The Venetian

Day 1a of the MSPT Season 16 $1,600 Poker Bowl IX at the Venetian Resort is officially in the books with 166 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.

Over 15 levels were needed to reach 11% of the field as the hard stop was reached with 30:00 remaining in Level 16 (3,00/6,000/6,000) Loyal Sprague (609,000) able to edge out MSPT champ Dan Sepiol (608,000) for the top stack this flight.

Sprague was seen building a healthy stack throughout the day while Sepiol went on a late-night heater to sit right on his tail. MSPT Hall of Famer Aaron Massey ended the night just under 600k bagging 590,000 while WSOP bracelet winner Joseph Cheong (379,000), and Cody Wiegmann (379,000) rounded out the top five stacks of the night.

Others who found a Day 2 berth included five-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson (285,000), fellow bracelet winner Nick Seward (203,000), Michael Rossitto (164,000), two-time bracelet winner Joao Simao (158,000), and Jessica Vierling (151,000).

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

Among those to fire and fall in Wednesday’s starting flight included MSPT champ Jeff Platt, Thai Dinh, two-time bracelet winner John Riordan, Rommel Liscano, along with WSOP bracelet winner Darren Rabinowitz and MSPT champ Landon Tice 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 Thursday while Day 1c will take place at the same time on Friday.

Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 9 (approximately 5:55 p.m.) for both flights.

The surviving players from the three starting flights will then return for Day 2 at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 8th, and will play until seven players remain.

The final seven will then have a day's rest to enjoy Superbowl Sunday and will return to action on Monday, February 10th at Noon, to play down to a winner which will be live streamed in the brand-new streaming studio!

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

MSPT Venetian Season 16 Poker Bowl Remaining Schedule

Make sure to be a part of history at The Venetian Poker Room as they will unveil their brand-new streaming studio produced and distributed by PokerGO!

Action on the table folded to Jessica Vierling who raised to 23,000 from the small blind and Daniel Baldev called off his 15,000 stack from the big blind.

Daniel Baldev:
Jessica Vierling:

Vierling woke-up with a premium hand of ladies in the small blind and Baldev was unable to crack them as the runout eliminated him on the bubble.

Jessica Vierling - 151,000
Daniel Baldev - 0

For the first time this season, the MSPT is headed to Riverside Casino in Riverside, IA from March 25th - 30th! Scheduled

A $250 NLH Monster Stack will kick off the five-trophy event series on Tuesday, March 25th at 11:00 a.m. followed by the $200 NLH Epic Stack on Wednesday, March 26th starting at 11:00 a.m.

A series of $70 and $265 satellites will then feed into the $1,110 buy-in 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, March 27th.

Day 1b will take place at the same time on Friday, March 28th, with Day 1c following suit on Saturday, March 29th.

The surviving players from all starting flights will return at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 30th, to play down to a winner.

Also, on that Sunday, there will be a $360 NLH Monster Stack Event beginning at Noon.

Michael Rossitto was all in preflop for 59,000 from the button and WSOP bracelet winner Joseph Cheong looked him up from the big blind.

Michael Rossitto:
Joseph Cheong:

Rossitto was ahead holding a suited ace and connected with the flop.

The turn did come with a sweat as it gave Cheong the nut flush draw, but the completed the board on the river and secured Rossitto his much-needed double.

Joseph Cheong - 460,000
Michael Rossitto - 125,000

Action on the table folded to Marat Zinnatullin who limped in from the small blind only to call a 15,000 raise Stanley Weng made from the big blind.

The two went heads-up to a flop and action was checked to the turn.

Zinnatullin then check-jammed for 83,000 after Weng made a 30,000 bet and was called.

Marat Zinnatullin:
Stanley Weng:

Zinnatullin was behind needing help, and found it after the river improved him to trip jacks to secure his double-up.

Marat Zinnatullin - 200,000
Stanley Weng - 9,000

Action on the table folded to Jessica Vierling who raised all in from the small blind and Landon Brown called off his shorter stack from the big blind.

Landon Brown:
Jessica Vierling:

The flop came pairing both players while keeping Brown in the lead with a pair of queens.

Unfortunately for Brown, the dealer would follow with running diamonds on the turn and river, giving Vierling a flush to send him packing.

Jessica Vierling - 168,000
Landon Brown - 0

Lily Lotfy raised under the gun only to call two-time bracelet winner Joao Simao’s 52,000 three-bet jam from the cutoff.

Joao Simao:
Lily Lotfy:

Simao was ahead holding a made hand of fours until a king appeared in the window on the flop which also gave Lotfy a king-high flush draw.

Fortunately for Simao, the dealer quickly turned the improving him to a set to take the lead, and then followed with the on the river to secure his double-up.

Lily Lotfy - 165,000
Joao Simao - 110,000