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

11-19-2020 09:14 UTC-7

Welcome To Day 1a of the 2020 Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian $1,600 Main Event

HillKerby

The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) will see the second of two back-to-back Main Events inside the Venetian Las Vegas get underway Thursday at 11:10 a.m.

Featuring three initial starting flights, this weekend's $1,600 Main Event will look to display another strong showing after last weekend's $1,100 version drew 1,123 players over just two starting days to generate a prize pool of more than $1 million. Last weekend's tournament saw a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000, a number that the first-place prize wound up eclipsing as 21-year-old Landon Tice claimed his first career victory to a tune of $201,529.

This weekend's guaranteed prize pool is double that of last week's, with $400,000 already up for grabs regardless of turnout. Of course, a much larger number is expected to turn up as the weekend continues, and that number should once again be exceeded by a healthy margin. Players including 2019 MSPT Player of the Year Mike Shin, Nick Pupillo, Sean Yu, Andrew Brinkley, and Jason Seitz made their way to Las Vegas from all corners of the country last weekend and most, if not all will likely be seen back in on the action once again this time around.

Starting stacks have been bumped up to 30,000 for the $1,600 Main Event. Additionally, there will be one-hour levels all tournament long, increasing both the amount of play for all who participate as well as the length of late registration: Unlimited re-entries will not only be available all throughout the 10 levels scheduled on Day 1, but will remain open through the first two levels of play on Sunday's Day 2. There will be 15-minute breaks after Levels 2, 4, and 8 along with a 45-minute dinner break after Level 6 at approximately 5:40 p.m. local time.

Whether you're masked up inside the Venetian or following along from the comfort of your own home, PokerNews has you covered on upates all weekend long, so make sure to hang around.

Tags: Andrew Brinkley Jason Seitz Landon Tice Mike Shin Nick Pupillo Sean Yu

11-19-2020 12:28 UTC-7

Last Week's Champ Among Early Arrivals

HillKerby

Level 1 : 100/100, 0 ante

The tournament clock is displaying 87 entries in the opening minutes of Level 1 and among them is last week's $1,100 Main Event winner Landon Tice. The 21-year-old from Florida topped a field of 1,123 last week and earning $201,529 for his performance.

Tice is not alone in his quest on a deep run, as last week's 17th-place finisher Sean Yu is also one of the players in their seats at the start of the day. Faraz Jaka has also been spotted in the room after playing both heats last week and finding himself unable to advance, and he looks to be among the group to get through on the first of three starting flights this time around.

Player	Chips	Progress
Landon Tice	25,000

Faraz Jaka	25,000

Sean Yu	25,000

Tags: Faraz Jaka Landon Tice Sean Yu

11-19-2020 13:27 UTC-7

Hinde Gets an Early Stack

HillKerby

Level 2 : 100/200, 0 ante

Michael Hinde was just seen with a stack of more than double the 30,000 starting size and confirmed he had just more than doubled, sending a player to the rail in the process.

According to Hinde, he raised to 400 under the gun and received four calls. The flop came and Hinde made a continuation-bet of 1,400. A player behind him raised to 3,000 and got one call before action made its way back to Hinde, who went all in.

The player who raised him called all in, and the third player in the hand folded.

Michael Hinde:
Opponent:

Hinde had gotten bottom set in versus top two pair and two bricks rolled off to complete the runout and earn him the early pot. He now finds himself with a stack of over 68,000.

Steven Berkowitz also is off to a good start on the day, chipping up to over 52,000 on the same table after making a straight flush with after the board came and paired on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Hinde	68,100 43,100	43,100
Steven Berkowitz	52,600 52,600	52,600

Tags: Michael Hinde

11-19-2020 14:51 UTC-7

Leecy Calls Down Correctly

HillKerby

Level 3 : 100/300, 0 ante

Preflop action saw 5,000 exactly in the middle with two players holding cards in front of them to a flop of . Matthew Leecy checked in the hijack to his opponent on the button who bet 2,500. Leecy called.

The turn came and Leecy checked again. His opponent fired another 7,200 and Leecy thought for a few moments before calling. The river fell and Leecy checked one final time. His opponent reached for chips, looking as if he would compile them into one stack, but proceeded to check behind before finishing the act.

The player on the button tabled upon checking back and Leecy showed , earning the pot with his pair of eights. With the pot, Leecy now finds himself over 100,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Matthew Leecy	108,000 108,000	108,000

Tags: Matthew Leecy

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

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 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 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 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 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