MSPT Venetian $1,600 Main Event Day 1a | 2020 Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian $1,600 Main Event

11-20-2020 00:45 UTC-7

Admon In Front After Day 1a of the 2020 MSPT Venetian $1,600 Main Event

HillKerby

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.

Tags: Blake Whittington Bryant Miller Daniel Jones Jeff Trudeau John Sun Kane Lai Kou Vang Landon Tice Nick Pupillo Raman Afanasenka Richard Alsup Salim Admon Sergio Sanchez Tim Reilly

11-19-2020 23:27 UTC-7

Jaka's Night Falls Short of a Bag

HillKerby

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.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sergio Sanchez	220,000 220,000	220,000
Faraz Jaka	Busted

Tags: Faraz Jaka Sergio Sanchez

11-19-2020 23:05 UTC-7

Afanasenka Eliminates Yu

HillKerby

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.

Player	Chips	Progress
Salim Admon	292,500
Jeff Trudeau	226,000 226,000	226,000
Raman Afanasenka	119,300 53,300	53,300
Lee Markholt	Busted

Sean Yu	Busted

Tags: Raman Afanasenka Sean Yu

11-19-2020 22:06 UTC-7

Kim Puts Afanasenka To the Test

HillKerby

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Sung Kim had opened under the gun and received calls from a player in middle position and Raman Afanasenka, who defended his big blind. The three saw a flop of and both Afanasenka and Kim checked. The middle-position player bet 2,500 and then both Afanasenka and Kim called.

Action continued three ways to the turn , and Afanasenka checked again. Kim fired out a bet of 3,500 and got a fold from the player in middle position to bring action back onto Afanasenka, who called.

The river fell and Afanasenka led out, betting 11,000. Kim decided that wasn't enough, and jammed all in over the top to put Afanasenka to a decision for his remaining 50,000.

Afanasenka thought for a while and then folded, earning Kim the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sung Kim	152,000 2,000	2,000
Raman Afanasenka	51,000 9,900	9,900

Tags: Raman Afanasenka Sung Kim

11-19-2020 20:51 UTC-7

Carodenuto Sends One To the Rail

HillKerby

Level 8 : 400/800, 800 ante

A player in the hijack got their last 16,000 into the middle preflop against Carl Carodenuto, who was on the button and covered the all-in player.

All-In Player:
Carl Carodenuto:

Carodenuto leaned back in his chair and put his hands on his head to watch the runout, which quickly brought a flop of to give him trips and leave his opponent drawing dead. The player stood up as the turn and river completed the runout and made their way from the tournament area while the dealer shipped the pot to Carodenuto.

Player	Chips	Progress
Carl Carodenuto	47,000 16,000	16,000

Tags: Carl Carodenuto

11-19-2020 20:10 UTC-7

Lai Shoots Down a Pair of Ladies

HillKerby

Level 7 : 300/600, 600 ante

All of the chips had gone into the middle and the cards had been run in a hand involving Kane Lai and another player. The board read .

Kane Lai:
Opponent:

Lai had more chips than his opponent, who had already stood up from the table and was putting on his jacket as the dealer sent his chips to Lai, and Lai now has 136,000 after the knockout and the won pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kane Lai	136,000 70,500	70,500

Tags: Kane Lai

11-19-2020 18:37 UTC-7

Musleh Gets a Pre-Dinner Dub

HillKerby

Level 6 : 300/500, 500 ante

Kane Lai raised to 1,300 under the gun and was three-bet to 3,500 by Ramzi Musleh, who was on his direct left in the hijack at a six-handed table. Action folded back to Lai and he called.

The flop came and Lai checked to Musleh, who continued for 6,800. Lai called. The turn came and Lai threw out a bet of 10,000, totaling Musleh's remaining chips. Musleh tossed in his last two 5,000 chips and hands were tabled.

Ramzi Musleh:
Kane Lai:

Lai had flopped an open-ended straight draw and picked up a backdoor flush draw on the turn, but Musleh found himself still ahead with his couple of unpaired big cards. The river left the situation unchanged and Musleh found a double just a few minutes before dinner at Lai's expense.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kane Lai	65,500 -21,000	-21,000
Ramzi Musleh	42,000 42,000	42,000

11-19-2020 17:27 UTC-7

Jaka Gets Paid With Aces

HillKerby

Level 5 : 200/400, 400 ante

A player raised to 1,100 under the gun and action folded around to Faraz Jaka, who three-bet to 4,100 in the small blind. The original raiser called and the two saw a flop of . Jaka made a continuation-bet of 4,500 and his opponent called.

The turn came and Jaka continued with a second barrel of 12,500. His opponent called again and the river fell .

"All in," said Jaka, putting forth his remaining chips to ultimately put his opponent to the test. The player wasted no time calling.

Jaka tabled for aces up and his opponent began to muck. He then looked back at his cards and then voluntarily complied to table his losing hand of for the all-in showdown. The player's remaining chips were sent to Jaka, who now finds himself with nearly 150,000 before the midway point of play on Day 1a.

Player	Chips	Progress
Faraz Jaka	147,000 82,800	82,800

Tags: Faraz Jaka

11-19-2020 17:06 UTC-7

Hooks Hold for Klier

HillKerby

Level 5 : 200/400, 400 ante

Ben Klier opened the action with a raise to 1,000 and received a call from a player in middle position. Action folded to the small blind, who also called, and then the big blind three-bet to 6,000. Klier called, the middle-position player folded, and the small blind folded to take postflop action three ways.

The flop dropped and the small blind checked to the big blind, who made a continuation-bet of 16,000. Klier thought for about 35 seconds and then went all in.

The small blind went into the tank for about a minute and then asked for a count, which was totaled to be 20,800. He then went back into the tank for well over another minute, counting out his stack of more than 50,000 and considering pushing it into the middle. With one hand on his stack and the other on his cards, the player shot the cards forward instead, folding back to the big blind who wasted no time calling the remaining 4,800.

Ben Klier:
Big Blind:

Klier was in great shape for the double and saw the turn cut his opponent's number of chances at a three outer in half. The river completed the runout, giving Klier jacks up and earning him the dub.

Also recently seated at Klier's table with a fresh stack is Ark Onikul, who finished in the money in last week's $1,100 Main Event and looks to improve on his performance this time around.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ben Klier	62,000 28,400	28,400
Ark Onikul	30,000 30,000	30,000

Tags: Ark Onikul Ben Klier

11-19-2020 15:50 UTC-7

Cristos Fires Twice

HillKerby

Level 4 : 200/300, 300 ante

There was over 10,000 in the middle from preflop action and the flop read . Action was three handed and player in early position checked to Jordan Cristos in the cutoff, who bet 2,400. The third and final player in the hand was on the button and folded, and the early-position player called.

Action proceeded heads up to the turn and the early-position player checked again. Cristos thought for close to a minute and then threw out a bet of 5,800.

The player in early position wasted no time sending her cards to the muck and the pot was shipped to Cristos without needing to see any further action.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jordan Cristos	41,500 41,500	41,500

Tags: Jordan Cristos