$

Awarded to date

The Venetian

June 25 - 30, 2018
Main Event: 1096 Entrants
Winner: Pavel Plesuv
recap_icon

EVENT RECAP

The $3,500 buy-in, $3.5 million GTD Main Event marked the fifth and final collaboration between the MSPT and Venetian during the 2018 Deepstacks Championship Poker Series. The tournament attracted 1,096 entries and spanned four days.

In the end, the Czech Republic’s Pavel Plesuv put on an impressive final table performance to win the title outright for $640,062, which marked the richest first-place prize ever awarded on tour.

“I feel awesome. It was a great tournament, big field, and I’ve been running pretty well,” said the 29-year-old poker pro, who splits his time playing live and online. “The trophy is always nice. I lost heads-up to Isildur at the start of the year. I was close to winning with a big chip lead, but I lost that one. So, winning this one feels pretty good.”

The win brought Plesuv’s live earnings up to $3,112,334 and marked the second-largest score of his career. Back in February, he finished runner-up to Viktor “Isildur1” Blom for $924,841 after busting in one of the more memorable hands of the year.

“I’m going to take a couple days to rest and see the Grand Canyon before playing the World Series of Poker Main Event,” added Plesuv, who was playing in Vegas for just the second time.

The final table was one for the ages and players came out firing and never let up. On just Hand #6, Justin Bonomo four-bet jammed holding the J♠J♥ and Karim Rebei called with the A♦K♥. The board ran out 4♦5♥2♣K♣7♠ and just like that the man who has destroyed 2018 with more than $14 million in winnings was sent out the door in 10th place.

Rebei took the chip lead after that hand and soon established himself as a wildcard at the table. He attempted to run a big bluff against Plesuv, who was second in chips at the time, and taunted his opponent with table talk while doing it. Despite straight and flush cards on board, Plesuv found a call with trip nines to take a commanding chip lead.

“When I hit trips on the turn, I had the queen of clubs and there were three clubs on the flop,” Plesuv said of the hand. “He raised my bet on the flop so he’s representing pocket jacks or some flush. With the queen of clubs I block a lot of flush combinations and some combinations of ace-nine and pocket nines. The way he was speaking so loudly I thought I couldn’t fold. It was obviously big pressure on me because I had a lot of chips. If I lose this pot I’m eight handed with small chips, but with this hand I decided I should go with it.”

Mohammed Jaafar then exited in ninth after losing A♣9♦ to Christian Rudolph’s J♦J♣ on a 6♠J♥9♣A♥8♥ runout, and then Michael Sklenicka followed him out the door in eighth place when his A♦10♣ failed to overcome Rebei’s J♣J♦.

Thomas Boivin, who in 2016 won the MSPT Venetian for $352,153, was next to go after shoving the small blind with the A♣9♣ only to have Yat Chang wake up with the A♥Q♣ in the big. The board ran out 10♥2♥4♥8♦J♦ and Boivin was ousted in seventh place for $98,202.

It was at that point Rebei and Plesuv would clash again. With the blinds at 60,000/120,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante, Rebei raised to 325,000 from the hijack holding the 6♦6♥ and then called when Plesuv, who looked down at the A♣A♠ in the big blind, three-bet to 1 million. The A♥6♣2♠ flop gave both players a set and Plesuv check-called a bet of 1 million from Rebei, who teased his opponent by clucking like a chicken.

Plesuv checked for the second time on the J♣ turn and Rebei moved all in for 2.2 million. Plesuv called and sent his nemesis to the rail after the 4♣ bricked the river. Plesuv extended his lead after that hand and would never let up.

“I didn’t expect him to have such a strong hand like a set of sixes,” said Plesuv. “I thought maybe he had an ace, so it was a brutal cooler for him.”

Rudolph would exit in fifth place – the result of his pocket fours losing a race to Cheng’s ace- queen – and Joni Jouhkimainen was bounced in fourth place running king-queen into Cheng’s ace-queen. Plesuv then dispatched World Poker Tour champ James Romero in third place when the former’s ace-eight suited held against the latter’s king-queen.

Plesuv held 17 million in chips to Cheng’s 10 million at the start of heads-up play. The two took turns exchanging pots before a cooler hand developed. Plesuv would wind up five-bet jamming with the Q♣Q♦ and Cheng called off holding the A♦K♥. The board ran out 10♠Q♠7♥6♦Q♥ and Plesuv took it down with quads!

Coincidentally, it was the third time in a row the winner of the Venetian’s $3,500 event claimed the title with pocket queens. Javier Zarco did it in 2017 and Andjelko Andrejevic the year before that.

