$120 No-Limit Hold'em I
Day 1 Completed
2018 Western New York Poker Challenge
$120 No-Limit Hold'em I
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 Western New York Poker Challenge
Buy-in
$120
Prize Pool
$14,400
Entries
152
Level
24
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
4,000
![[user270022]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 24
: 20,000/40,000, 4,000 ante
The latest champion of the 2018 Western New York Poker Challenge is American, John Griswold. Griswold topped a field of 152 entries in Event #4: $120 No-Limit Hold'em $10,000 Guarantee defeating Leo Kaplin heads up to claim a top prize of $3,821.
Griswold entered the final table second and chips and rarely lost a pot until the final moments. Impressively, this will be just the second-ever cash on Griswold's live-recorded career tournament resume. His only previous cash came back in 2015 at this very series placing 10th in a $20 NLHE event for $516.
Final Table Results:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Griswold | United States | $3,821 |
| 2 | Leo Kaplin | United States | $2,400 |
| 3 | John Abraham | United States | $1,733 |
| 4 | Player Unknown | United States | $1,227 |
| 5 | Jeff Dio | United States | $939 |
| 6 | Ben Bracken | Canada | $736 |
| 7 | John Fluder | United States | $563 |
| 8 | Marty Derbyshire | Canada | $433 |
| 9 | Malgorzata Kurtyko | United States | $347 |
| 10 | Janet Tricoli | United States | $274 |
The event drew a total of 152 entries that created a prize pool of $14,400, easily surpassing the $10,000 guarantee. The top 18 spots were to be paid out but once play got down to the money bubble, the 19 remaining players decided to remove $120 from the top two prizes and give the next player to bust their money back. From there, the post-bubble bust out bonanza claimed the next eight players swiftly setting up a final table of 10.
Most of the finalists began the final table with sub ten big blind stacks and had no choice but to get their stacks in the middle.
Janet Tricoli and Malgorzata Kurtyko were eliminated in back-to-back hands eliminated by the unknown player and John Fluder respectively. Just moments later, Marty Derbyshire and Fluder also fell in consecutive hands, both falling victim to the unknown player.
Ben Bracken was the next player to be eliminated, dwindling down to just three big blinds before having his chips taken by John Abraham. Jeff Dio followed Bracken after losing his last ten big blinds to Kaplin, dominated by a higher ace-kicker hand.
The final four played for a couple levels as the stacks kept getting more shallow. With three of them having sub ten big blind stacks, the unknown player was the first to crack, knocked out by the big stack of Griswold. Nursing a short stack for the better part of the final table, Abraham finally had his luck run out, getting it in good against Kaplin but not being able to hold, setting up a heads-up battle between Kaplin and Griswold.
Kaplin started the battle with the chip lead but a big hand where his kings were cracked shifted the lead to Griswold. Just a couple hands later, Griswold had Kaplin all in and at risk. Kaplin was ahead with ace-three but Griswold made trips with king-queen after both flopped a pair and it held to capture the Event #4 title.
The next title hunting opportunity comes with Event #5: $120 No-Limit Hold'em $10,000 Guarantee which kicks off at 5 PM on Wednesday evening.
PokerNews will be here throughout the festival, bringing you all the news and live updates. Follow @pokernews on Twitter, on Facebook, and Instagram.
Level 24
: 20,000/40,000, 4,000 ante
After Leo Kaplin and John Griswold exchanged the lead a couple times, Griswold finally got the better of Kaplin in a pot where he held the chip lead.
Kaplin moved all in preflop and Griswold put him at risk.
Leo Kaplin: 
John Griswold: 
A 
board fanned out and Griswold spiked trips on the turn to end the match and capture the Event #4 title.
Kaplin took home $2,400 for his runner-up finish while Griswold got the trophy and a top prize of $3,821.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,520,000
905,000
|
905,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 24
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 4,000
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 3,000 ante
John Abraham put himself at risk preflop, moving all in with the 
. Leo Kaplin made the call with the 
. The flop came down 
with both players getting something from it. The 
put Kaplin in the lead but Abraham wasn't dead. The 
on the river was not what Abraham wanted to see and he was eliminated in third place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
980,000
280,000
|
280,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 3,000 ante
Leo Kaplin moved all-in on the button with the 
and John Griswold put him at risk, calling with the 
. The board ran out 
and Kaplin's baby pair held to double into the chip lead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
700,000
440,000
|
440,000 |
|
|
615,000
-435,000
|
-435,000 |
Level 23
: 15,000/30,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,050,000
190,000
|
190,000 |
|
|
260,000
-135,000
|
-135,000 |
|
|
240,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
Level: 23
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 3,000
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
The unknown player moved all-in preflop and John Griswold snap-called, putting the unknown player at risk.
Player Unknown: 
John Griswold:
Not much the unknown player could do with a sub ten big blind stack but he ran into a monster and Griswold sent him to the rail after a 
run out.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
860,000
270,000
|
270,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level 22
: 12,000/24,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
590,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
|
|
395,000
-55,000
|
-55,000 |
|
|
255,000
-75,000
|
-75,000 |
|
|
245,000
55,000
|
55,000 |