MSPT Poker Bowl V Main Event Day 1b | MSPT Poker Bowl V at Venetian Las Vegas

02-05-2021 10:57 UTC-7

Welcome to Day 1b of MSPT Poker Bowl V at Venetian

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One day is in the books with 45 players having advanced to Day 2 at Mid-States Poker Tour Poker Bowl V at Venetian. That means one starting flight still remains, and Day 1b is set for another 11:10 a.m. kickoff here in Las Vegas.

One order of business has been taken care of as the $350,000 guarantee was surpassed on the first day. The 412 entries made sure of that, and if Day 1a is any indication, this prize pool could push close to the $1 million mark.

The big question for Day 1b will be, can anyone match the towering 1,157,000 bagged by Jesse Vilchez? Meanwhile, merely big stacks were bagged by the likes of Ryan Riess, Blake Whittington and a former winner of this event, Kfir Nahum.

Once again, 15 levels of 40 minutes apiece with unlimited reentries are on the docket for the players. As a reminder, everyone gets 25,000 in their starting stacks with 100/100 no ante poker kicking off the first level and progressing all the way to 2,000/4,000/4,000.

Stick around with PokerNews for live updates throughout the day.

02-05-2021 12:44 UTC-7

History of MSPT Poker Bowl at Venetian

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Level 1 : 100/100, 0 ante

Back in 2017, the Mid-States Poker Tour expanded its deal with Venetian to include an early February event coinciding with the Super Bowl. Dubbed the Poker Bowl, the tournament built on a relationship that already included a series of monstrous summer events that built some memorable prize pools.

The Poker Bowl began with a somewhat modest $300,000 guarantee, one that proved to be quite a bit smaller than the actual turnout. More than double the required number of entries turned up (695) and it came down to well-known pros Jordan Young and Ankush Mandavia. The two struck a deal that saw both players earn more than $100K, with Young as the official winner.

In 2018, the Poker Bowl returned with an expanded guarantee of $500K. The number would be easily beaten again with 827 entries, and this time, the final four came to a deal. Kfir Nahum and Matthias De Cercq would get the lion's share with $108,410 apiece — the former took home the title via the slightest of chip leads — and John Ploski ($84,743) and Bob Shao ($76,926) got the rest.

The guarantee was upped once again for 2019 with $650,000, but it was again easily surpassed with more than 1,000 entries and a prize pool just shy of $1 million. This time, the last three made a deal, with Eli Ross and Pedro Mendes each getting about $119K but Canada's Brian Wilson snagging $143,929 and the title.

Venetian bumped to number to an even $1 million for 2020 and they finally had a mild sweat with the turnout, but 1,093 entries still made for a prize pool of $1,060,210. Another deal ended play, with five players this time divvying up the remaining monies. Bob Whalen had the most chips by a fair amount, so he secured $140,152 while three European players (Grachia Minasian, George Brady, Thomas Lust) and one other American (Oluwashola Akindele) got between $85K and $100K.

MSPT Poker Bowl at Venetian Event History

Year	Event	Entries	Prize Pool	Winner (Prize)
2017	MSPT Poker Bowl	695	$681,100	Jordan Young ($117,381)*
2018	MSPT Poker Bowl II	827	$806,325	Kfir Nahum ($108,410)*
2019	MSPT Poker Bowl III	1,022	$996,450	Brian Wilson ($143,929)*
2020	MSPT Poker Bowl IV	1,093	$1,060,210	Bob Whalen ($140,152)*

*reflects final table deal

02-05-2021 17:20 UTC-7

Jones Doubles Up

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Level 7 : 300/600, 600 ante

Three players saw a flop. Aaron Massey bet 1,500 fro middle position and both small blind Bryant Miller and big blind Daniel Jones called. On the turn, Miller checked but Jones shoved all in for 12,600. Massey tanked for over a minute then folded. Miller thought a bit too but he called.

Miller:
Jones:

Jones had turned the straight, and his hand held on the river. Massey said he folded .

Player	Chips	Progress
Aaron Massey	33,300 -700	-700
Daniel Jones	33,000 15,200	15,200
Bryant Miller	8,000 -35,000	-35,000

02-05-2021 19:55 UTC-7

Carroll Eliminated in Nasty Cooler

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Level 10 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

James Carroll was pushing all in for around 100,000 and being snap-called when he arrived to the table. The board read , and Carroll, from the button, turned up for a boat. His opponent in the big blind, Brian Heeb, had for kings full, however.

"Sick," said Heeb with a shake of the head.

The dealer counted out Heeb's stack and it was about 108,000, barely covering Carroll. The champ of the last MSPT event here at Venetian has been sent packing.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Heeb	265,000
James Carroll	Busted

02-06-2021 00:33 UTC-7

Aaron Massey, Shin Among Top Stacks After Day 1b of MSPT Poker Bowl V

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Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

Another 15-level day of poker has ended at Mid-States Poker Tour Poker Bowl V, and while the prize pool didn't quite reach seven figures, there's still going to be a handsome sum to play for on Day 2 as 496 more entries combined with the 412 on Day 1a to make for 908 overall. That means the $350K has been left in the dust as the prize pool approaches $900K.

About 70 of the Day 1b entries punched tickets for Day 2, and it proved to be a fairly close and crowded bunch atop the counts. At least eight players bagged between 249,000 and 343,000, the latter count appearing to lead the group.

That number belonged to Trung Le, who scored a late bustout with ace-king over ace-six to edge past his competition.

Meanwhile, two of the more successful players in MSPT history ranked among those top stacks: Aaron Massey (295,500) and Mike Shin (268,500). Each has four final tables and a victory on the tour, with Shin also taking home Player of the Year honors in 2019.

Other notables bagging included Adam Hendrix, Joseph Hebert, Tim Reilly and Jordan Cristos, the latter having gotten under the skin of more than a few tablemates late in the day with his trademark lack of haste. Floor calls for a clock became commonplace by the night's end, but Cristos wouldn't be troubled into giving up his chips after securing a big stack early and riding it throughout the day.

Roughly 115 players will be back for Day 2, and the prize pool should be available early on in the day with the bubble expected to come up early given that only about 13% of the field remain. PokerNews will be on hand to bring live updates starting from 11 a.m. local time.