The second day of registration has come and passed and the turnout ended up being 151 for the day. This brings the total number of players up to 238 and will leave the final 17 from today, joining the final 10 from yesterday. Each one of them secured a minimum of $3,469, with all eyes on the first place prize of $73,019 as well as the title of MSPT champion.
Leading the way is Giuseppe Pantaleo, who bagged 958,000. The German born player has amassed $1,772,384 over his career and has one prior MSPT cash. Most of his chips came from a massive clash between him and Bin Weng where his queens held up against Bin Weng’s six-five, in a pot worth over 150 big blinds. With the biggest stack in the tournament so far, he looks to turn his stack into his first MSPT win.
Adam Walton (556,000) and Nicholas Pupillo (506,000) round out the podium, both of whom have plenty of MSPT experience as well as with each other. In the summer iteration of the $1,100 Main Event, Walton finished in third place and Pupillo in second. They went on to have successful summers where Pupillo won his first WSOP bracelet and Walton final tabled the WSOP 2023 Main Event. Each one will be looking for another chance at their first MSPT title. Others who bagged included MSPT regulars Francis Anderson (304,000), Brendan Shiller (200,000), Mike Lang (183,000), Nick Marchington (124,000), and Qing Liu (112,000).
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank |
Player |
Chip Count |
| 1 |
Giuseppe Pantaleo |
958,000 |
| 2 |
Adam Walton |
556,000 |
| 3 |
Nicholas Pupillo |
506,000 |
| 4 |
Stephen Sola |
394,000 |
| 5 |
Sergey Kislinskii |
354,000 |
| 6 |
Kenny Deffranses |
306,000 |
| 7 |
Francis Anderson |
304,000 |
| 8 |
Zlatin Penev |
262,000 |
| 9 |
Brendan Shiller |
200,000 |
| 10 |
Mike Lang |
183,000 |
|
Not all were as fortunate. Yesterday’s MSPT $1,100 Main Event champion Eric Baldwin found himself falling as the day progressed. MSPT hall of famer Umut Ozturk also couldn’t find a bag as the night wound down. MSPT all time cash leader DJ Buckley joined the likes of Rodger Johnson, John Morgan, Christina “BabyShark” Gollins, Kathy Liebert and 2013 Main Event Champion Ryan Riess on the rail. Their quests for an MSPT championship (or in Johnson’s case a second) will have to wait until the next stop.
Play ended with 24 minutes left in Level 15 on Day 1a with blinds at 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. This flight ran later than the prior flight meaning that players will return to this level on Day 2.
Stay tuned to MSPTPoker.com for all updates regarding The MSPT Venetian