The Venetian

Mukul Pahuja Headlines Final 22; Defending Champ Angelina Rich Falls in 27th Place & More

Day 2 of the Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian Main Event saw the final 354 players from the 2,887-entry field (499 entries on Day 1a; 968 Day 1b; and 1,420 Day 1c) return to play through the money onward to the final 22. When play came to a halt, Matthew Herrera, who was also the Day 1c chip leader, bagged the biggest stack with 3.95 million.

Others still in contention include Long Tran (3.905 million), James Akenhead (1.99 million), TJ Thondup (1.665 million), Mukul Pahuja (1.445 million), Reginald Shawn Roberts (1.005 million), and Dan "DQ" Hendrickson (1.020 million), the last Minnesotan and MSPT champ standing.

Hendrickson, who was so nicknamed because of his Dairy Queen franchises, topped a field of 430 runners to win the 2015 MSPT Canterbury Park Main Event for $106,182. He knows what it takes to win a MSPT title, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if that experience helps him.

Meanwhile, Pahuja (pictured above) would be considered by most to be the headliner among the final 22. The younger brother of poker pro Vinny Pahuja is the WPT Season XII Player of the Year, which he earned after cashing five times, making three final tables, and battling for a WPT title on two different occasions. Pahuja became just the third WPT Player of the Year to achieve that feat without winning a title in the same season, while his 3,450 POY points were a record under the current scoring system. Oh, and those three final tables, they tie him with the likes of Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey for most in a season.

As if all that isn't impressive enough, in December 2014, Pahuja capped off a great year by topping a field of 460 entries to win the WSOP Circuit Harrah's Atlantic City for $148,345. Then, in February of this year, Pahuja topped a field of 613 runners to win the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Palm Beach Kennel Club for $193,095, which gave him his third ring overall and second Main Event title. Tomorrow we'll see if he can add a victory in the largest MSPT in history to his poker résumé.

For much of the day, all eyes were on Angelina Rich, the defending champ. Rich topped a field of 1,964 entrants to win this very event for $215,815 while becoming the first woman in history to win a MSPT title. Despite starting with a short stack on Day 2, Rich made a run at defending her title in an even bigger field of 2,887 entrants.

Just minutes after her boyfriend Alex Lynskey exited in 29^th place, Rich followed him out the door in 27^th at the hands of Michael Rudolph.

It happened in the last level of the night with the blinds at 20,000/40,000/5,000 when Rudolph opened for 90,000 and Rich shoved for right around 800,000. Rudolph called with Big Slick, and Rich was in dire straits with her king-queen. The board ran out clean and Rich, the last woman in the field, had to settle for 27th place and $13,863.

Among those to cash on Day 2 were reigning MSPT Player of the Year Mark Hodge (293^rd - $2,546), 2001 WSOP Main Event champ Carlos Mortensen (242^nd - $2,688), Venetian Ambassador Annette Obrestad (197^th - $3,112), European footballer Jimmy Kebe (113^th - $3,961), MSPT Potawatomi champ and current Season 7 POY leader Travis Lauson (101^st - $3,961), and MSPT Meskwaki champ Keith Heine (97^th - $4,385).

Among those to make even deeper runs were Erwan Pecheux (82^nd - $4,385), Rick Syverud (53^rd - $6,507), MSPT Running Aces champ Mark Sandness (38^th - $7,639), Derek Wolters (35^th - $9,902), WSOP bracelet winner Jared Hamby (32^nd - $9,902), and Marc MacDonnell (25^th - $13,863).

The remaining 22 players are each guaranteed a $16,976 payday, but all of them have their eyes on the $403,178 that awaits the winner. They will return at 11 a.m. local time on Friday to play down to a winner, and while there will not be a live stream, we will be there every step of the way to bring you live updates straight from the tournament floor.

Day 3 Seat Draw

DAY 3 Seating Assignment The Venetian Poker Room
22/2,887 remain
CARDS IN THE AIR AT 11:00am

Guaranteed $16,976 with $403k up top
‪#‎canyoufeelit‬

49 1 Reginald Roberts - Springfield, MO 1,005,000
49 2 James Casement - Aurora, IL 3,185,000
49 3 Edward Lewis - Brentwood, CA 3,810,000
49 4 Long Tran - Stoughton, MA 3,905,000
49 5 David Patterson - Wilmington, NC 2,715,000
49 6 Klein Bach - Las Vegas, NV 945,000
49 7 Tizzy Brown - Seattle, WA 1,295,000

50 1 Delmiro Toledo - Visalia, CA 1,670,000
50 2 Dan Hendrickson - Faribault, MN 1,020,000
50 3 Chris Roth - Milwaukee, WI 245,000
50 4 Jake Nguyen - Denver, CO 810,000
50 5 Michael Rudolph - Austin, TX 2,200,000
50 6 James Mangararo - Las Vegas, NV 1,560,000
50 7 Taylor Wilson - Wheeling, WV 905,000
50 8 James Akenhead - UK 1,990,000

