MSPT Venetian $1,600 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2020 Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian $1,600 Main Event
MSPT Venetian $1,600 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2020 Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian $1,600 Main Event
Buy-in
$1,600
Entries
1,239
Level
32
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
125,000
Entries
170
Players Left
54
"Big John" Lytle Leads the Final 63 After Day 2 of the MSPT Venetian $1,600 Main Event
Level 20
: 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Day 2 of the 2020 Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Venetian $1,600 Main Event saw 326 players return to action from 1,069 entries over three starting flights, but it was one of 170 additional Day 2 entries in "Big John" Lytle (3,888,000) to make their way to the top of the leader board among the 63 that remained when play ended for the night.
Lytle used a combination of aggression, good cards, and winning races all night to become the first player over 1 million, nearing that mark before the dinner break and eclipsing it shortly thereafter. Lytle continued to ascend as the night went on, knocking out Michael Rossitto on the bubble to take a stack of 1.4 million into the money. His work was nowhere near done, though, and he nearly tripled that stack as the next three-and-a-half hours wound off the tournament clock.
Following Lytle in the counts is Dale Eberle (2,699,000). Eberle entered the day with a top-10 stack and saw it continue to increase through the evening to finish the day second out of the 63 that put chips into bags. In total, five other players bagged seven-figure stacks, with Martin Zamani (1,658,000) being the largest stack of those five: James Vales (1,492,000), Hesam Alagha (1,333,000), Day 1a chip leader Salim Admon (1,091,000), and Jason Obinger (1,021,000) will all be taking stacks of over 60 big blinds into Monday's Day 3 as well.
Other notables to make it through included Saad Ghanem (680,000), Ralph Massey (658,000), Vic Peppe (428,000), Aaron Massey (288,000), and Michael Rocco (260,000).
Last weekend's $1,100 Main Event champion Landon Tice was among those who did not advance, falling in 68th place just a handful of minutes before the end of the night. Ben Keeline (79th), Matt Bond (86th), Katie Lindsay (102nd), Aaron Van Blarcum (105th), and Shannon Shorr (121st) also joined Tice in making it into the money and being eliminated before the night's end.
Play will resume for Day 3 on Monday at noon local time, giving players an extra hour's rest before what will certainly be an extended day as the tournament plays down to a winner. A massive $327,773 is up for grabs and PokerNews will be on hand keeping you up to date every step of the way. Make sure you come back and see who wins.
End of Day 2 Chip Counts (full)
Level 20
: 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Sixty-three players have officially finished Day 2 with chips in play. Complete chip counts have been provided below and an end-of-day recap will follow shortly.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,888,000 | 338,000 |
|
2,699,000 | 1,549,000 |
|
1,658,000 | 283,000 |
|
1,429,000 | 1,395,500 |
|
1,330,000 | |
|
1,091,000 | 798,000 |
|
1,021,000 | 902,500 |
|
981,000 | 101,000 |
|
854,000 | 772,000 |
|
680,000 | 307,000 |
|
670,000 | 310,000 |
|
658,000 | 27,000 |
|
655,000 | 551,500 |
|
636,000 | 561,000 |
|
605,000 | 444,500 |
|
578,000 | 183,000 |
|
572,000 | 418,500 |
|
559,000 | 559,000 |
|
559,000 | 559,000 |
|
532,000 | 512,000 |
|
527,000 | 492,500 |
|
512,000 | 474,000 |
|
508,000 | 430,500 |
|
492,000 | -138,000 |
|
490,000 | 490,000 |
Five More Hands
Level 20
: 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused with 10 minutes remaining and the nine remaining tables will play five hands to their completion before bagging their chips for the night.
Onikul; Tice Among Recent Departures
Level 20
: 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Both Ark Onikul and Landon Tice were just seen making their ways to the payout desk after being eliminated. While Tice was receiving his payout slip, Onikul was kind enough to share that he had become the most recent victim to chip leader John Lytle.
Onikul opened with 
and a player called in position before action made its way around to Lytle, who reraised and wound up with a one-on-one shot to felt Onikul with two nines. Onikul found neither an ace nor a queen on the runout and that was the end of his tournament as a result.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,550,000 | 1,250,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Places 73-80 ($4,961)
Level 20
: 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
The Next-To-Last Woman Standing Gets Eliminated
Level 20
: 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
"I'm going to need a payout card," said Rachel Cooper, standing up behind the seat she had just been sitting in. After the elimination of Katie Lindsay before the final break of the night, Cooper found herself with Nadya Magnus as the last two women left in contention. Unfortunately for her, her run just came to an end.
According to Cooper, a player raised to 25,000 and received a call on the button. She was in the big blind and defended to take action three ways to a flop of 
. Cooper check-shoved on the original raiser and he called.
