The Venetian

Safwane Bahri Secures the Top Spot After 29 Players Advance from Day 1C of the MSPT $1,600 Heart Poker Championship

Day 1c of the MSPT $1,600 Heart Poker Championship at the Venetian Resort attracted the largest field thus far, adding another 236 entries, bringing the total field up to 470 entries, with one flight still to go.

At the end of the third flight, just 29 players bagged and tagged, with Safwane Bahri bagging the top stack with a whopping 914,000, putting him just behind WSOP bracelet winner Joe Serock’s 923,000 stack from yesterday’s Day 1b flight.

Another player to catch steam throughout the night was Craig Mason, who ended the night with an impressive 832,000 stack to put into his bag, and he will bring the third overall stack into Day 2.

Others to bag big included WSOP bracelet winner Ian O’Hara (583,000), Liam Jehu (546,000), and Gerardo Rodriguez (538,000), as they rounded out the top five stacks of this flight.

They were joined by Justin Young (515,000), Qing Liu (474,000), Lisa Tan (459,000), Mark Egbert (455,000), and two-time bracelet winner Riordan (333,000).

Among those not as lucky at the felt included ESPN sports betting analyst Pam Maldonado, Season 12 Player of the Year Kyna England, Carlton Taylor, Jamie Kerstetter, two-time bracelet winner Justin Lapka, and 2016 Main Event final tablist Cliff Josephy.

The final starting flight for the Main Event is tomorrow at 11:10 a.m. local time and is the last opportunity for players to earn a Day 2 berth.

Late registration and re-entries will remain open through Level 9 (approximately 5:55 p.m.) for all flights.

The surviving players from all starting flights will then return for Day 2 at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, July 19^th, and will play until a winner is crowned

MSPT Venetian Remaining Schedule

We will be back tomorrow for coverage of Day 1d right here on MSPTPoker.com from the Venetian Las Vegas!

End Day 1C Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Safwane Bahri	914,000	424,000
Craig Mason	832,000	487,000
Ian OHara	583,000	535,000
Liam Jehu	546,000	256,000
Gerardo Rodriguez	538,000	310,000
Justin Young	515,000	586,000
Qing Liu	474,000	311,000
Lisa Tan	459,000	133,000
Mark Egbert	455,000	495,000
Evan Sandberg	443,000	260,000
Tal Herzog	422,000	763,000
Steve Karp	421,000	398,000
Benjamin McKevitt	395,000	206,000
Mingxi Zhu	389,000	228,000
Michael Plesa	386,000	270,000
Francis Alegado	348,000	288,000
John Riordan	333,000	410,000
Eric Blair	278,000	75,000
Renji Mao	229,000	323,000
Neil Warren (LV)	203,000	271,000
Ting Cheng	172,000	196,000
Veselin Petrov	171,000	305,000
Erik Rozhynski	169,000	217,000
Josias Santos	160,000	386,000
Zhuo Chen	123,000	196,000
Sebastien Grax	113,000	137,000
Rosen Apostolov	107,000	190,000
Vazrig Sabounjian	65,000	121,000
Carlos Guerrero	41,000	81,000

Shorr Loses Race to Rodriguez; Jack Duong Bubbles Day 1C

Photo: Jack Duong

There was all-in action preflop between two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr from under the gun and Gerardo Rodríguez from the hijack, with Shorr holding the effective stack.

Shannon Shorr:
Gerardo Rodríguez:

Shorr found himself in a race for all his chips and fell way behind after the flop fell, improving Rodriguez to top set.

The turn then sealed Shorr’s fate as he was left drawing dead to the river.

A flurry of eliminations occurred after Shorr’s bust-out, which included the elimination of WSOP bracelet winner Jack Duong on the bubble, ending play for the evening

