The Venetian

Palmer Leads The Final Ten; Wazwaz Bags Big In Day 1a Of The $1,600 Venetian Main Event

The first flight of The MSPT $1,600 Venetian Main Event has come to a close with a total of 87 entrants taking their shot at a bag today. From that starting field to just 10 players at the end of night, all of whom have secured a bag and will play on Wednesday, November 29th for the title.

Leading the way is pro Ben Palmer who bagged a massive 917,000 by night’s end. With $3,733,915 in lifetime earnings and a WPT title under his belt, Palmer has been a regular on the poker circuit for quite some time with 13 MSPT cashes as well, all here at The Venetian. Though holding the chip lead through most of the night, many of his chips came in a late night confrontation with 5-time MSPT champion Blake Bohn where his aces held up against Bohn’s sevens to send him high up the counts. With his best prior finish in an MSPT being 16th place, his massive stack today will be looking to set him up for a bigger and better finish.

Day 1a Chip Counts

Following behind him is Rob Wazwaz (518,000) who came off of a deep run in the $1,100 MSPT Venetian earlier today. With now two cashes under his belt out here in Las Vegas, Wazwaz has now pulled ahead ever so slightly in the MSPT player of the year of the race of Umut Ozturk. With a massive bag going into Day 2, Wazwaz will be looking to add another deep run to his decorated MSPT history.

Others who found bags included Mitch Garshofsky (298,000), Chad Lipton (286,000), WSOP 2022 Main Event 6th place finisher Jeffrey Farnes (144,000), Tjam Tepeh (83,000), and Jim Agate (77,000). All of them will be looking to capture their first MSPT main event.

Play ended with 24 minutes left in Level 15 with blinds at 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. Players will return to that time on Wednesday, November 29th to play to a winner. Those who did not find a bag today will have ample opportunity to play tomorrow.

Stay tuned to MSPTPoker.com for all updates regarding The MSPT Venetian

End Of Day 1a Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Ben Palmer	917,000	917,000
Rob WazWaz	518,000	518,000
Mitch Garshofsky	298,000	298,000
Chad Lipton	286,000	286,000
Jose Demeyere	197,000	197,000
Jeffrey Farnes	144,000	144,000
Tjam Tepeh	83,000	83,000
Jim Agate	77,000	77,000
Justin Turner	64,000	64,000
Jewook Oh	34,000	34,000

Registration Closed On Day 1a

The first day of The MSPT $1,600 Main Event has seen its’ registration period come to a close. The first flight will see a total of 10 players bagging up for the night as the flight got 87 entrants.

Check in later tonight for end of day chip counts and a brief recap.

Day 1a of The MSPT $1,600 Venetian Kicks Off At 11:10 am

The second of two main events at The Venetian sees the upped buy-in of a $1,600 Main Event kick off today at 11:10 am. With Day 2 of the $1,100 Main Event going on, players from that field are likely to enter this one at some point.

The defending champion of the event is George Janssen who won the September iteration of the event. While Janssen hasn’t been seen in the Vegas area as of late, the other 2023 champions Corel Theuma and James Romero could make appearances here at The Venetian.

MSPT 2023 September Venetian Results

Player Of The Year Race In Penultimate Event

The current leader of the MSPT POY is Umut Ozturk, but his lead will at the very least shrink at the end of this day as Rob Wazwaz has made it to Day 2 of the $1,100 Main Event. Blake Bohn also is in contention in the race and he also found a bag in the $1,100 as well, although his path to being crowned is narrower. Whatever happens in these two events, there is still Running Aces next week to seal the whole thing.

Players will begin the tournament with 30,000 in chips with blinds starting at 100/200 and a 200 big blind ante. Blinds will last 40 minutes each with a 15-minute break in between every three levels. Registration will remain open until the beginning of Level 10, after which the field will continue to play down until just 11% of the field remains. Those players will bag up to return on Wednesday, November 29th to play down to a winner.

Stay tuned to MSPTPoker.com for updates out here in Las Vegas.