The Venetian

Day 1a of the first-ever MSPT $1,600 Heart Poker Championship at the Venetian Resort is officially in the books with 40 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.

Only 14 levels were needed to hit 11% of the field as the hard stop was reached with 23:23 remaining at 2,000/4,000/4,000 with Nicholas Albin able to put almost half of the chips in play into his bag to end the night as his 535,000 stack was good enough to lead the five advancing players by a wide margin.

Sitting behind Albin was Valeriy Pak who was able to maneuver his way to a 288,000 stack while David Stefanski (211,000), Dale Roesel (120,000), and Jake Bazeley (52,000) were the only others to advance from the flight.

Among those to fire and fall in Wednesday’s starting flight included Jake Long, Ran Ilani, WSOP winner Darren Rabinowitz, Michael Vela, and Stephen Dauphinais 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, June 6^th.

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, June 7^th, and will play until seven players remain.

The final seven will then return to action on Sunday, June 8^th at 11:00 a.m. to play down to a winner which will be live streamed in the Venetian Poker Live streaming studio!

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

MSPT Venetian Remaining Schedule

Make sure to be a part of history at The Venetian Poker Room as the first-ever MAJOR Champion will be crowned LIVE in the Venetian Poker Live streaming studio, produced and distributed by PokerGO!

After the elimination of Shai Zurr, the hard stop of five players had been reached as Day 1a has ended with 23:23 remaining in Level 14.

Chad Lipton raised to 8,000 from the cutoff and David Stefanski defended his big blind to see a flop.

Action went check-check, and the fell on the turn.

Stefanski then led out with a 13,000 bet and Lipton called to see the complete the board on the river.

A final 23,000 bet was then place in the middle from Stefanski and he was met with a quick call from Lipton.

Stefanski quickly showed and it was good as Lipton tossed his inferior made hand into the muck giving him the pot.

Lipton was then left with just 10,000 after the hand and was eliminated shortly after leaving six players remaining.

David Stefanski - 240,000
Chad Lipton - 0

After an initial 7,000 raise, David Stefanski fired out a 18,000 three-net from the button and only Patrick White called from the small blind.

Once the flop hit the felt, White moved his remaining 78,000 stack in the middle and was met with a call from Stefanski.

Patrick White:
David Stefanski:

Stefanski made the correct call as he was ahead holding top pair, and faded the turn along with the river to eliminate White from the Day 1a field.

David Stefanski - 220,000
Patrick White - 0

Dale Roesel raised all in for 77,000 from middle position and David Stefanski went over the top from the small blind giving him isolation.

Dale Roesel:
David Stefanski:

Once the flop fell, Roesel found a pretty lady to improve to a set to take a commanding lead.

The turn kept things interesting per usuals, but the paired the board on the river improving Roesel to a full house and secured his double-up.

Dale Roesel - 160,000
David Stefanski - 100,000

Jake Bazeley opened under the gun for 5,000 and action folded to Mateusz Moolhuizen who defended his big blind to see a flop.

Moolhuizen check-raised to 9,000 after Bazeley tossed out a 4,000 continuation bet, and Bazeley called back with a 27,500 three-bet jam.

Jake Bazeley:
Mateusz Moolhuizen:

Bazeley was ahead holding top pair with the better spade draw, and the turn gave him a commanding lead as he just needed to fade the five of spades on the river to stay alive.

Fortunately for him, the completed the board on the river and secured his double-up.

Jake Bazeley - 60,000
Mateusz Moolhuizen - 2,500