2014 World Poker Tour Fallsview Poker Classic Day 1: Matthew Lapossie Leads
Day 1 of the 2014 World Poker Tour Fallsview Poker Classic came to a close Saturday night following the first 13 levels of action from the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. A field of 383 players turned out for the event, and less than one third of them survived to Day 2. With 114 players left, Canadian Matthew Lapossie led in a big way with 417,400 in chips.
Lapossie doesn't have many recent results from live poker tournaments. In fact, his last cash dates back to November of 2009. Of his $260,174 in live tournament earnings, $171,674 of that came from a seventh-place finish in the 2009 European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event that was won by Carter Phillips. The only live tournament win on Lapossie's record was from January of 2009 in a $545 no-limit hold'em event at the L.A. Poker Classic worth $53,560.
One of the key hands Lapossie won happened in the final level of the night. According to the WPT live updates, with the blinds at 1,000/2,000/300 in Level 13, Lapossie opened from under the gun with a raise and the WPT's own Tony Dunst reraised all in from middle position for 48,000. Play folded back to Lapossie, and he made the call with the J♥J♣. Dunst was at risk with the inferior 7♦7♣. Following a clean runout for Lapossie on the K♠4♥2♣2♦2♠ board, Dunst was eliminated.
Joining Dunst on the rail were Matt Giannetti, Mike McDonald, Scott Clements, Shannon Shorr, Vanessa Selbst, Andrew Lichtenberger, Jason Koon, and Griffin Benger.
On the flip side of the coin, a few notable faces were bunched in behind Lapossie at the top of the counts. Sylvain Siebert bagged 264,800 in chips, Elliot Smith finished on 235,400, and 2006 WPT North American Poker Championships winner Soren Turkewitsch completed the day with 230,600. Mike Leah, who won Event #1 at the Fallsview Poker Classic for $118,982, advanced with 173,700 in chips.
With nearly CA$1.8 million in the prize pool, the quest for the next WPT champion is on. The top 45 spots will be paid, and there is CA$363,197 up top for the winner.
Day 2 will begin at 12 p.m. local time on Sunday, and you can be sure to find a recap from the day's play right here on PokerNews following the completion of action.
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