Almost every single World Poker Tour event in 2021 has been meaningful – if not historic – in some way. In the comeback year after a pandemic, when the poker industry was unsure how players would feel about returning to live poker, WPT tournaments have shown the strength of the game. Players have returned to the tables in big numbers, setting new bars for nearly every WPT event in 2021 thus far.
The WPT Venetian was no different.
Actually, the World Poker Tour first returned to the Venetian in January 2021 with a main tour stop. There were two starting days for the $5K buy-in event and a $1.5M guarantee. But when the players lined up for seats, the numbers climbed. The final tally showed 937 entries and a $4,333,625 prize pool, far beyond expectations.
Then, the WPT kicked off its new season in Florida in June, then setting the Venetian in Las Vegas as the second main tour stop on Season XIX. And its numbers were even more impressive.
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Settling in to a Familiar Spot
The first of three starting days of the WPT Venetian offered players a chance at a $3M guarantee by way of a $5K buy-in (and reentries, of course). It started fairly slowly, with just a few dozen players coming in. But as the day progressed, that number increased significantly.
Ultimately, the three starting days brought in huge numbers:
-Day 1A: 265 entries, 68 survivors, Tim McDermott led with 434,500 chips-Day 1B: 449 entries, 129 survivors, Nate Silver (author, founder of FiveThirtyEight) led with 462K chips-Day 1C: 485 entries, 144 survivors, Jimmy D’Ambrosio led with 568,500 chips
All of the remaining players then combined at the tables for Day 2 on July 5, but not before the World Poker Tour announced the impressive final tournament numbers:
-Total entries: 1,199-Total prize pool: $5,545,375 (leaving the $3M guarantee in the dust)-Total paid players: 150-Minimum payout: $8,915
A total of 340 players started Day 2, but the field thinned rather quickly. Even so, it took more than five levels to reach hand-for-hand play. Finally, Jean Gaspard busted Ting-Yi Tsai to burst the money bubble, and a few subsequent bustouts in the money took the rest of the players to dinner.
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The rest of the night kept the cashier cage busy. It all ended with just 39 players bagging their chips and Ari Oxman holding the chip lead with 3.31M chips.
Making More History
The eliminations on Day 3 began with payouts at $23,145. Players like Justin Zaki, Keven Stammen, and Robert Mizrachi hitting the rail. Pay Lyons followed, as did Harrison Gimbel, Kathy Liebert, and Nadya Magnus. John Hennigan busted in 23rd place for $32,355, and Jason Koon later exited in 18th place for $38,920.
As the final table approached, players like WPT Commentator Tony Dunst busted in 13th for $58,230, and Scotty Nguyen took the fun off the table by leaving in 11th place for $72,410. Michael Mizrachi left in ninth place with $91,035, Nacho Barbero in eighth with $115,685, and Ari Oxman in seventh place with $148,580.
That left a historic final table to be played on July 7, with more history waiting in the wings if the cards fell a certain way. The final table of the WPT Venetian consisted of three female and three male players.
Not only that, a woman hadn’t won an open World Poker Tour Main Event since 2017 when Ema Zajmovic won the WPT-partypoker event at Playground Poker in Canada.
A Fair Fight to the Finish
The final table of six players started with these chip counts:
-Mike Liang (18,225,000)-Chad Eveslage (17,725,000)-Tim McDermott (4,500,000)-Kitty Kuo (2,700,000)-Kyna England (2,575,000)-Daniela Rodriguez (2,250,000)
Three women and three men made this final table, a first in World Poker Tour history.
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It took only five hands for Rodriguez to move all-in, and she was able to double through Kuo. That left Kuo with two big blinds, which she doubled but then had to push again. Her K-4 of hearts didn’t meet anything on the board, but Eveslage had J-T with a jack on the turn to knock Kuo out in sixth place.
Rodriguez soon had to make another move and did so with A-K. Eveslage showed pocket sixes, which only improved to a set on the board to oust Rodriguez in fifth place.
McDermott was short but doubled through Liang to stay alive. England needed to do the same but simply couldn’t find a spot. Finally, though, she tripled up through Eveslage and Liang to 56 big blinds and a much more comfortable place. McDermott lost ground after the first break and pushed all-in with Q-10, but Liang had A-J that found an ace on the river after three fives flopped. McDermott departed in fourth.
Liang climbed into the chip lead and took some from Eveslage in the process. Meanwhile, though, England struggled. She finally raised all-in with A-8 suited, but Eveslage had pocket tens that ducked England’s flush draw and busted her in third place.
Heads-up play began with Liang holding 24,525,000 chips to the 23.45M of Eveslage on the 93rd hand of the evening. On the second hand of the duel, though, Eveslage doubled through Liang with a straight over Liang’s trips. That left Liang with 11 big blinds. Soon after, he doubled back but lost ground again. When he made another move, it was with A-9, but Eveslage had pocket queens. The board of K-4-3-J-8 gave Liang second place and made Eveslage the champion.
Eveslage chalked the win up to his skill but admitted to a lot of luck and rungood at the final table. (Check the WPT for all of the details and winner quotes.)
1st place: Chad Eveslage ($910,370)2nd place: Mike Liang ($606,890)3rd place: Kyna England ($448,755)4th place: Tim McDermott ($335,200)5th place: Daniela Rodriguez ($252,945)6th place: Kitty Kuo ($192,855)
