Armed with an extra hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings Time, 107 poker players return to the Niagara Falls Poker Room at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino today to finish up the opening event on the 2017 Seneca Fall Poker Classic schedule.
They are the survivors from a whopping 636 entries over four flights Friday and Saturday in this $300 No Limit Hold'em event. It came with a $100,000 prize pool guarantee, but it's about a whole lot more than that now.
In fact, they will be vying for pieces of a massive $160,113 prize pool that will pay the top 63 finishers. Just making the money will earn players $576, but surely each has their eye on the $36,024 up top.
Canadian Alex Avdelopoulos bagged 440,000 in the first flight and all eyes will be on him from the start, as he's got a healthy lead. Of course, anything can happen, and with the length of the levels increasing to 40 minutes today, the group in chase will have the time to get it done.
After posting big numbers in the flights themselves, Seneca standouts Chris Damick, Sahar Khajavi, and Matt Marcinkiewicz are in the top ten right now. The wildly unpredictable Andy Stover joins them there as well.
Plus, perennial contenders Matt Brunskole, Scott Hosbach, David Olshan, Maria Parlatore, and Peter Beshay are among those within striking distance.
Local heroes like Guy Klass, Blake Napierala, Silvio DeRubeis, Kurtis Boutelle, Alex Visbisky, Rick Block, Budwey Salhab and the enigmatic Jason Nablo are also in the mix, so it should be a day filled with exciting poker action.
They race to the money will begin at 12 p.m. local time. Blinds start at 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante. After the money bubble busts, it's all about making the final table, booking a big cash and collecting a little Seneca Niagara poker glory.
PokerNews will be on hand throughout, so stay right here to see who can capture the 2017 Seneca Fall Poker Classic opening event crown.