Rachel Cooper:
Opponent: 
Cooper had flopped top-and-bottom pair and was ahead of her opponent's jacks, but the turn counterfeited her two pair and she was unable to find help on the river to fall with just over 20 minutes remaining in the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted |
Looking Ahead to the Upcoming Season-Ending MSPT Grand Falls
Level 20
: 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Just one more stop remains in Season 11 of the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT). From December 18-20, the tour will close out the year with a $1,100 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed Main Event at Grand Falls Casino in Larchwood, Iowa, which is actually situated just across the border from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
A series of $65 and $250 satellites will feed into the Main Event, which will feature two starting flights. Day 1a will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, December 18 with Day 1b taking place at the same time on Saturday, December 19. The surviving players from both flights will then return for Day 2 at 11 a.m. on Sunday, December 20 to play down to a winner.
The tournament comes on the heels of August’s record-breaking MSPT Main Event at Grand Falls. That $1,100 buy-in tournament was the first mid-major poker tournament in the United States in nearly six months, and the 518 entrants not only surpassed the venue’s previous best field of 238 runners in 2015 but also became the largest major ($1,000+ buy-in) in Iowa history.
In the end, 47-year-old Mark Collins, a systems administrator from the St. Louis area, came out on top to win a $107,706 top prize and his second MSPT title. He previously won the MSPT Season 9 Canterbury Park for $102,076.
PokerNews will be offering live updates at the upcoming MSPT Grand Falls.
Click here for more details including hotel rates.
MSPT Grand Falls Schedule
| Date | Time | Event | Starting Stack inc. add-on | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, 11/25 | 1:00 PM | $65 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $250 Satellite | 12,000 | Poker Room |
| Thursday, 11/26 | 6:00 PM | $65 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $250 Satellite | 12,000 | Poker Room |
| Wednesday, 12/2 | 1:00 PM | $65 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $250 Satellite | 12,000 | Poker Room |
| Thursday, 12/3 | 6:00 PM | $65 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $250 Satellite | 12,000 | Poker Room |
| Wednesday, 12/9 | 1:00 PM | $65 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $250 Satellite | 12,000 | Poker Room |
| Thursday, 12/10 | 6:00 PM | $65 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $250 Satellite | 12,000 | Poker Room |
| Saturday, 12/12 | 12:00 PM | $250 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $200K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Poker Room |
| Saturday, 12/12 | 1:00 PM | $65 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $250 Satellite | 12,000 | Poker Room |
| Saturday, 12/12 | 4:00 PM | $250 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $200K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Poker Room |
| Sunday, 12/13 | 1:00 PM | $65 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $250 Satellite | 12,000 | Poker Room |
| Sunday, 12/13 | 4:00 PM | $250 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $200K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Poker Room |
| Wednesday, 12/16 | 1:00 PM | $65 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $250 Satellite | 12,000 | Poker Room |
| Wednesday, 12/16 | 6:00 PM | $250 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $200K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Poker Room |
| Thursday, 12/17 | 12:00 PM | $250 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $200K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Poker Room |
| Thursday, 12/17 | 6:00 PM | $250 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $200K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Poker Room |
| Friday, 12/18 | 10:00 AM | $250 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $200K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Event Center |
| Friday, 12/18 | 3:00 PM | $1,100 Main Event Day 1A (2-Day Trophy Event) | 25,000 | Event Center |
| Saturday, 12/19 | 10:00 AM | $250 Satellite - 1/5 advance to $200K GTD Main Event | 15,000 | Event Center |
| Saturday, 12/19 | 3:00 PM | $1,100 Main Event Day 1B (2-Day Trophy Event) | 25,000 | Event Center |
| Sunday, 12/20 | 11:00 AM | $1,100 Main Event Day 2 Restart (2-Day Trophy Event) | N/A | Event Center |
Another Round of Payouts
Level 20
: 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
The following players finished 81-88th place ($4,607).
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Velisek Gets a Fun Runout
Level 20
: 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
David Vig raised to 40,000 in middle position and action folded around to Scott Velisek in the small blind, who shoved for 255,000. Andy Rogowski folded in the big blind and action was back on Vig, who started the hand with less than Velisek and was now faced with a decision for his tournament life.
Several minutes went by and a clock was eventually called. The floor came and let him know he had 30 seconds to call, and he took about two of them before dropping in a chip to call.
David Vig: 
Scott Velisek: 
Velisek saw an unfavorable flop of 
, giving Vig a pair of jacks. The turn 
brought Velisek's side of the table to bring up the possibility of a chop, but the dealer instead brought the river 
to give Velisek a pair of queens and put him back on top, earning him the pot and sending Vig to the payout desk.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
380,000 | 270,500 |
|
300,000 | -165,000 |
|
|
Busted |