The Venetian

Javier Zarco Leads 24 Advancing Players After Day 1B

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

End Day 1B Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Javier Zarco	828,000	487,000
Baurzhan Akimov	610,000	600,000
Joseph Reddick	499,000	513,000
Greg Himmelbrand	493,000	381,000
Eyal Al Revah	415,000	487,000
Kodey Hammer	410,000	328,000
Dmitriy Uskach	391,000	453,000
Justin Lett	288,000	260,000
Terry Fleischer	276,000	314,000
Dennis Stevermer	275,000	250,000
Harry Lodge	250,000	280,000
Ran Yi	228,000	232,000
Yang Lu	216,000	115,000
Spencer Champlin	182,000	229,000
David Gradic	182,000	137,000
Tyler Hancock	173,000	250,000
Timur Margolin	143,000	189,000
Elvyn Bello Santos	126,000	162,000
Patrick Truong	123,000	126,000
Oscar Cansino	85,000	140,000
Anze Smajd	83,000	118,000
Brooks Floyd	69,000	50,000
Joseph Cervo	59,000	100,000
Paul McMullin	54,000	69,000

Greg Himmelbrand Out Kicks Brandon Mitchell on the Bubble

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

Okamoto Cooled Off by Stevermer; Hand-for-Hand Begins

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

Cervo Dominates a Double

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

Day 1A Chip Counts

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!

Late Night Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Baurzhan Akimov	600,000	375,000
Joseph Reddick	513,000	328,000
Javier Zarco	487,000	310,000
Eyal Al Revah	487,000	329,000
Dmitriy Uskach	453,000	400,000
Greg Himmelbrand	381,000	335,000
Kodey Hammer	328,000	407,000
Terry Fleischer	314,000	395,000
Harry Lodge	280,000	200,000
Justin Lett	260,000	300,000
Tyler Hancock	250,000	78,000
Ran Yi	232,000	200,000
Spencer Champlin	229,000	242,000
Shiina Okamoto	194,000	160,000
Timur Margolin	189,000	180,000
Oscar Cansino	177,000	170,000
Elvyn Bello Santos	162,000	238,000
David Gradic	137,000	130,000
Patrick Truong	126,000	160,000
Anze Smajd	118,000	160,000
Yang Lu	115,000	110,000
Brandon Mitchell	111,000	110,000
Dennis Stevermer	102,000	100,000
Tjan Tepeh	73,000	33,000
Paul McMullin	69,000	60,000
Brooks Floyd	50,000	30,000
Joseph Cervo	48,000	40,000
Oliwer Sankiewicz	33,000	75,000
Francisco Moreno	0	315,000

Smajd's Triple Up Comes on the River

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

Season 16 Cashes

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

Chip Counts & Bust Outs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Kodey Hammer	407,000	305,000
Terry Fleischer	395,000	201,000
Baurzhan Akimov	375,000	233,000
Francisco Moreno	315,000	165,000
Javier Zarco	310,000	275,000
Justin Lett	300,000	250,000
Hannes Jeschka	237,000	113,000
Greg Himmelbrand	183,000	158,000
Patrick Truong	160,000	100,000
Dennis Stevermer	100,000	170,000
Tyler Hancock	78,000	250,000
Oliwer Sankiewicz	75,000	45,000
Richard Alsup	0	50,000
DJ Buckley	0	91,000
Mykola Kostyrko	0	107,000