$1,000 Main Event
Day 3 Completed
$1,000 Main Event
Day 3 Completed
West Seneca, New York's Dan Wagner took down the 2016 Seneca Fall Poker Classic Main Event inside the Niagara Falls Poker Room at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino Monday.
The 29-year-old professional poker player won his way into the event making the final table of a $200 tournament at the Fall Classic Warm-up here in October, and essentially freerolled his way to a $64,882 victory.
Before today, Wagner was a perennial bridesmaid here at Seneca Niagara, and although he is among the areas top earning pros, this was his first big win after final table appearances in the 2016 Western New York Poker Challenge and 2015 Summer Slam Main Events over the past 18 months.
Wagner went wire-to-wire at the final table, steamrolling his way to the win.
Cameron Bartolotta doubled through Veerab Zakarian to start the day before Brian Bowen took ninth, losing a race with tens for all his chips.
Wagner busted Peter Bogulski and Sean Gomez in quick succession before Jay Clark sent his short stack over to Nicholas Potwora, bowing out sixth. Wagner got all those chips winning a race against Potwora's sevens to send him home fifth, then took a massive lead into three-handed play when Bartolotta busted Mark Allott fourth.
Veerab Zakarian became the next victim of Wagner's domination, taking third after getting it in with a dominated ace, and although Bartolotta put up a fine fight, he ran a big ace into Wagner's queens and could not improve, taking second less than a half hour into heads-up play.
In the end, Wagner got the monkey off his back, another big score for the record books and his winner photo will grace the cover of an upcoming issue of CardPlayer magazine.
For PokerNews, this ends our coverage of the 2016 Seneca Fall Poker Classic. With congratulations to Wagner, a list of other big Fall Classic winners too long to mention here, and the Niagara Falls Poker Room staff, who put on another great show, we say goodbye until the Spring, when the 2017 Western New York Poker Challenge rolls back into town.
Dan Wagner has just won the 2016 Seneca Fall Poker Classic Main Event.
After grinding Cameron Bartolotta down to 1.3 million, Wagner made it 125,000 on the button. Bartolotta shoved in and Wagner made the quick call with the .
Bartolotta needed an ace or a miracle with the , and although he picked up some hope on the board to the turn, the river ended it all.
Bartolotta booked second for $40,871, and the title, the trophy, $64,882 and a spot on the cover of CardPlayer magazine now belongs to Wagner.
Through sheer force of will, and the uncanny ability to have the best hand every time the cards have been turned on their backs so far, Cameron Bartolotta is inching his way into this thing.
Wagner is still holding a 3:1 chip lead, but hasn't shown many winners since heads up started and may be beginning to wonder why.
"You can't have the best hand every time," Wagner said, as Bartolotta dragged another small pot making aces up.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Dan Wagner |
6,500,000
-1,000,000
|
-1,000,000 |
Cameron Bartolotta |
2,500,000
1,190,000
|
1,190,000 |
Veerab Zakarian got the last of his chips in preflop with the against the unbeatable Dan Wagner on the dominating .
The board sent Zakarian home third, two years after he finished second in this very same event.
Wagner begins heads-up play with a massive chip lead over Cameron Bartolotta.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Dan Wagner |
7,500,000
990,000
|
990,000 |
Veerab Zakarian | Busted | |
|
Level: 27
Blinds: 25,000/50,000
Ante: 5,000
Mark Allott has had a pretty good 2016. Earlier this year he won one of those 50/50 charity lotteries for almost half a million dollars.
Today he capped a nice run in the 2016 Seneca Fall Poker Classic finishing fourth moments ago.
He jammed the for 600,000 and change and Cameron Bartolotta looked him up with the . Allott went down on an run out adding $21,714 to the pile.
The three-handed chip counts have been updated.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Dan Wagner |
6,510,000
1,410,000
|
1,410,000 |
Cameron Bartolotta |
1,310,000
410,000
|
410,000 |
Veerab Zakarian |
1,055,000
255,000
|
255,000 |
|
||
Mark Allott | Busted |
If Dan Wagner wasn't running away with this thing before, he is now.
After Wagner opened, Nicholas Potwora shipped it in for 650,000 and Wagner made the call with the .
Potwora has the and fell behind in the race for his tournament life on the flop. The turn and river only really improved Wagner, and he scored another knockout, sending Potwora home fifth.
Four handed now, Wagner's got a little more than half the chips in play and seems to be cruising to inevitable victory.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Dan Wagner |
5,100,000
660,000
|
660,000 |
Nicholas Potwora | Busted |
Jay Clark got short and shoved the . Nicholas Potwora made the any two call with the dominating .
Potwora was all over the board making the bigger full house and railing Clark sixth.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Nicholas Potwora |
650,000
150,000
|
150,000 |
Jay Clark | Busted |
Dan Wagner's domination continues here at the final table as he's now pushed over four million, taking out Sean Gomez in seventh along the way.
Wagner shoved the small blind with the and Gomez called off his last 540,000 with the . Wagner said he didn't feel good about it, but was all over the board to rail Gomez seventh.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Dan Wagner |
4,440,000
540,000
|
540,000 |
Sean Gomez | Busted |