Venetian Casino Poker Tournaments
Live tournament poker has already returned to Las Vegas with several properties holding in-house events. Leading the way is the Venetian, which kicked off its latest DeepStack Extravaganza on October 26. The series will run through November 29 and offer more than $1.6 million in guarantees.
View current DeepStack Extravaganza December 10, 2020–January 10, 2021 results and tournament structures. In the Venetian's upcoming $225,000 Lucky Shot Poker Series & Drawing, scheduled for Oct. 21-27, there are seven poker events slated, highlighted by a $250 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament.
That includes a pair of premier mid-major Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) stops. Last weekend, Landon Ticetopped an 1,123-entry field to win the $1,100 buy-in, $200K GTD Main Event for $201,529. This weekend, they will follow that up with a $1,600 buy-in, $400K GTD Main Event from November 19-23.
Both tournaments, which will be live reported by PokerNews, are expected to be busy, meaning players will have a chance to pre-register for the tournament. All pre-registered stacks will be in play at 11:10 a.m. when the tournaments begin.
| Date | Buy-In | Tournament | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 13-15 | $1,100 | MSPT Venetian | $200,000 |
| November 19-23 | $1,600 | MSPT Venetian | $400,000 |
The $1,100 buy-in Main Event will start players with 25,000 in chips and play 40-minute levels. Day 1a will take place on Friday, November 13 with Day 1b on Saturday, November 14. Late registration will remain open until 6:25 p.m. both days. The surviving players from both flights will return at 11 a.m. on Sunday, November 15 to play down to a winner.
As for the $1,600 buy-in Main Event, that tournament will start players with 30,000 in chips and play 60-minute levels. There will also be three starting flights instead of two starting with Day 1a at 11:10 a.m. on Thursday, November 19. Days 1b and 1c will take place at the same time on Friday, November 20, and Saturday, November 21 respectively. Late registration will remain open until 1:15 p.m. on Day 2, which will play out on Sunday, November 22.
During the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza, players must wear a mask and sanitize their hands before sitting down. Action is 8-handed at tables featuring Plexiglass dividers, which are wiped down each time a new player comes in. Additionally, dealers are required to sanitize their hands each time they enter and exit a table, and fresh decks of cards are circulated every two hours.
.
MSPT Looks to Continue Momentum
Due to the pandemic, Season 11 of the MSPT was interrupted at the beginning of March. After a six-month hiatus, the tour returned August 28-30 at Grand Falls Casino, which is situated just outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The stop proved to be a tremendous hit asthe $1,100 buy-in, $100K GTD Main Event attracted 518 entries, well ahead of the venue’s previous record of 238 runners from 2015.
The MSPT is slated to return to Grand Falls on December 18-20 to close out the abbreviated season.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Venetian stops actually mark the second time the tour has visited the venue this year. Back at the end of January, the MSPT hosted the annual $1,100 buy-in, $1 million GTD Poker Bowl, a tournament that attracted 1,093 entries. The night before the Kansas City Chiefs dispatched the San Francisco 49ers to win Super Bowl LIV, Bob Whalen claimed $100,682 in prize money after a five-way deal was struck.
While there is a lot of excitement surrounding the upcoming MSPT events, the tour and venue are already looking ahead to Season 12 with a tentatively-scheduled MSPT Venetian stop on January 1-3, 2021.
Tags
Las Vegas PokerMSPTVenetianPoker Tournaments
Poker tours have been cautious to return to live tournament action. Poker itself was the last game to return to most land-based casinos, and most poker rooms offered cash games only. Considering capacity limitations and travel dangers amidst the coronavirus pandemic, few tours (and casinos) believed they could host safe and profitable tournaments.
The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) decided to give it a go. It was the first live tour operator in the United States to offer a large poker event since the pandemic ripped across the country and closed every casino and card room in mid-March.
Grand Falls Casino in Iowa set up one MSPT Main Event for August 28-30. Not only did the tournament succeed, it set a new record with a total of 518 entries for the $1,100 buy-in event. The resulting prize pool of $500,960 far surpassed the $150K guarantee.
The MSPT $1,100 Main Event final table is set here at @GFCasino with a record setting $107,706 up top!
Follow @PokerNews for live reporting and chip counts.#canyoufeelit#pokerisbackpic.twitter.com/ER30daCRee
— MSPT (@msptpoker) August 30, 2020
That success prompted the MSPT to take it to Las Vegas.
Series with Two MSPT Events
The Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip has become famous for its DeepStack Extravaganza Poker Series, which ran several times a year before the pandemic. Often in more recent times, the series brought in the MSPT to host its Main Event.
Venetian Las Vegas Poker Tournament
This time, the Venetian and MSPT were so confident that players wanted to compete that they set up two MSPT events in the 52-event series.
The first one was a $1,100 buy-in MSPT event with two starting days: Friday, November 13 and Saturday, November 14. They placed a $200K guarantee on the prize pool and put up an official MSPT trophy and coin for the winner.
The second was a $1,600 buy-in MSPT, this one with three starting days: Thursday, November 19 through Saturday, November 21. That tournament had a $400K guarantee, along with a trophy and gold coin for the last player standing.
PokerNews was on the spot to report live.
Main Event 1 for $1,100 Buy-In
The first starting day alone delivered 485 entries, already exceeding the $200K guarantee. The night ended with 62 players and Alan Findlay in the lead. Day 1B added another 638 entries for this result:
Total entries: 1,123
Total prize pool: $1,089,310
The $1,100 MSPT event @VenetianPoker attracted 1,123 runners creating a $1,089,310 prize pool!
