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Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
2020 Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian $1,600 Main Event
MSPT Venetian $1,600 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
2020 Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian $1,600 Main Event
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
Buy-in
$1,600
Total Entries
1,239
Level
32
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
125,000
Entries
252
Players Left
67
Players Left 1 / 1,239
Filter
MSPT Venetian $1,600 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Day 1a of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) 2020 Venetian $1,600 Main Event drew 252 entries and played 10 one-hour levels to reach the end of the night. When play finished on all tables, 68 players were left in contention and Salim Admon (293,000) was the one to call himself chip leader.
Admon flew under the radar through the majority of the day and was spotted with a stack near his end-of-night total in the final level of the evening. He looks to enter Day 2 with the hopes of continuing to fly under the radar against the rest of the field, which is already plenty full of recognizable faces.
Among those recognizable faces to also finish with large stacks were Jeff Trudeau (226,500), Sergio Sanchez (225,500), Daniel Jones (216,000), and Kane Lai (181,500). Other notables to punch their tickets to Day 2 included Raman Afanasenka (125,000), Nick Pupillo (122,000), and a pair of MSPT Hall of Famers in Richard Alsup (68,500) and Kou Vang (51,000).
Plenty more fell short, with last weekend's $1,100 Main Event winner Landon Tice being among several to find the rail during the middle of the day. Blake Whittington, Bryant Miller, John Sun, and Tim Reilly also were among those to bust long before the end of the night loomed near.
Two more shots exist for all who either have not yet bagged or wish to try their hand at a larger Day 2 stack in the Venetian's best-stack-forward format, with the next one being Friday at 11:10 a.m.
PokerNews will be back at it then to bring you all the Day 1b action. See you in the morning.
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Play has finished on all remaining tables and an unofficial 68 players have put chips into bags and advanced to Sunday's Day 2 with Salim Admon leading the way after bagging 293,000.
An assortment of chip counts has been provided, while a complete list will be posted once it has been received. A recap of the day's action will also be posted shortly.
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Ark Onikul opened the action with a raise to 3,000 on the button and received calls from both Toby Price in the small blind and Kane Lai, who defended his big blind.
The flop dropped 
and action checked to Onikul, who made a continuation-bet of 3,200. Price check-raised to 15,000 and Lai called. Onikul then called as well.
All three players checked the turn 
and the river fell 
. Price and Lai checked once more and Onikul put out a bet of 43,000. Price quickly shot his cards to the muck, sending action onto Lai.
Lai thought for several minutes and eventually found a call. Onikul showed 
for a full house and took down the pot as Lai sent his cards to the muck.
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
The tournament clock has been stopped with 10 minutes remaining in Level 10 and five more hands will be played to their completion on all remaining tables before play concludes for the evening with the celebratory bag 'n tag.
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
There was around 30,000 in the middle from preflop action in a pot between Sergio Sanchez in the hijack and Faraz Jaka, who was on the button. The flop read 
and Sanchez checked to Jaka, who bet 20,000. Sanchez check-shoved to put Jaka all in and Jaka wasted no time calling.
Faraz Jaka: 
Sergio Sanchez: 
The turn came 
to leave just one card between Jaka and a double, but one of the five cards in the deck that could end his night fell on the river and he was eliminated from the tournament with less than 20 minutes of play remaining in the evening.
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Since its inception in 2009, the MSPT has done a great job keeping track of player stats. As a result, 11 years on they have one of the best player databases in the industry.
On their "Leaderboards" page, the MSPT tracks such things as Career Earnings, Main Event Cashes, Main Event Final Tables, Main Event Titles, Total Cashes, Most Cashes/Final Tables in a Season, Most Final Tables All-Time, and much more.
Here's a look at the top ten MSPT Main Event final table in a single season:
| Player | Hometown | Season | Final Tables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Steele | Chelsea, Michigan | 4 | 4 |
| Brett Kuznia | Stephen, Minnesota | 4 | 4 |
| Dan Sun | Cedar Rapids. Iowa | 3 | 3 |
| Christian Pham | St. Paul, Minnesota | 4 | 3 |
| Everett Carlton | St. Paul, Minnesota | 1 | 3 |
| Kou Vang | Maplewood, Minnesota | 5 | 3 |
| Michael Deis | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 5 | 3 |
| Nick Pupillo | Addison, Illinois | 5 | 3 |
| Mark Hodge | Fernandina Beach, Florida | 6 | 3 |
| DJ Buckley | Eden Prairie, Minnesota | 6 | 3 |
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Raman Afanasenka opened to 3,000 on the button and was three-bet to 10,000 by Sean Yu, who was in the big blind. Afanasenka called.
The flop fell 
and Yu made a continuation-bet of 10,000, which Afanasenka called. The turn came and Yu checked. Afanasenka bet 13,000 and Yu called, bringing the river . Yu checked to Afanasenka once more, and Afanasenka shoved all in for around 25,000 effective. Yu went into the tank for a bit and then found a call for his remaining chips.
Afanasenka tabled 
for the second-nut flush and Yu mucked his hand. It was not shown and the pot was sent to Afanasenka while Yu was eliminated from the tournament.
Meanwhile, Lee Markholt was also recently eliminated from the tournament, and on the other side of things, Jeff Trudeau and Salim Admon have just been spotted with stacks of around 225,000 and 290,000, respectively, making them among the largest stacks in the room as the minutes on the clock continue to wind down.
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
A player raised to 3,000 under the gun and received calls from Ben Klier in the cutoff, Toby Price in the small blind, and Kane Lai, who defended his big blind.
The flop fell 
and action checked to the original raiser, who went all in for 13,000. Klier raised to 35,000 to send action over to Price, who called. Lai then got out of their way and the two continued with chips already in the side pot.
The turn came 
and Price led out with a bet of 27,000. Klier thought for about half a minute and then announced he was all in. Once the dealer confirmed his announcement, Price immediately called.
Under the Gun:
Toby Price: 
Ben Klier: 
Price faded the paired board on the river 
and saw both pots shipped his way. His remaining stack was counted to 70,000 and Klier paid it off, bringing Price's stack up to 237,000 with less than 50 minutes left of play in the night.