51 1 Will Mietz - Black Hawk, CO 2,135,000
51 2 Thomas Bolvin - Belgium 2,570,000
51 3 Mukul Pahuja - Coconut Creek, FL 1,445,000
51 4 Rory Lucero - Louisville, CO 2,540,000
51 5 Kevin Johnson - Raritan, NJ 2,230,000
51 6 Matthew Herrera - San Diego, CA 3,950,000
51 7 TJ Thondup - Santa Fe, NM 1,665,000

Day 2 Coming to a Close

Players are finishing out their last hands and will be bagging and tagging shortly. Stay tuned for the seat draw with chip counts, as well as a recap of the Day 2 action.

Defending Champ Angelina Rich Falls in 27th Place

Last year, 25-year-old Angelina Rich topped a field of 1,964 entrants to win this very event for $215,815 while becoming the first woman in history to win a MSPT title. Despite starting with a short stack today, Rich made a run at defending her title in an even bigger field of 2,887 entrants. Unfortunately any hopes of going back-to-back just came to an end at the hands of Michael Rudolph.

It happened when Rudolph opened for 90,000 and Rich shoved for right around 800,000. Rudolph called with , and Rich was in dire straits with her . The board ran out clean and Rich, the last woman in the field, had to settle for 27th place and $13,863.

Angelina Rich - Busted in 27th Place

Alex Lynskey Eliminated By Long Tran

Alex Lynskey raised under the gun and action folded to Long Tran in the big blind, who opted to three-bet. Lynskey called and the flop came down . Tran led out for 350,000, Lynksey, who had begun the hand with 1.5 million, moved all in, and Tran made the call.

Tran:

Lynskey:

Lynskey held both straight and flush draws, which he needed to hit when a turn gave Tran trips. Unfortunately for Lynskey, who at the beginning of the year finished fourth in the 2016 Aussie Millions Main Event for $331,530, the river was a blank and he was ousted in 29th place.

Lynskey is the boyfriend of the defending champ Angelina Rich, who is still in the field.

Long Tran - 4.1 million

Alex Lynskey - Busted in 29th place

WSOP Bracelet Winner Jared Hamby DQ'ed

Action folded to Jared Hamby, who you may recall won a gold bracelet in the 2013 WSOP Event #40: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $525,272, and he moved all in for 275,000 from the cutoff with offsuit.

MSPT Canterbury Park champ Dan “DQ” Hendrickson was in the small blind, looked down at , and made the call. The board ran out clean, and Hamby had to settle for 32nd place.

Dan Hendrickson - 775,000

Jared Hamby - Busted in 32nd place

The Most Recent Payouts

Congratulations to the next round of winners at The Venetian Poker Room, taking home $7,639
‪#‎canyoufeelit‬

37th Diana Yang - Los Angeles, CA
38th Mark Sandness - Minneapolis, MN
39th Gilberto Amaral - Brazil
40th Harry Lodge - London, UK
41st Yulius Sepman - St. Petersburg, Russia
42nd Chris Cornell - Clarksville, TN
43rd Jason Seitz - Shakopee, MN
44th Brett Silverman - Atlanta, GA
45th Roman Valerstein - Langhorne, PA

Former MSPT Running Aces Mark Sandness Eliminated

MSPT Running Aces champ Mark Sandness got his stack of 650,000 all in preflop and was at risk against Edward Lewis.

Lewis:

Sandness:

Sandness got it in good, but he fell behind on the flop. Sandness paired on the turn, but he needed to do it again on the river to stay alive. Unfortunately for him, that didn’t happen as the blanked.

The elimination of Mark Sandness leaves Dan “DQ” Hendrickson, who is also a former MSPT champ, as the last Minnesota player standing.

Edward Lewis - 1.5 million

Mark Sandness - Busted in 38th place for $7,639

Updated Chip Counts from Table 29

29 1 Gavin O'Rourke ... 1.6 million
29 2 -empty-
29 3 Derek Wolters ... 300,000
29 4 Delmiro Toledo... 1.3 million
29 5 Jake Nguyen... 270,000
29 6 Reginald Shawn Roberts ... 615,000
29 7 Tizzy Brown ... 1.8 million
29 8 Jared Hamby ... 280,000
29 9 Gary Banks ... 1.1 million

Gilberto Amaral Done and Dusted

A short-stacked Gilberto Amaral moved all in for 92,000 and Rory Lucero called from the big blind.

Amaral:
Lucero:

Amaral had a kicker problem, and it did not get resolved as the board ran out .

Rory Lucero - 1.4 million

Gilberto Amaral - Busted