Others to cash the tournament were Nick Petrangelo (13th - $38,579), Harrison Gimbel (21st - $28,408), Thomas Peebles (27th - $19,991), Joe McKeehen (42nd - $11,574), Martin Jacobson (63rd - $9,469), and reigning World Series of Poker Main Event champ Scott Blumstein (71st - $9,119).

result

The RESULTS

Rank
Player Name
City
State
Amount
Points
1
Prague 
 
$640,062
1,900
2
NC 
$392,806
1,700
3
OR 
$291,448
1,600
4
 
$221,304
1,500
5
DEU 
 
$164,838
1,400
6
 
 
$126,259
1,300
7
 
$98,202
1,200
8
Slani 
 
$77,158
1,100
9
Miami 
FL 
$63,130
1,000
10
NV 
$49,101
900
11
 
$49,101
900
12
Mumbai 
 
$49,101
900
13
MA 
$38,579
800
14
 
$38,579
800
15
NY 
$38,579
800
16
FL 
$34,371
700
17
Tracy 
CA 
$34,371
700
18
WI 
$34,371
700
19
NY 
$28,408
600
20
 
$28,408
600
21
FL 
$28,408
600
22
Katy 
TX 
$23,849
550
23
 
 
$23,849
550
24
CA 
$23,849
550
25
MO 
$19,991
500
26
 
 
$19,991
500
27
WI 
$19,991
500
28
Smyrna 
TN 
$15,081
450
29
 
$15,081
450
30
NV 
$15,081
450
31
FL 
$15,081
450
32
Baku 
 
$15,081
450
33
 
 
$15,081
450
34
 
 
$15,081
450
35
Moscow 
 
$15,081
450
36
CA 
$15,081
450
37
FL 
$11,574
400
38
Moscow 
 
$11,574
400
39
Israel 
 
$11,574
400
40
Graz 
 
$11,574
400
41
 
$11,574
400
42
PA 
$11,574
400
43
Osijek 
 
$11,574
400
44
MI 
$11,574
400
45
Paris 
 
$11,574
400
46
CA 
$10,522
350
47
NV 
$10,522
350
48
Miami 
FL 
$10,522
350
49
London 
 
$10,522
350
50
NJ 
$10,522
350
51
Bend 
OR 
$10,522
350
52
NY 
$10,522
350
53
PA 
$10,522
350
54
PA 
$10,522
350
55
 
 
$9,469
300
56
CA 
$9,469
300
57
Kiev 
 
$9,469
300
58
 
 
$9,469
300
59
 
$9,469
300
61
London 
 
$9,469
300
62
York 
 
$9,469
300
63
 
 
$9,469
300
64
Perth 
 
$9,119
250
65
Estero 
FL 
$9,119
250
66
 
 
$9,119
250
67
Aiea 
HI 
$9,119
250
68
 
$9,119
250
69
 
$9,119
250
70
NY 
$9,119
250
71
NV 
$9,119
250
72
Pernik 
 
$9,119
250
73
IL 
$8,768
200
74
London 
 
$8,768
200
75
 
 
$8,768
200
76
NV 
$8,768
200
77
Diel 
 
$8,768
200
78
 
 
$8,768
200
79
CA 
$8,768
200
80
NV 
$8,768
200
81
Italy 
 
$8,768
200
82
IL 
$8,417
150
83
 
 
$8,417
150
84
 
 
$8,417
150
85
London 
 
$8,417
150
86
OH 
$8,417
150
87
 
$8,417
150
88
 
 
$8,417
150
89
NY 
$8,417
150
90
CA 
$8,417
150
91
Tampa 
FL 
$7,716
100
92
NY 
$7,716
100
93
NV 
$7,716
100
94
FL 
$7,716
100
95
WA 
$7,716
100
96
Sussex 
NJ 
$7,716
100
97
 
$7,716
100
98
CA 
$7,716
100
99
London 
 
$7,716
100
100
DE 
$7,014
75
101
 
$7,014
75
102
Baku 
 
$7,014
75
103
PA 
$7,014
75
104
Queens 
NY 
$7,014
75
105
FL 
$7,014
75
106
TX 
$7,014
75
107
NY 
$7,014
75
108
Athens 
 
$7,014
75
109
 
$6,664
50
110
NY 
$6,664
50
111
 
$6,664
50
112
 
$6,664
50
113
CA 
$6,664
50
114
 
 
$6,664
50
115
NV 
$6,664
50
116
 
 
$6,664
50
117
KY 
$6,664
50