Who Will Capture the 2014 Western New York Poker Challenge Title?
The 2014 Western New York Poker Challenge kicked off its $1,100 Main Event yesterday at the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, New York. The flagship event of the series smashed the $100,000 guaranteed prize pool as the 183 entries created a prize pool of $176,595.
After 13 50-minute levels of player, just 34 players remained with Jerry Calvaneso emerging as the chip leader with 398,800, nearly double the amount of his next closest competitor. There's still a long way to go, but clearly he is the favorite to claim the $45,915 first-place prize, or at least make the top 21 and secure a minimum $2,119 payday.
Calvaneso told us that he played a satellite to the Main Event with the intention of selling it if he won. However, when he found out that he couldn't sell it, he attempted to negotiate a deal to get cash instead of the seat. He ended up winning the seat after another satellite player rejected his offer, and now he looks to parlay his satellite success into a much bigger payday.
Others who will be returning to action today include Johannes Mueller, Blake Napierala, Joseph Elia and the defending that of this event, Matthew Sande. Mueller was actually one of PokerNews' Players to Watch entering the series, so we have high expectations for him as he enters the day with a decent stack.
Action is set to kick off at Noon ET, which is a little over an hour from now. We'll be bringing you live updates every step of the way until a champion is crowned, plus addition coverage of the last tournament in the series, Event #16 $300 No Limit Hold'em, which you can follow by clicking here.
Who will be the last two winners of a great and action-packed series? Stay tuned to find out!