Just as the clock was paused and a six was drawn signaling six more hands at each table, another player was lost leaving the field at 25 which was 12% of the total size. With that, play has been halted on Day 1b. Full counts and a recap will follow shortly.
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.