The Venetian

Another full day of action occurred during Day 1b the MSPT $1,000,000 GTD Main Event at the Venetian Resort with almost another 17 levels needed to hit the hard stop with 25:15 remaining at 4,000/8,000/8,000.

The second of three flights drew 215 runners and brought the two-day total thus far to 371 with one flight remaining.

Of those 215 entries, just 24 players remained when pens went to slips and it was Javier Zarco who found himself atop the counts an impressive 828,000, good enough for the overall stack thus far.

Following behind Zarco was Baurzhan Akimov who was able to put 610,000 in his bag while Joseph Reddick (499,000), two-time MSPT champ Greg Himmelbrand (493,000), and Eyal Revah (415,000) rounded out the top five stacks.

Much like Day 1a, the final level of the night saw an onslaught of casualties, with players such as Hannes Jeschka and Oliwer Sankiewicz among those to be eliminated before play concluded for the night with chips flying all across the remaining tables in the final level of play that led to a lot of players riding roller coasters with their stack sizes before becoming official for the evening.

Several other familiar players will also be joining the aforementioned five. MSPT champ Terry Fleischer (276,000), Dennis Stevermer (275,000), Spencer Champlin (182,000), and Patrick Truong (123,000), are just a few more of the players to add their names to the Day 2 roster along with the 18 to have already advanced from Day 1a.

Among those not as lucky at the felt included MSPT champ David Berger, WSOP bracelet winner Will Givens, Adam Hendrix, Vinny Pahuja, and MSPT champ Renmei Liu, with at least a few if not all of them likely to be seen back in action for the final flight.

The final starting flight for the Main Event is tomorrow starting at 11:10 a.m. local time.

Everyone who makes Day 2 will return on Wednesday, June 11^th at 11:00 a.m. and will play until seven players remain.

The final seven will then return to action on Thursday, June 12^th at 11:00 a.m. to play down to a winner which will be live streamed in the Venetian Poker Live streaming studio!

We will be back tomorrow for coverage of the Day 1c right here on MSPTPoker.com from the Venetian Las Vegas!

MSPT Season 16 Remaining Schedule

Brandon Mitchell raised all in for 59,000 from under the gun and two-time MSPT champ Greg Himmelbrand looked him up from the hijack.

Brandon Mitchell:
Greg Himmelbrand:

Mitchell didn’t like seeing Himmelbrand roll over a dominating ace as the flop gave them both a straight draw while flipping their outs.

Unfortunately for Mitchell, neither the turn nor the river improved his hand, ending his night on the bubble.

Greg Himmelbrand - 493,000
Brandon Mitchell - 0

Dennis Stevermer raised from middle position and then called Shiina Okamoto’s three-bet jam next to act.

Shiina Okamoto:
Dennis Stevermer:

It was a cooler situation for Okamoto as she rolled over the inferior made hand and the runout ended her night meaning, the hand-for-hand process has now begun with 25 players remaining.

Dennis Stevermer - 270,000
Shiina Okamoto - 0

Oscar Cansino raised the button and then called Joseph Cervo’s 42,000 three-bet jam from the big blind.

Joseph Cervo:
Oscar Cansino:

Cervo rolled over a dominating hand with not much changing after the flop hit the felt.

The turn came with a sweat as it brought possible chop outs, but the paired the board on the river and secured his double-up.

Oscar Cansino - 140,000
Joseph Cervo - 100,000

So far, just 18 players have punched their ticket into Day 2 and another group of 24 hopefuls will look to add their names to that list tonight.

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

The final seven will then return to action on Thursday, June 12^th at 11:00 a.m. to play down to a winner which will be live streamed in the Venetian Poker Live streaming studio!

There was three-way all in action preflop between two-time MSPT champ Greg Himmelbrand from under the gun, Hannes Jeschka from the button and Anze Smajd from the big blind, with Smajd holding 57,000 effective.

Anze Smajd:
Greg Himmelbrand:
Hannes Jeschka:

Himmelbrand was ahead holding a pair of ladies, and the flop came giving both him and Smajd’s flush draws.

While the turn kept Himmelbrand in the lead, the river completed the two flush draws, securing Smajd his triple-up while Himmelbrand collected a 164,000 double-up from Jeschka.

Jeschka was left with just 40,000 after the hand and was eliminated shortly after.

Greg Himmelbrand - 335,000
Anze Smajd - 165,000
Hannes Jeschka - 0

After notching his first-ever Main Event cash back in 2014, DJ Buckley has become one of the most consistent players on the tour, earning himself a record 73 Main Event cashes with 10 of them coming from this season alone.

With half a season still to go, Buckley will look to keep notching the cashes underneath his belt, as he will look to become the first player ever to earn 100 Main Event cashes and take his seat into the coveted MSPT Hall of Fame.

Season 16 Cashes

All-Time Main Event Cashes