2018 Western New York Poker Challenge

$200 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1b
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Event Info

2018 Western New York Poker Challenge

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a♦j♦
Prize
$18,000
Event Info
Buy-in
$200
Prize Pool
$128,877
Entries
798
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000
All Highlights
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Another 25 Moving on to Day 2 After Day 1b Comes to an End

[user270022]
[user270022]
Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
Tim Campbell (from a previous event
Tim Campbell (from a previous event

The second qualifying flight of Event #1 of the 2018 Western New York Poker Challenge (WNYPC) at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino is in the books with 25 hopefuls bagging a stack for Day 2.

Day 1b saw a total of 204 entries gathered with Tim Campbell leading the 25 survivors. Campbell bagged an impressive 304,300 to claim the top spot though still trailing Day 1a leader, Daniel Wagner with 325,000.

Propelled by a triple up with a straight flush, Mike Rellinger bagged second best, ending play with 284,800. Kevin Garry (283,200), Julie Billiterri (171,200), and Paul Humphrey (150,500) round out the top five.

An impressive story from Day 1b is that of Zeljko Mihelic. In level 10, blinds were 600/1200. Mihelic had just 400 chips. That was two antes. Fast forward to Level 13 and Mihelic now had 52 big blinds, about 125,000 chips. Mihelic finished the day just outside the top five with 149,200.

Any players unfortunate enough to not have a seat locked up for Sunday's Day 2 still has two more shots to qualify with qualifying flights scheduled at 10:00 A.M and 6:00 P.M local time on Saturday.

A total of 350 entries have accumulated thus far already smashing the $50,000 guarantee. The prize pool currently sits at $56,525 with $23,579 gathered on Day 1a and another $32,946 this evening.

The Saturday Day 1c and 1d flights are expected to be even larger. The prize pool should easily end up over $100,000 if that is the case. Pretty large value for a $200 buy-in.

PokerNews will be here throughout the festival, bringing you all the news and live updates. Follow @pokernews on Twitter, on Facebook, and Instagram.

Tags: Julie BilliteriMike RellingerPaul HumphreyTimothy CampbellZeljko Mihelic

Billiteri First to Cross 200,000 Mark

[user270022]
[user270022]
Level 10 : 600/1,200, 200 ante
Julie Billiteri (from a previous event)
Julie Billiteri (from a previous event)

Julie Billiteri opened under the gun to 5,000 finding calls from the player in the cutoff, the button, and the big blind. A {j-Clubs}{7-Hearts}{a-Spades} flop fanned out and Billiteri continued for 15,000. The player in the cutoff moved all-in for about 45,000 and when action folded back around to Billiteri she quickly put her opponent at risk.

Julie Billiteri: {a-Diamonds}{q-Diamonds}
Opponent: {5-Spades}{7-Spades}

Billiteri had caught her opponent red-handed but a {q-Spades} on the turn did give her a scare. Needing to fade a spade, the {9-Diamonds} completed the board and Billiteri raked in another sizeable pot.

Player Chips Progress
Julie Billiteri us
Julie Billiteri 		205,000
75,000
 75,000

Tags: Julie Billiteri

Event #1 Moves on to Day 1b

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[user270022]

The 2018 Western New York Poker Challenge is in full swing at the Seneca Niagra Resort & Casino with the second flight of Event #1: $200 No-Limit Hold'em $50,000 guarantee set to kickoff at 6:00 PM local1 time.

Day 1a began Friday morning attracting a total of 146 entries. Just 22 players survived with Daniel Wagner setting the early mark bagging a healthy chiplead of 325,000.

The first event of the series features a buy-in of $200 and a guaranteed prize pool of $50,000. Players have four shots to qualify for Day 2 with the final two flights scheduled at 10:00 A.M and 6:00 P.M local time tomorrow with the survivors returning on Sunday to play down to a champion.

Players will start with 15,000 in tournament chips and play either 14 30-minute blind levels or until the field gets down to 12% remaining. Registration will remain open until the end of the eighth level and players are permitted to play any of the Day 1 flights with only their top stack carrying forward to Day 2.

In 2017, Nick Walker claimed the victory in the kickoff event topping a field of 638 entries en route to a cash prize worth $17,404. Though, with a deal made between the final four players, Matt Heiligenthaler actually banked the top prize walking away with $23,000.

Here's a look at the full 2018 WNYPC schedule:

PokerNews will be here throughout the festival, bringing you all the news and live updates. Follow @pokernews on Twitter, on Facebook, and Instagram.

Tags: Daniel WagnerNick Walker