The Venetian

Carson Richards Becomes the First MSPT Main Event Champion of Season 16!

The MSPT kicked off its 16th season at the beautiful Venetian Resort in Las Vegas with a $1,100 buy-in, $300K GTD Main Event!.

A total of 431 entries (70 from Day 1a; 126 from 1b; 235 from 1c) were tallied and on Sunday, 48 players returned to Day 2 action to take their stab at the $415,915 prize pool.

Of those 48 players, only one was able to claim the top spot and that was local Bonanza High School math teacher Carson Richards who navigated his way through the tough field to claim the $76,054 first place prize along with his first MSPT title!

“It feels really good,” Richards stated after his victory, “I used to just play mostly as a hobby, but I got into it more after I finished second in a bracelet event last summer for a big score so I’ve been playing a lot more.”

The big score Richards was referring to was in Event #5 $1,000 Mystery Millions, in which he took home a cool $536,080 for his runner-up finish, but his close finishes poised him for a victory against an incredibly tough final table opponents.

“Pro after pro after pro,” Richards answered when being asked about his thoughts on his opponents at the final table which included multiple bracelet winners.

“It was a very tough final table,” Richards added in his final comments, “Being able to come out on top of this one and winning a trophy, feels amazing.”

MSPT Venetian Season 16 Opener Final Table Results

Day 2 Action

The final day came back with 48 players already in the money, so action kicked right into gear with short stack Steven Merwin being eliminated in the first hand of the day while Jesse Kertland followed him to the payout cage shortly after.

After Kertland hit the deck, a flurry of “payouts” could be heard throughout the room, as handfuls of players were walking to the payout table which included the likes of Anthony Rocco (45^th Place – $2,356), MSPT champs Jeff Platt (37^th Place - $2,356), four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen (22^nd Place – $3,548), MSPT Hall of Famers Rodger Johnson (18^th Place - $4,174) & Aaron Massey (11^th Place - $7,334), and bracelet winner Darren Rabinowitz (10^th Place - $7,334).

Final Table Action

Once the final table was set, start-of-day chip leader Richards found himself with a sizeable chip lead over the rest after he rivered a straight to beat Massey’s flopped set of tens, and quickly added more to his stack after he made John Lewis the first final table elimination.

Richards would then follow with a quick elimination of Jeff Yarchever in a battle of the blinds while Louis Haeick followed him to the payout cage in seventh place.

A full level of poker was played before the next body would fall as Johnson Nguyen lost a race against Richards to take a sixth place departure and Richards followed that with the elimination of Bojan Gledovic in fifth place for $23,941.

Poker personality Jamie Kerstetter was able to catch a few double-ups before ultimately being tripped up in fourth place for $31,422 by two-time bracelet winner Josh Remitio.

Remitio would then follow in Kerstetter’s footsteps as he won a race to double through Richards only to lose to another to him to take home a third place finish for $41,714.

Richards final table reign would continue in the heads-up battle with almost evenly stack sizes between the two, but he went toe-to-toe with Leng in the duel and ended up sending the three-time bracelet winner home in a cooler after he flopped the straight holding five-two off against Leng’s flopped top two-pair.

“Oh, my dad’s going to love this,” Richards said as stood to take a picture of the final hand, “I was talking to my dad earlier and he told me to make sure I play the five-deuce.”

This concludes our coverage for this event, but Season 16 of the MSPT continues this week as we head San Diego's Sycuan Casino for the first-ever 100 GRAND STACK Series, January 9th - 20^th, which is headlined by the $1,110 buy-in, 300K GTD Main Event and as always, that will be reported by our live reporting team starting Friday, January 17^th so make sure to tune in!

Ryan Leng Eliminated in 2nd Place ($56,008)

Ryan Leng was all in with a board showing and was called by Carson Richards.

Ryan Leng:
Carson Richards:

It was a cooler for Leng as his two-pair was trailing Richards flopped straight, and the completed the board on the river ending his tournament in second place for $56,008.

Carson Richards - 10,775,000
Ryan Leng - Eliminated

The MSPT Heads Back to Sin City for the Season 16 Venetian Poker Bowl February 5th - 10th!

The MSPT is making its way back to the Venetian Las Vegas February 5th - 10th for the infamous Poker Bowl IX!

The ninth edition of this year's Poker Bowl will feature a $1,600 buy-in and, boasts a massive $1,000,000 guarantee.

Each player will start with 30,000 in chips and blinds will increase every 40 minutes. Late registration for each flight will remain open until approximately 5:55 p.m. local time.

The tournament will hold three starting flights with Day 1a getting started bright and early at 11:10 a.m. on Wednesday, February 5th.

