Before the start of play today, a special freeroll was held for invited members of the media. The MSPT Media Freeroll featured an $1,100 Main Event seat for the winner, while The Venetian Poker Room juiced the “prize pool” by giving each participant a $10 food comp.

Among the 25 members of the media to take part were Backdoor Quads founder Will Shilliber, poker media veteran Marty Derbyshire, CardsChat’s Jon Sofen, and PokerNews’ Mo Nuwwarah.

Another participant was poker commentator Joe “Stapes” Stapleton, who earned the distinction of being the first player knocked out of turbo tournament. Stapleton, who had been crippled after losing with to , got his last 275 all in from the hijack and both blinds called him. They proceeded to check it down as the board ran out , and Sheryl Dowland tabled the , which bested the of Stapes, who earned a bonus $10 food comp for being the first one out.

Not long after, poker radio show host Mark Hoke followed him out the door when his was cracked by Zen Poker Mentoring’s Arthur “Ace” MacFarland, who held the and rivered a bullet after the board ran out .

MacFarland continued to build a stack, and eventually found himself among the final three with CardPlayer’s Julio Rodriguez and poker media veteran and player Bernard Lee. With the blinds at 400/800/100, MacFarland shoved for 12,200 from the small blind holding the and Lee called from the big with the . MacFarland survived the flop, but the turn gave Lee a ton of outs. Fortunately for MacFarland, the river was safe and he shipped the double. Lee bowed out in third place a short time later.

MacFarland began heads-up play with a slight lead over Rodriguez, but the two battled hard. Then, in the biggest hand of the tournament, Rodriguez limped the button and then called off for 22,600 when MacFarland jammed.

Rodriguez:

MacFarland:

“Flipping for the whole thing,” said Rodriguez, who promptly ended the suspense by spiking quads on the flop. Neither the turn nor river had a bearing on the hand and Rodriguez doubled into the massive chip lead.

MacFarland held on for a bit, but with the blinds up to 1,000/2,000/300, he shoved his last 6,000 from the button with the only to run into the . Rodriguez shipped the Main Event seat after the board ran out , while MacFarland left empty handed.

Congratulations to Julio Rodriguez, winner of the 2016 MSPT Venetian Media Freeroll!