Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi Leads After Day 1
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Day 1 of the inaugural DeepStacks Poker Tour Western New York Poker Championship has come to a close here at the Seneca Niagara Casino. The day began with 217 hopefuls putting up $1,500 for a shot at becoming the season's first champion, and only 42 have advanced to Day 2 after a lightning-fast pace sent the majority of the field out the door.
Team DeepStacks was represented well here in Niagara Falls. Among the pros in attendance were Michael Mizrachi, Mike Matusow, Adam Levy, Randal Flowers, Karina Jett, Jay Houston and Robert Croak. Despite nice runs from Matusow, Jett and Levy, only Mizrachi survived the 13 hours of play. And oh what a day it was for "The Grinder."
Mizrachi was the undisputed top story on Day 1. The two-time bracelet winner battled with Matusow for much of the day, and finally got his man in Level 12 to make him the overwhelming chip leader. Mizrachi, Matusow and one other player went to a 
flop. The player in the big blind checked, Matusow bet 6,600, Mizrachi called, and the blind blind folded. On the 
turn, Matusow checked and Mizrachi fired 15K. Matusow paused before announcing he was all in, and Mizrachi snap-called with 
. Matusow's pocket aces were in trouble, and the 
on the river secured the pot for Mizrachi. He finished the day with the chip lead, bagging 338,500 at the end of the night.
Among those joining Mizrachi near the top of the leaderboard are Sammy Smith (303,500), Andy Spears (301,000), Kyaw Naing (282,000), and former DeepStacks Poker Open champ Randy Pfeifer (281,500). Pfeifer surged toward the top of the leaderboard near the end of the night and is closing in on his second straight final table here at a DeepStacks event in Niagara Falls.
We'll return for Day 2 at 2 p.m. local time on Saturday. Keep it locked in to PokerNews.com as we play all the way down to a final table at the Western New York Poker Championship!