Western New York Poker Challenge: Guarantee Crushed in $200 Event

That's a wrap on the Day 1 qualifying flights for Event #1: $200 No-Limit Hold'em $50,000 guarantee at the 2018 Western New York Poker Challenge. With all four flights combined, a total of 798 entries were accumulated creating a prize pool worth $128,877, smashing the guarantee by more than 150%. Day 2 will begin with 104 hopefuls provided nobody qualified through multiple flights.

Day 1c: Andy Miller Bags Top Stack as Day 1 End with 27 Hopefuls Remaining

Day 1c of Event #1 at the 2018 Western New York Poker Challenge has come to an end with 27 players advancing to Day 2 on Sunday. The third of four qualifying flights kicked off at 10 AM this morning and by the time registration came to an end, a total of 219 entries had accumulated.

Bagging best on Day 1c was American Andy Miller (lead photo) with 280,600. Miller won races when he needed, including a big spike in his count late in the day when his pocket nines held against an opponent's ace-queen. Also sitting at the top of the counts are Ben Bracken (263,200), Mike Curtiss (263,100), Jack Kerr (196,600), and Chris Damick (153,500)

A total of 569 entries have accumulated thus far, already smashing the $50,000 guarantee. The prize pool currently sits at $91,849.

Players will have one more shot to secure a seat for Day 2. This evening at 6:00 PM, Day 1d will get underway with late registration and unlimited re-entry available until the end of Level 8.

Day 1d: 30 Survivors Bag Chips as Day 2 Field is Set

Day 1d gathered the largest field yet closing registration with 229 entries. After 14 30-minute levels, just 30 were left with chips to carry into Day 2.

Sitting atop of the counts for most of Day 1d, Chris Babula finished with the largest stack, bagging 302,700. Babula will return to action on Day 2 with the third best stack chasing overall chip leader Daniel Wagner with 325,000.

Tyler Dietz surged late in the day to end with the second-best stack of 248,500 while Andrew Streit (244,000), Blake Napierala (221,600), and Robert Falanga (184,300) round out the top five.

Day 2 Action

Day 2 will get underway at noon local time on Sunday in the Seneca Niagara Falls Poker room and play down until a champion is crowned. PokerNews will be here throughout the festival, bringing you all the news and live updates. Follow along via the PokerNews Live Reporting hub, or follow @pokernews on Twitter, on Facebook, and Instagram.

The Top 5 after the four Day 1's:

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