Congrats to Thomas Keeper, Winner of the WNY Poker Challenge Event #10 ($4,500)
The 2014 Western New York Poker Challenge Event #10 $300 No Limit Hold’em attracted 119 entries to the Seneca Niagara Falls Casino & Hotel – which created a prize pool of $29,958 — and after more than 12 hours of play, Thomas Keeper emerged victorious to captured a $4,500 prize and the tournament trophy.
The top 12 finishers of Event #10 each locked up $629 after Dave Grana was eliminated on the money bubble. It happened in Level 18 (4,000/8,000/1,000) when action folded to Travell Thomas on the button and he raised to 20,000, which Grana called from the big blind. When the flop came down 
, Grana moved all in for 77,000 and Thomas shifted in his chair. He thought long and hard before finally declaring, "I can't fold top pair."
Thomas: 
Grana: 
Grana decided to go with his open-ended straight draw, but it proved an unwise investment as both the 
turn and 
river failed to help him. Grana was eliminated as the bubble boy while the remaining 12 players are guaranteed at least $629.
From the eliminations continued and included George Johnson (12th - $629), Mike Feldmeyer (11th - $629), Mark Archer (10th - $629), Chris Myers (9th - $809), and Thomas.
In the first hand back from the break, Thomas got his short stack all in and was up against the red-hot Keeper.
Keeper: 
Thomas: 
Thomas was looking for a king, but the 
flop failed to produce. The 
turn gave Keeper a full house, and that left Thomas drawing dead headed to the 
river. Thomas lamented his bust and then made his way to the payout desk in eighth place to collect $1,019.
After the eliminations of Maurice Sessum (7th - $1,258), Alex Visbisky (6th - $1,558), and Anish Bedhia (5th - $2,097), the final four players struck a deal. They split up the prize money with the two chip leaders taking $6,000 each and the two shorter stacks $4,500. They also agreed to leave the extra $330 to the dealers while playing for the trophy.
That ultimately led to a wild four-handed match that saw the chips rotate among all four players. It also saw them agree to skip levels to finish the match in a timely manner. Kevin Reyes, one of the shorter stacks, was the first to go, and then Scott Aitchison, one of the bigger ones, followed him out the door in third. That left Keeper and Ryan Rivers, who hit the bad beat jackpot at the casino for roughly $72,000 the night before, to battle it out heads up, and as you know Keeper ultimately walked away with the trophy.
WNY Poker Challenge Event #10 Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Thomas Keeper | $4,500* |
| 2nd | Ryan Rivers | $6,000* |
| 3rd | Scott Aitchison | $6,000* |
| 4th | Kevin Reyes | $4,500* |
| 5th | Anish Bedhia | $2,097 |
| 6th | Alex Visbisky | $1,558 |
| 7th | Maurice Sessum | $1,258 |
| 8th | Travell Thomas | $1,019 |
| 9th | Chris Myers | $809 |
| 10th | Mark Archer | $629 |
| 11th | Mike Feldmeyer | $629 |
| 12th | George Johnson | $629 |
*Reflects four-handed deal
Congratulations to Thomas Keeper, winner of the Western New York Poker Challenge Event #10! The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be at Seneca Niagara Casino all weekend long to bring you live updates from the 2014 Western New York Poker Challenge, so be sure to tune in.