2015 Seneca Fall Poker Classic $50,000 Guarantee: Andy Spears Takes Overall Lead
On Wednesday, the final two starting flights of the $50,000 Guaranteed $100 No-Limit Hold'em event from the 2015 Seneca Fall Poker Classic took place. Day 1e attracted 130 entries to the Niagara Falls Poker Room, and Day 1f drew 161 entries. All told, a hefty 595 entries were tallied.
Heading into Day 2, local hero Andy Spears had the overall lead. Spears advanced from Day 1f with a stack of 286,700 in chips, and that's a good distance ahead of anyone else on the leaderboard. In fact, only Pat Tighe bagged more then 200,000 after he finished Day 1d with the chip lead and 238,300. Not only will Spears be a force to be reckoned with given his stack going forward, he's one of the most experienced players in the field with over $700,000 in live tournament earnings, including several deep runs at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino.
Spears, who won the 2013 Seneca Fall Poker Classic Main Event, registered at the last minute and managed to win a 270,000-chip pot with QxQx against the 10♥9♥. The money went all in preflop in the last minute of play, with a third player also putting in heaps of chips before he folded. The queens held for Spears, and he vaulted into pole position.
With 30 players surviving Day 1e and 33 surviving Day 1f, there will be a total of 120 players returning for Thursday's Day 2. The top 45 spots will reach the money, and the winner gets a nice trophy, PokerNews glory, and an $11,750 first-place prize that amounts to a whole lot for a $100 buy-in.
On Day 1e, it was Michael Davis and his stack of 137,800 narrowly edging out Silvio DeRubeis (133,100) and Mike Rellinger (131,700) for that flight's lead.
Heading into Day 2, here's a look at the top 10 chip stacks:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy Spears | 286,700 |
| 2 | Pat Tighe | 238,300 |
| 3 | Anthony Knoll | 161,400 |
| 4 | Warren Hart | 161,000 |
| 5 | Edward Rice | 152,200 |
| 6 | Mark Roberts | 146,500 |
| 7 | Deon Thomas | 140,500 |
| 8 | Michael Davis | 137,800 |
| 9 | Kevork Garabedian | 137,800 |
| 10 | Alex Rivera | 135,400 |
Day 2 will see the field work its way down to a winner starting at 11 a.m. local time, and you can follow PokerNews' live coverage of the event by clicking here.
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