Chance Kornuth Leads 19 Players From Day 1a of the $1,100 MSPT Venetian Main Event
Day 1a has come to an end at the $1,100 MSPT Venetian Main Event at Venetian Las Vegas and Chance Kornuth is the chip leader after just over 14 levels of play. The first of two flights drew a total of 165 entries and the remaining 19 players will return on Thursday for the Day 2 finale.
Kornuth jumped into the event at the beginning of the day and chipped up early to set a pace throughout the evening before he finished with 744,000 and a commanding chip lead. He is followed on the leaderboard by Craig Mason in second with 430,000 and Kfir Nahum in third with 341,000. Spencer Champlin and Jesse Lonis round out the top five.
$1,100 MSPT Venetian Main Event Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chance Kornuth | 744,000 |
| 2 | Craig Mason | 430,000 |
| 3 | Kfir Nahum | 341,000 |
| 4 | Spencer Champlin | 286,000 |
| 5 | Jesse Lonis | 271,000 |
| 6 | Phuoc Nguyen | 260,000 |
| 7 | Ori Hasson | 256,000 |
| 8 | Michael Williams | 248,000 |
| 9 | Christina Gollins | 242,000 |
| 10 | Gianluca Pace | 181,000 |
Day 1a Action
Several notable players stopped by throughout the day to take their shot at the first of two MSPT tournaments on this week’s Venetian schedule. Among those that failed to bag for Day 2 include Dan Bekavac, Mike Hack, and Justin Barnum. Hack bowed out late after running his up stack early in the day, while Bekavac hit the rail in the levels after he joined the opening flight. Barnum is among those at the top of the Season 13 Player of the Year leaderboard, and he will have an opportunity to get back in tomorrow for another chance to pick up some points.
Mike Lang jumped into the action and made a run throughout the day but he did not bag for Day 2. Lang was a regular on the MSPT throughout the years, but he recently moved to Las Vegas and he has been making some noise on the local high roller scene. He has several final table finishes in 2022, and his most recent cashing finish on tour was at MSPT South Dakota in 2020.
Among those that bagged for Day 2 are Ori Hasson, Christina Gollins, and Gianluca Pace. Hasson is building on a year that already includes a WSOP bracelet from the Fall online series. Gollins is also looking for more 2022 success after a run to third place in the WSOP Ladies Event and Pace is in search of his second MSPT title of the year after a victory at MSPT Sycuan in January. Alex Foxen also made an appearance and ran deep into the flight but ultimately failed to qualify for the second day.
Play ended on Day 1a with 19:15 left in Level 15, with blinds at 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 ante. Action continues on Wednesday at 11:10 a.m. for Day 1b of the $1,100 Main Event. Surviving players from both flights will reconvene on Thursday at 11 a.m. to play down to a winner in the Day 2 finale. The $1,600 MSPT Main Event also kicks off on Thursday at 11:10 a.m. The second event of the week features three opening flights with Day 2 on Sunday.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team all week long for updates live from the floor of the Mid-States Poker Tour stop at Venetian Las Vegas.
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. Truong checked once more and went into the tank when Foxen bet 24,500. After a few moments of thought, Truong put out the chips to call and Foxen showed 
for eights full of aces. Truong tossed the losing hand in the muck.
and Truong held on with pocket queens to send Barnum to the rail.
and Lonis held on with pocket queens to secure the elimination.
and both players checked. The turn was 
.
couldn't catch up to 
and Hack shoved the rest of his stack. His opponent folded quickly and Hack dragged the big pot without a showdown. 
