The Venetian

Day 1a of the MSPT $1,100 Main Event at the Venetian Resort is officially in the books with 97 total entries tallied and the talented field that entered came to play as action at the tables proved to be eventful from start to finish.

Almost a full 16 levels were needed to reach 11% of the field with WSOP bracelet winner Michael Liang (736,000) holding on to the top stack to bag the chip lead after the first flight.

Liang started building a stack early on in the day and finished the night with the final elimination to lead the 11 surviving players by a wide margin.

Finishing the night in second place was fellow bracelet winner Francis Anderson who found a late-night double to take 365,000 into Day 2.

Fellow bracelet winner Giuseppe Pantaleo finished the night third in chips with 230,000 while Russ Head (193,000), and Thai Dinh (180,000), rounded out the top five stacks of the night.

Others who found a Day 2 berth included six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (171,000), poker vlogger Jaman Burton (171,000), Spencer Champlin (137,000), Lily Lotfy (129,000), Andrew Rodgers (74,000), and Hal Kilgore (42,000).

Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to make it through the night.

Among those to fire and fall in Thursday’s starting flight were WSOP bracelet winner's Mitchell Halverson, Shannon Shorr, and Anthon Zinno, along with MSPT Champion's Jeff Platt, Landon Tice, Eric Baldwin, and James Romero were just a few who took their shot at a bag on Day 1a only to come up short.

All who have yet to advance will have two more starting flights to jump back in the action.

Day 1b will get underway at 11:10 a.m. on Friday while Day 1c will take place at the same time on Saturday. Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 9 (approximately 5:55 p.m.) for both flights.

The surviving players from each flight will then return at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday to play down to a winner.

Join us tomorrow as we continue to bring you all the action and eliminations straight from the tournament floor!

MSPT Venetian Remaining Schedule

Action on the table folded to WSOP bracelet winner Michael Liang who raised all in from the small blind and Robert Natividad called off his shorter stack from the big blind.

Robert Natividad:
Michael Liang:

“Lets see some tens”, short stack tablemate Hal Kilgore said just before the dealer dropped a flop giving Laing a full house.

The turn wasn’t a card Natividad wanted to see as it left him drawing dead to the river, making him the final elimination of the night.

Michael Liang - 736,000
Robert Natividad - 0

For the final time this season, the MSPT is headed to Riverside Casino in Riverside, IA from October 31st - November 3rd!

A series of $70 and $265 satellites will feed into the $1,110 buy-in MSPT265 Main Event, which requires players be 21+ to play.

The tournament, which boasts a $300K GTD, will offer three starting flights with Day 1a beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 31st.

Day 1b will take place at the same time on Friday, November 1st, while Day 1c will follow suit at the same time on Saturday, November 2nd with a.

The surviving players from all starting flights will return at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 3rd, to play down to a winner.

Also, starting on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. will be a series of satellites awarding 2 total seats into the $10,400 WPT World Championship being held in December!

Also, on that Sunday, there will be a $200 NLH Ultimate Stack Event beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Action on the table folded to Lily Lotfy who raised all in from the small blind and Hal Kilgore called off his 12,000 stack from the big blind.

Hal Kilgore:
Lily Lotfy:

Kilgore was ahead holding a suited ace but had a sweat after the flop gave Lotfy straight and flush draws.

Luckily for Kilgore, neither the turn nor the river improved Lotfy’s hand, keeping his Main Event hopes alive.

Lily Lotfy - 143,000
Hal Kilgore - 33,000

Andrew Rodgers opened under the gun for 11,000 only to have WSOP bracelet winner Francis Anderson three-bet to 30,000 from the cutoff, and fellow bracelet winner Giuseppe Pantaleo for-bet jam for 43,000 from the big blind.

Only Anderson called, and the two players tabled their hands.

Giuseppe Pantaleo:
Francis Anderson:

Pantaleo rolled over a made hand of kings and they held strong as the runout secured his double-up.

Francis Anderson - 318,000
Andrew Rodgers - 145,000
Giuseppe Pantaleo - 103,000

With the elimination of Myles Mullaly, the hand-for-hand process has now started with 12 players remaining.

Action folded around to six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus who raised to 90,000 from the small blind and Lily Lotfy called off her 67,000 stack from the big blind.

Lily Lotfy:
Jeremy Ausmus:

Lotfy was ahead holding an ace until a king appeared in the window on the flop pairing Ausmus.

Luckily for Lotfy, the dealer quickly turned the putting her back in the, and then followed with the on the river to secure her double-up.

Jeremy Ausmus - 160,000
Lily Lotfy - 143,000

Action on the table folded to Robert Natividad who raised all in from the small blind and Kevin Theodore called off his 16,000 stack from the big blind.

Kevin Theodore:
Robert Natividad:

Theodore was ahead holding a king and that was all he needed as the runout secured his double-up.

Unfortunately for him, he was eliminated the very next hand while Jewook Oh departed shortly after on the other table, leaving 13 players remaining.

Robert Natividad - 227,000
Kevin Theodore - 0
Jewook Oh - 0

Jaman Burton opened under the gun for 9,000 only to have Robert Natividad three-bet all in from the button.

Action folded to MSPT champ James Romero who thought long and hard before calling off his 95,000 stack from the big blind prompting a quick fold from Burton.

James Romero:
Robert Natividad:

It was a classic race with the flop keeping Romero out in front.

The turn, however, fell the giving Natividad top pair to take the lead but it also gave Romero a heart flush draw giving him some hope heading to the river.

Unfortunately for the former champ, the river was a brick and ended his night.

Robert Natividad - 260,000
James Romero - 0