128 will get paid, $201,529 up top! pic.twitter.com/eYawxtt8Ta
— MSPT (@msptpoker) November 15, 2020
Brian Heeb led the group of 84 players finishing that day and took the overall chip lead.
The 148 survivors returned to the tables for Day 2, though only the top 128 players were paid. As play moved forward, some of those payouts went to Jacqueline Burkhart, Ryan Hughes, Aaron Massey, Matt Stout, Brian Heeb for 51st place, and Alan Findlay for 36th place.
Ultimately, Mike Shin bubbled the final table and took home $14,706 for ninth place. Jesse Vilchez led the final table of eight players, followed by Abraham Hichman, Landon Tice, and Sara Stohler.
Andrew Rodgers had been one of the shortest stacks and was the first to bust, and David Larson followed. Landon Tice busted Byung Shin in seventh place and then catapulted into the chip lead. Tice then ousted Hichman in fifth place, though Brandon Lombardo soon doubled through Tice.
Soon after, Tice eliminated Stohler in fourth place and Vilchez in third, taking 21.1 million chips into heads-up play against the 7.35 million of Lombardo. The latter doubled and chipped up, eventually moving into the lead, but Tice took it back in a big double-up. Lombardo then pushed his last 2.4 million chips all in with 10-9, but Tice had Q-9 and won the tournament.
The kid comes out for his first live MTT in Vegas and wins it for $200k
God bless America @LandonTicepic.twitter.com/fTx86S6K8R
— Joey Ingram #passion (@Joeingram1) November 16, 2020
1st place: Landon Tice ($201,529)
2nd place: Brandon Lombardo ($135,074)
3rd place: Jesse Vilchez ($91,502)
4th place: Sara Stohler ($62,091)
5th place: Abraham Hichman ($40,304)
6th place: Byung Shin ($30,501)
7th place: David Larson ($22,876)
8th place: Andrew Rodgers ($17,429)
Main Event 2 for $1,600 Buy-In
Next up was the Main Event with a bigger buy-in. It delivered 252 entries on the first of three starting days. The second starting day brought another 492 entries into action. Day 1C put another 323 entries into the mix, but registration remained open into Day 2.
There were 326 returning players on Day 2, along with another 170 entries. That put the final numbers at:
Total entries: 1,239
Total prize pool: $1,771,770
DeepStack Extravaganza
Event #38 $1,600 NLH MSPT
$400K Guarantee
Final Numbers:
Players: 1,239
Prize Pool: $1,771,770
Payouts: 128
Min Cash: $3,189
1st Place: $327,773
Day 3 tomorrow @ 12:00 PM pic.twitter.com/UNmRUFR0m4
— Venetian Poker Room (@VenetianPoker) November 22, 2020
Obviously, the $400K guarantee far underestimated the interest in the event and players’ willingness to mask up, take their chances, and play some live tournaments.
Not long after the dinner break, Michael Rossitto departed and burst the money bubble, guaranteeing the final 128 players at least $3,189. Some of those who did cash included Shannon Shorr, Aaron Van Blarcum, Katie Lindsay, Ben Keeline, and Landon Tice in 68th place. Only 63 players made it through, and John Lytle was the chipleader.
Day 3 paid out players like Aaron Massey, David Moshe, and Ralph Massey. John Lytle exited in 17th place for $11,871. And ultimately, Daniel Kusnerak busted in ninth place for $23,919 on the final table bubble.
$1600 MSPT @VenetianPoker Final Table Redraw and Chip Counts https://t.co/4vnWq7l7Sj via @PokerNewspic.twitter.com/tYqWZO4k1j
— MSPT (@msptpoker) November 24, 2020
Salim Admon was the far-and-away chipleader when the final table began, and Korey Payne was in a distant second, followed by David Poces, Martin Zamani, Dale Eberle, Satoshi Tanaka, Jorden Helstern, and Randy Froelich.
Eberle doubled through Admon, but the latter then eliminated Eberle in eighth place. Froelich chipped up enough to bust Helstern, but Admon took most of those chips. Tanaka doubled through Payne and then busted Poces in sixth place. Payne climbed through Admon, while Zamani eliminated Tanaka in fifth and then Froelich in fourth. Zamani doubled through Admon to take the lead, but Payne doubled through Zamani. That left Zamani short and out in third place, courtesy of Payne.
Venetian Poker Deepstack
Payne took 31.5 million chips into heads-up play against Admon and his 5,575,000. The short stack doubled quickly, though, and then doubled again. But it wasn’t enough. Admon tried again with Q-9 on a K-Q-7-6 board, but Payne showed K-6. The river blanked and gave Payne the victory.
1st place: Korey Payne ($327,773)
2nd place: Salim Admon ($219,699)
3rd place: Martin Zamani ($148,829)
4th place: Randy Froelich ($100,991)
5th place: Satoshi Tanaka ($65,555)
Venetian Casino Poker Room
6th place: David Poces ($49,610)
7th place: Jorden Helstern ($37,207)
Venetian Daily Poker Tournament Schedule
8th place: Dale Eberle ($28,343)
Thank you to @msptpoker@VenetianPoker@PokerNews — the PDX poker community that accepted me this last year w/ it being my first yr playing full time — & everyone that sent me texts all weekend saying they knew I was going to win. So happy right now but we got more work to do pic.twitter.com/3786jDxcEb
— korey (@DGenerationAux) November 24, 2020