Day 1b will then follow on Thursday, February 6th, with Day 1c being held on Friday, February 7th, with both having 11:10 a.m. start times.

The surviving players from the three starting flights will then return for Day 2 at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 8th, and will play until seven players remain.

The final seven will then have a days rest to enjoy Superbowl Sunday and will return to action on Monday, February 10th at Noon, to play down to a winner which will be live-streamed in the brand new streaming studio!

Past MSPT Venetian Poker Bowl winners include Zack Fuentes ($117,060), James Romero ($171,167), Ron West ($168,488), Johnny Oshana ($130,000), Brian Wilson (143,929), Kfir Nahum (108,410), Jordan Young (117,381), Sean Berman ($42,305 + Bounties), and "Scary" Terry Fleischer ($98,101).

Who will be next to add their names to the list of aforementioned Poker Bowl champions?

Come be a part of history at The Venetian Poker Room as they will unveil their brand-new streaming studio produced and distributed by PokerGO!

Heads Up Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Ryan Leng	5,565,000	4,900,000
Carson Richards	5,210,000	4,800,000

Josh Remitio Eliminated in 3rd Place ($41,714)

Josh Remitio raised all in from the button and Carson Richards looked him up from the big blind.

Josh Remitio:
Carson Richards:

Remitio found himself in another race but this time, he couldn’t hold the lead as the runout ended his tournament in third place for $41,714.

Carson Richards - 4,900,000
Josh Remitio - Eliminated

Remitio Finds Life in a Race

Josh Remitio was all in preflop for 765,000 from the button and Carson Richards looked him up from the big blind.

Josh Remitio:
Carson Richards:

Remitio was racing for his tournament life and the runout gave him the lead to stay alive.

Carson Richards - 3,000,000
Josh Remitio - 1,600,000

Leng Flops Quads to Double Through Richards

Carson Richards opened on the button and then called three-time WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Leng’s 2,155,000 three-bet jam from the big blind.

Carson Richards:
Ryan Leng:

It was a classic with Leng leaving Richards drawing dead after the flop gave him the nuts.

The meaningless turn and river completed the board and Leng collected his double to take the chip lead.

Ryan Leng - 4,500,000
Carson Richards - 3,100,000

MSPT Heads to Bally's Black Hawk Casino for the Season 16 Showdown Series January 15th - 26th!

The third stop of the 16th season will see the MSPT head to the beautiful mountainside of Black Hawk, Colorado, as we return to Bally's Casino for the Showdown Series January 15th - 26th!

A total of 17 trophy events will take place during the two-week span, with the $400 Monster Stack Kickoff NLH getting things started at noon on Wednesday, January 15th.

The opening event boasts a $100k guarantee and will hold four starting flights with Day 1b following Thursday, January 16th, Day 1c Friday, January 17th, and Day 1d Saturday, January 18th, all with noon start times.

The survivors from all flights will then reconvene at 11:00 for Day 2 on Monday, January 20th, and will play until a winner is crowned.

The following trophy events will then feed into the headlined $1,110 Main Event running from Thursday, January 23rd through Sunday, January 26th, which will feature a $300K guarantee for its three starting flights.

Last season saw the MSPT crown two Main Event Champions at Black Hawk with Mo Nuwwarah taking down the opener after he outlasted 822 runners for $155,189 while Sherman Wu became the reigning champ after he topped a 606-entry field to take home his fist title along with $123,059.

Who will be next to add their names to the list of aforementioned champions?

The MSPT live reporting crew will be on hand to provide live updates as the answer to that question is determined.

Jamie Kerstetter Eliminated in 4th Place ($31,422)

Jamie Kerstetter was all in preflop from the small blind and two-time bracelet winner Josh Remitio looked her up from the big blind.

Jamie Kerstetter:
Josh Remitio:

Kerstetter was ahead holding Big Slick, that was until the flop fell pairing Remitio’s jack.

Things got worse for Kerstetter as the dealer turned the improving Remitio to trips and then followed with the on the river ending her tournament.

Josh Remitio - 4,240,000
Jamie Kerstetter - Eliminated

Bojan Gledovic Eliminated in 5th Place ($23,941)

Carson Richards raised to 125,000 from the hijack and then called Bojan Gledovic’s three-bet jam from the button.

Bojan Gledovic:
Carson Richards:

Gledovic held a dominating ace and found a nine on the flop, but it also gave Richards the nut flush draw.

Unfortunately for Gledovic, it wasn’t too long of the sweat as the dealer turned the completing Richards’ flush and then followed with the on the river for good measure.

Carson Richards - 4,500,000
Bojan Gledovic - Eliminated