$600 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
$600 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
A 29-year-old Toronto, Canada-based project manager for a software company came to Niagara Falls, NY, for the weekend and became a champion.
William Liang took down the 2015 Seneca Niagara Falls Summer Slam Main Event and claimed it's $61,535 first-place prize on Sunday inside the Niagara Falls Poker Room at the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel.
The tournament drew a whopping 504 entries over two starting days, absolutely crushing the $150,000 guarantee and creating $267,498 prizepool that paid 54 spots. A total of 90 players returned for the final day, with Liang among just four over 300,000 in chips.
Erie, PA's Jeff Wells was the chip leader, but he ran bad early and busted before the money got big. In the meantime, Liang held on to his slew of chips throughout, flirting with the lead and when the final table was finally reached. He and Hollywood actor and poker enthusiast Kirk Acevedo came in with the biggest stacks.
Blake Napierala made his third final table of the 2015 Summer Slam series, but once the blind levels reached dangerous heights, he could do no better than a sixth-place finish. Acevedo, who was playing the event on some downtime from shooting a TV show in Toronto, eventually busted fifth after moving in and out of the lead several times at the final table.
Finally, four-handed, Liang took full control with his big stack, steamrolling his way to the win by busting all three players in front of him in quick succession to get there.
With that, the PokerNews Live Reporting team will say goodbye from Niagara Falls and thank you to the fabulous staff and players at the Niagara Falls Poker Room, who put on another great show here throughout the 2015 Niagara Falls Summer Slam series. It was an absolute pleasure to cover.
Juts a few hands into the heads-up match, Steven Solodiuk got it in with and William Liang looked him up on .
The board rolled out , nines held and as Solodiuk headed to the cage to collect second place money, William Liang became the 2015 Seneca Niagara Falls Summer Slam Main Event champion.
A full event recap will follow.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
William Liang |
12,900,000
1,900,000
|
1,900,000 |
Steven Solodiuk | Busted |
Newton Graziano shipped it in facing a 500,000-chip open from William Liang. Liang called with and had Graziano's dominated.
The board came down and Graziano said goodbye third.
Liang will take a massive chip lead into heads-up with Steven Solodiuk.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
William Liang |
11,000,000
1,100,000
|
1,100,000 |
Newton Graziano | Busted |
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
William Liang |
9,900,000
3,900,000
|
3,900,000 |
Steven Solodiuk |
1,700,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
Newton Graziano |
1,300,000
-1,100,000
|
-1,100,000 |
Daniel Wagner shoved the small blind with and William Liang looked him up from the big holding .
The board rolled out and Liang's little pair was bigger than Wagner's, sending him home fourth.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
William Liang |
6,000,000
1,000,000
|
1,000,000 |
Daniel Wagner | Busted |
Kirk Acevedo shoved it in and got called in two spots by William Liang and Daniel Wagner.
After a board was checked down, Acevedo showed , but Liang had outdrawn him, making a flush with .
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
William Liang |
5,000,000
900,000
|
900,000 |
Kirk Acevedo | Busted |
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
William Liang |
4,100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
Daniel Wagner |
3,000,000
500,000
|
500,000 |
Newton Graziano |
2,400,000
900,000
|
900,000 |
Steven Solodiuk |
1,500,000
800,000
|
800,000 |
Kirk Acevedo |
1,000,000
-750,000
|
-750,000 |
Blake Napierala open shoved the button and William Liang called from the small blind.
Napierala had and was live against Liang's . The board to the turn made Napierala a pair, but the river made Liang a bigger one to bust him sixth.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
William Liang |
4,000,000
1,800,000
|
1,800,000 |
Blake Napierala | Busted |
Kirk Acevedo limped before Daniel Wagner pushed all in.
Silvio DeRubeis then called all in for less and Acevedo folded. It was Wagner on and DeRubeis holding .
However, the board rolled out making Wagner a flush to sink DeRubeis with a sick beat seventh.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Daniel Wagner |
2,500,000
500,000
|
500,000 |
Silvio DeRubeis | Busted |