Seneca Niagara Casino

The first of three starting flights in the $1,100 MSPT Seneca Niagara – the tour’s first visit to Western New York – attracted 42 entries, but by the end of the night, just six bagged with Canada’s Illan Kandiah and his stack of 207,000 leading the way.

Others advancing were Daniel Wagner (146,300), Derrick Brown (136,000), Harp Padda (173,300), 2017 MN Poker Mag Player of the Year Todd Melander (59,400), and MSPT Season 5 Majestic Star champ Ken Baime (117,200).

Wagner is looking to replicate the success he had back in January. That is when he finished runer-up in the MSPT Cleveland Poker Open at JACK Cleveland for $72,701.

Not everyone was so lucky. Among those to fall on Day 1A were Kimo Sabe Mezcal MSPT Season 8 Player of the Year Chris Meyers, Steven Filipovic, Paul McLean, Jason Valenti, Paul Bitterman, Greg Britz, and Barry Krueger.

The Day 1B and 1C flights, which will take place at Noon local time on Friday and Saturday respectively, are expected to be even bigger and better. Among those we expect to see in action are John “Big Stick” Abraham, Minnesota’s Alex Winter, and 2018 MSPT Iowa State Poker Champion Brian Soja.

Of course, we’ll be there every step of the way to capture the action here in the live blog, so be sure to join us then.

Lynn Bigwood limped on the button, Todd Melander limped the small blind, and Harp Padda checked from the big blind.

Melander open-jammed for 30,000 on the flop, Padda folded and Bigwood called.

Melander:
Bigwood:

Melander flopped top pair and a flush draw, but Bigwood had an overcard and a bigger flush draw. Melander hit trips on the turn, and survived the river, ending play for the evening.

Lynn Bigwood - Busted

Illan Kandiah opened for 5,200 from early position and then called when Henry Zou moved all in for roughly 30,000 from the small blind.

Kandiah:
Zou:

The flop gave Zou a sweat with a club flush draw, but he missed as the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river.

Not long after, Bob Conly got his stack of 45,000 all in preflop and found himself in dire straits against Kandiah.

Kandiah:
Conly:

Conly had a kicker problem and it didn’t get resolved as the board ran out .

Illan Kandiah - 205,000 (85 bb)
Henry Zou - Busted
Bob Conly - Busted

Dan Wagner raised to 5,000 on the button, and Henry Zou called in the big blind.

Both players checked the flop, and Zou check-called a 4,000 bet on the turn.

Zou checked the river, and Wagner bet 8,000. Zou tanked for a bit, then called.

“Royal flush.”

Wagner tabled for the granddaddy of all hands, and Zou mucked.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Wagner said as he raked in the pot.

Dan Wagner - 160,000 (67 bb)
Henry Zou - 30,000 (22 bb)

Illan Kandiah opened for 4,000 from early position and Todd Melander called from middle position. Bob Conly called from the big blind and four players went to the flop.

Two checks saw Kandiah continue for 10,000 and Melander called. Zou then check-raised all in for around 80,000, Conly folded, and Kandiah called off for 35,700 total. Melander got out of the way.

Zou:
Kandiah:

Zou shoved with his open-ended straight draw but he didn’t get there as the bricked the turn followed by the on the river.

Illan Kandiah - 100,000 (50 bb)
Henry Zou - 43,000 (21.5 bb)

Todd Melander raised to 5,200 from the hijack, and Harp Padda called from the cutoff, as did Henry Zou in the big blind.

Action checked to Padda on the flop, and he bet 6,500. Zou check-raised to 15,500, chasing Melander out, but Padda made the call.

Zou led out for 10,000 on the turn, and Padda called.

Zou repeated the 10,000 bet on the river, and Padda called again.

Zou shook his head and tabled for a rivered pair of eights, but Padda had the winner with his .

Harp Padda - 160,000 (80 bb)
Henry Zou - 90,000 (45 bb)

Here’s a look at upcoming MSPT stops…

Illan Kandiah raised to 4,500 under the gun and Harp Padda three-bet to 11,500 from middle position. Bob Conly called out of the small blind and Kandiah put in an additional 7,000 to make it three-way action to the flop.

Conly led out for 10,000, Kandiah folded, and Padda moved all in for 46,000. Conly made a quick call and discovered he had a kicker problem.

Padda:
Conly:

The turn locked it up for Padda and he shipped the double after the was run out on the river.

Harp Padda - 125,000 (62.5 bb)
Bob Conly - 45,000 (22.5 bb)

The MSPT is returning to FireKeepers Casino October 6-14 for the 2018 MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship. The stop, which requires players be 21 or older to play, is looking to generate a seven-figure prize pool for the fourth time in a row.

A series of $65 and $250 satellites will take place in the weeks leading up to the $1,100 buy-in, $300,000 guarantee Main Event, which runs October 11-14.

Click here for the full schedule.

Click here for special hotel rate.

The Main Event will feature three starting flights – all with a noon start time - beginning with Day 1A on Thursday, October 11. Days 1B and 1C will then be on Friday, October 12 and Saturday, October 13 respectively. The remaining players from each flight will combine on Sunday, October 14 at 11:00 a.m. and play until a champion is crowned.

The Main Event final table will be broadcast LIVE (15-minute delay) worldwide on msptpoker.com using RFID technology allowing all viewers to see the hole cards. In addition, the entirety of the Main Event will be live reported in the MSPT's live blog.

Bob Conly limped from the lojack, then called a raise to 6,500 from Todd Melander in the small blind.

Both players checked the flop, and Melander bet 5,000 on the turn. Conly called.

Melander bet 12,000 on the river, and Conly quickly released his hand.

Bob Conly - 90,000 (45 bb)
Todd Melander - 60,000 (30 bb)