The Venetian

Day 1c of the inaugural MSPT $1,600 Heart Poker Championship at the Venetian Resort attracted more players than the first two flights combined adding another 628 entries, bringing the total field up to 1,051 entries.

At the end of the third and final flight, just 70 players bagged and tagged with Lukas Hafner bagging the top stack with a whopping 1,471,000, taking the overall chip lead into Day 2.

Another player to catch steam throughout the day was Ryan Rivers who ended the night an impressive 850,000 stack to put into his bag, and he will bring the second overall stack into Day 2.

Others to bag big included six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings (768,000), Timothy Pai (695,000), and Daniel Smiljkovic (664,000), as the rounded out the top five stacks of this flight.

They were joined by MSPT champ Noel Eicher (557,000), Frank Lagodich (480,000), Andrew Moreno (322,000), MSPT Hall of Famer Josh Reichard (290,000), and fellow Hall of Famer Aaron Massey (213,000).

Among those not as lucky at the felt included Lexy Gavin, Matt Affleck, Asher Conniff, WPT legend Eric Afriat, WSOP bracelet winner David Moses, and defending WSOP Main Event champ Jonathan Tamayo.

The surviving players from all three flights – of which there are 118 (5 from Day 1a, 43 from 1b, and 70 from 1c) – will return for Day 2 at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow 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!

MSPT Venetian Remaining Schedule

Congratulations to everyone who made Day 2, we will be back tomorrow for full coverage right here on MSPTPoker.com from the Venetian Las Vegas!

Only one hand was needed in the hand-for-hand process to hit the hard stop of 70 players meaning play has ended for the night.

So far, 48 players have punched their ticket into Day 2, and the final group of 70 hopefuls will look to add their names to that list tonight.

All who make it through until the end of play will return tomorrow, 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!

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!

Tetsuma Ishizu raised from the cutoff only to call Evan Benton’s 97,000 three-bet jam from the small blind.

Evan Benton:
Tetsuma Ishizu:

Benton rolled over the better hand and connected on the flop to take a commanding lead.

The then paired the board on the turn sealing the deal for Benton, and the river secured his double-up.

Evan Benton - 200,000
Tetsuma Ishizu - 145,000

There was all in action preflop between 2014 WSOP Main Event champ Martin Jacobson and his opponent from the hijack, with Jacobson’s 57,000 stack at risk.

Martin Jacobson:
Opponent:

Jacobson rolled over the better hand, but a king appeared in the window on the flop pairing his opponent.

The turn left Jacobson needing help from the river to stay alive and fortunately for him, the that fell was just the card he wanted to see as it kept his tournament rolling.

Martin Jacobson - 120,000

There was all in action preflop between Lukas Hafner from middle position and Alexandros Kolonais from the big blind, with Hafner holding 422,000 effective.

Lukas Hafner:
Alexandros Kolonais:

Hafner was ahead holding Big Slick and took a commanding lead after the flop paired his ace.

The dealer then turned the keeping things sweaty, but the completed the board on the river and secured Hafner his double.

Lukas Hafner - 860,000
Alexandros Kolonais - 300,000

There was three-way action between Paawan Bansal from the button, Timothy Pai from the small blind and Renat Bohdanov from the big blind with a board showing.

Pai checked his option to Bohdanov who moved his 42,000 stack into the middle, and only Bansal called.

Renat Bohdanov:
Paawan Bansal:

Bohdanov was ahead holding trip fives, and the turn secured his double-up.

Timothy Pai - 570,000
Paawan Bansal - 220,000
Renat Bohdanov - 200,000