200, 0 ante
Toronto, Canada's Nick Alafogiannis has snatched up the early chip lead thanks to one massive hand.
Alafogiannis might have thought he was flipping when he called one opponent's shove with 
. Turns out he wasn't, as his opponent had pocket kings.
No matter, Alafogiannis spiked an ace to crack the cowboys, and is now closing in on 70,000 as play moves through the third level of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
68,500 |