Halpern Leads the Final 15 Survivors of Day 1a at the MSPT Venetian $1,100 Main Event
It was an action-packed Day 1a inside The Venetian poker room for the beginning of the MSPT $1,100 Main Event taking place over the Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas. A total of 130 entries were recorded for the first of two starting flights and when the dust settled, only 15 players advanced to Day 2.
There were multiple chip-lead changes taking place over the final few hands of the night but it was Rambo Halpern who came out on top by eliminating WSOP Main Event final tablist Asher Conniff to conclude play for Day 1a. Halpern, who hails from Portland, Oregon, rose to the top of the counts with a healthy stack of 453,000 chips. It's been a successful 2022 for Halpern who notched his largest career score of $200,000 earlier this year.
Joining Halpern near the top of the leaderboard is four-time MSPT champion Dan Bekavac who had a glimpse of the chip lead for moments before Halpern took it away. Bekavac fired off three bullets today but it all seemed worth it after finishing with 404,000 chips. Carlton Peake rounds out the top three with 357,000 chips after spending the better portion of the 12-hour day as the runaway leader.
Some other notables advancing to Day 2 include Jeff Platt (321,000), Christina Gollins (282,000), Jeff Fielder (197,000), and Joshua Reichard (151,000). They will be joined by those who make it through the final starting flight that kicks off tomorrow morning at 11:10 a.m. local time.
With just 130 entries being recorded for the opening day, the staff is expecting a large turnout for Day 1b tomorrow. The whopping $500,000 guaranteed prizepool looms large as another roughly 400 runners will be required to reach that guarantee. Late registration will remain open until the start of level 10 which is approximately 5:55 p.m local time.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the live updates as the action unfolds.
which gave Halpern a straight draw to go with his two live cards. He managed to spike one of those live cards on the 
turn. However, Conniff picked up a wealth of outs for himself. It was the 
on the river that was a complete brick and Conniff was eliminated.
and Halpern continued with a bet of 14,000. Nguyen shipped all in for around 45,000 which got Gianera to fold but Halpern quickly called.
on the turn did just that as Halpern made his full house and left Nguyen drawing dead to the 
on the river.
and Reichard continued with a bet of 7,000 which Sarubbi called.
and Reichard sized up with a bet of 22,500. Sarubbi deliberated before making the call and the 
face up into the middle and Reichard's 
and Peake was the first to throw in a bet of 6,500. His opponent on his left called and they went heads-up to the 
which was good enough to best his opponent's 
and McCullough check-called a bet of 9,000 from Bekavac. The 
for king-high. McCullough tabled 
fell on the turn.
for two pair but Platt had a better kicker with 
but found himself behind the 
on the turn gave Peake a bigger set, leaving Bekavac drawing to just one out. There was no king on the river and Bekavac was forced to re-enter in the second level.
