Dan Wagner Wins Western New York Poker Challenge Warm-Up $300 Event
Dan Wagner has won another tournament here at Seneca Niagara Casino after defeating Sahar Khajavi in the opening event of the 2017 Western New York Poker Challenge Warm-Up. This is his second title in just a few months after he took down the 2016 Fall Poker Classic Main Event towards the end of the year.
Wagner took home $10,144 for his efforts after steamrolling his opponents throughout the day and in the final moments on the final table. Khajavi went on a tear to begin the final table and Wagner took over once talks of a chop were squashed when play was shorthanded.
In the final hand, Khajavi got her chips in the middle in a classic race with pocket tens against Wagner's ace-king. The king on the river sealed the deal, handing Wagner the title. Khajavi pocketed $6,350 for her efforts today.
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Wagner | $10,144 |
| 2 | Sahar Khajavi | $6,349 |
| 3 | George Crozier | $4,509 |
| 4 | Rob Greene | $3,194 |
| 5 | Jim Girdlestone | $2,442 |
| 6 | Leo Kaplan | $1,916 |
| 7 | Tyler Orsini | $1,465 |
| 8 | John Brock | $1,127 |
| 9 | Jim Pifer | $902 |
| 10 | Ed Reid | $714 |
The day started off with a bang and the $25,000 guarantee was met by the fourth level of play. Players began dropping quite quickly and two-thirds of the field had hit the rail by the time registration closed.
As the money bubble neared, Omar Stefanini and Alan Findlay both dropped in back-to-back hands and hand-for-hand play began. John Perri was eliminated on the bubble as he was incredibly short-stacked. A few players dropped once they were in the money before play stayed steady with around 14 players left.
Dietrich Kuhlmann finished in 11th place and hit the rail on the final table bubble. Wagner led the way when the final ten players came together and he held that lead for a while until Khajavi started to turn on the jets. Players slowly started to drop, with Ed Reid and Jim Pifer getting knocked out in the same hand where they both held ace high and couldn't improve against Rob Greene's pocket nines. Reid finished in tenth place while Pifer came in ninth.
John Brock was the next player to go, holding pocket eights after he was out flopped by Dietrich Girdlestone who held ace three. The flop was ace-high and he was on his way out the door in eight place. Tyler Orsini was eliminated shortly after in seventh place after his ace-nine suited of diamonds was unable to make anything happened against Green's ace-ten of hearts.
Leo Kaplan fell at the hands of the Champion in sixth place and couldn't get his pocket tens to hold after Wagner hit an ace on both the flop and the turn, tabling ace seven for the knockout.
Jim Girdlestone lost a devastating hand with ace-king of clubs after running into Wagner's two red aces. The flop gave him a flush draw but he was unable to improve, busting in fifth place the next hand after running into pocket kings with his short stack.
Rob Greene was next to go in fourth place after missing both his flush and straight draws against Khajavi's king-jack of diamonds for two pair. George Crozier was the next to go in third place after getting in his remaining 311,000 stack with pocket sixes and running into Khajavi's pocket tens. He was unable to improve and hit the rail for a solid payday.
The feature event this weekend begins tomorrow, Saturday, February 25th at 11:00 AM. The buy-in is $600 and there will be a $50,000 guarantee on the event. Registration runs until the end of level eight, which is at approximately 4:00 PM.
A full list of results can be found under the Payouts tab.
Good luck players! Stay with PokerNews all weekend for more updates as the weekend progresses.