Gerardo Rodríguez - 615,000
Shannon Shorr - 0
Jack Duong - 0

Full Chip Counts

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Tal Herzog	763,000	763,000
Justin Young	586,000	560,000
Ian OHara	535,000	500,000
Mark Egbert	495,000	405,000
Craig Mason	487,000	170,000
David Peters	424,000	395,000
Safwane Bahri	424,000	291,000
John Riordan	410,000	295,000
Steve Karp	398,000	398,000
Josias Santos	386,000	193,000
Renji Mao	323,000	323,000
Qing Liu	311,000	482,000
Gerardo Rodriguez	310,000	310,000
Veselin Petrov	305,000	305,000
Francis Alegado	288,000	288,000
Neil Warren	271,000	271,000
Michael Plesa	270,000	154,000
Evan Sandberg	260,000	170,000
Liam Jehu	256,000	256,000
Mingxi Zhu	228,000	228,000
Erik Rozhynski	217,000	171,000
Benjamin McKevitt	206,000	206,000
Zhou Chen	196,000	196,000
Ting Cheng	196,000	154,600
Rosen Apostolov	190,000	190,000
Jack Duong	151,000	151,000
Sebastien Grax	137,000	137,000
Lisa Tan	133,000	133,000
Varzig Sabounjian	121,000	121,000
Carlos Guerrero	81,000	177,000
Eric Blair	75,000	75,000
William "Paul" Gibbons	0	240,000
Eli Karp	0	374,000
Matthew Leecy	0	211,000
Jessica Vierling	0	200,000
Shannon Shorr	0	134,000

MSPT Season 17 Indiana Poker State Championship Series Set!

: Ameristar Casino East Chicago, IN

: August 25-30, 2026

: Indiana Poker State Championship

: $1,110 Main Event / $300,000 GTD
$3,500 MSPT CHAMPIONSHIP SEAT ADDED TO MAIN EVENT 1ST PLACE

: 11 Gold Card Tournaments

: https://msptpoker.com/.../reserve-today-for-the-mspt...

Event Schedule: https://msptpoker.com/showpdf.aspx?eventID=733

Hanna Set Up by Vierling's Ladies

Photo: Hayley Hanna

Jessica Vierling raised under the gun and was called by Hayley Hanna from the small blind, along with Ben McKevitt from the big blind.

Once the flop hit the felt, Hanna led out with a 12,000 bet and was called by McKevitt before Vierling raised to 40,000.

Only Hanna called, and the dealer turned the .

Hanna quickly moved her remaining stack into the middle and was met with a snap call from Vierling.

Hayley Hanna:
Jessica Vierling:

“Oh gosh, I’m dead,” Hanna said after seeing Vierling’s set of ladies, and the river ended her flight.

Jessica Vielring - 200,000
Hayley Hanna - 0

Arellano Jams into Aces

Photo: Michael Arellano

There was all-in action preflop between Renji Mao from the cutoff and Michael Arellano from the button, with Arellano holding the effective stack.

Michael Arellano:
Renji Mao:

Arellano then knocked on the table after seeing Mao’s pair of aces as the c sweaty runout ended his night

Renji Mao - 151,000
Michael Arellano - 0

Ups & Downs

Player Name	Chip Count	Previous	Progress
Justin Young	560,000	310,000
Ian OHara	500,000	191,000
Mark Egbert	405,000	134,000
John Riordan	295,000	115,000
Jessica Vierling	200,000	45,000
Evan Sandberg	170,000	91,000
Daniel Swartz	0	161,000
Carlton Taylor	0	81,000
Mitch Garshofsky	0	146,000
Hayley Hanna	0	238,000
Jesse Jones	0	101,000
Jamie Kerstetter	0	40,000
Andrew Ostapchenko	0	10,000
Francis Anderson	0	98,000
Michael Capener	0	32,000

Shorr Wins Battle of the Blinds Against Lei

Photo: Shannon Shorr

Two-time Bracelet winner Shannon Shorr tossed out his last 36,000 from the small blind, and Daniel Lei looked him up from the big blind.

Shannon Shorr:
Daniel Lei:

Shorr was behind holding two live cards, but the flop paired Lei’s jack, giving him a commanding lead.

However, it was short-lived as the was turned, putting Shorr out in front, and the paired the board on the river, securing his double-up.

Daniel Lei - 115,000
Shannon Shorr - 80,000

Anderson's Set of Sevens Get Straightened Out by Blair

Photo: Francis Anderson

Eric Blair raised all-in for 28,000 from the cutoff, and WSOP bracelet winner Francis Anderson went over the top from the button, giving him isolation.

Eric Blair:
Francis Anderson:

It was a classic race, with the flop keeping things sweaty, as it improved Anderson to top set, but also gave Blair an open-ended straight draw.

The dealer then turned the , keeping Anderson in the lead, but then followed with the on the river, completing Blair’s straight for a double-up.

Anderson was then left short after the loss and was eliminated a few hands later.

Eric Blair - 69,000
Francis Anderson - 0