The $1,100buy-in MSPT Venetian Main Event, the largest tournament in tour history with 3,273 entries, is down to the final 13 players, each guaranteed $28,868 in prize money. The man best positioned to make a run at the $440,029 first-place prize is Nadar Kakhmazov (pictured), who bagged up the chip lead with 8.66 million.
Others still in contention include 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event third-place finisher Jake Balsiger (6.775 million), Minnesota’s Max Havlish (1.75 million), and poker pros Joe Elpayaa (3.625 million), Day 1A chip leader Ludovic Riehl (2.85 million), Jewook Oh (1.46 million).
Final Two Tables
| 2 |
1 |
Ludovic Riehl |
- |
France |
2,850,000 |
| 2 |
2 |
Jewook Oh |
- |
New York, NY |
1,460,000 |
| 2 |
3 |
Max Havlish |
- |
Coon Rapids, MN |
1,750,000 |
| 2 |
4 |
EMPTY |
|
|
|
| 2 |
5 |
Stephen Malone |
- |
Dublin, Ireland |
3,400,000 |
| 2 |
6 |
EMPTY |
|
|
|
| 2 |
7 |
Sergio Cabrera |
- |
UK |
4,400,000 |
| 2 |
8 |
Brayden Gazlay |
- |
Scottsdale, AZ |
3,165,000 |
| 2 |
9 |
Nader Kakhmazov |
- |
Las Vegas, NV |
8,660,000 |
| 17 |
1 |
Jeffrey Kaplan |
- |
Braderton, FL |
2,310,000 |
| 17 |
2 |
EMPTY |
|
|
|
| 17 |
3 |
EMPTY |
|
|
|
| 17 |
4 |
Joseph Elpayaa |
- |
Forest Park, IL |
3,625,000 |
| 17 |
5 |
EMPTY |
|
|
|
| 17 |
6 |
Wen Zhang |
- |
Philadelphia, PA |
1,780,000 |
| 17 |
7 |
Maury Solano |
- |
El Paso, TX |
4,800,000 |
| 17 |
8 |
Jacob Balsiger |
- |
Tempe, AZ |
6,775,000 |
| 17 |
9 |
Chris O'Rourke |
- |
Tampa, FL |
4,065,000 |
Day 2 saw 404 players return to action, but with only 351 slated to get paid 53 would leave empty handed. They included MSPT Season 5 Ho-Chunk champ Jason Sell, Nadya Magnus, and Steve Trizis, just to name a few.
After Thai Ha ran Big Slick into aces to bust as the bubble boy, the in-the-money finishes came quick. Among those to claim a portion of the $3,207,540 prize pool were Frankie Flowers (18th - $24,057), last woman standing Heidi May (23rd – 16,038), WPT champ Taylor von Kriegenbergh (27th - $12,830), last MSPT champ standing Andy Rubinberg (37th - $8,981), inaugural MSPT Venetian winner Drake Bronk (50th - $8,019), Day 1B chip leader and MSPT FireKeepers champ Mike Shanahan (80th - $5,934), and 2001 WSOP Main Event champ Carlos Mortensen (263rd - $2,887).
The remaining 13 players will return at 11 a.m. local time on Friday to play to a winner. We’ll be bringing you all the action right here in the live blog, so be sure to join us then.