While the World Series of Poker is happening in Las Vegas, some other poker tours have been hosting events as well. The Mid-States Poker Tour put their two June events right down the street from the WSOP. They offered two MSPT Main Events, each with a different buy-in and guarantee.
The turnout was solid. In fact, it was more than solid, as the fields in both events put the total prize pools significantly higher than their guaranteed amounts.
Poker in Las Vegas this summer is thriving.
MSPT Venetian #1
The first of the two sequential MSPT Main Event tournaments kicked off just one week after the 2022 WSOP began. It started on June 6 offering three starting flights over three days. And by the time the entries and money were counted, the 1,644 entries totaled $2,342,700 in prize money. That was far beyond the $2M that the MSPT and Venetian guaranteed.
When the final table began on Day 3 of the tournament, ten players remained, and the pay jumps were serious.
Yulia Lisichkina was the chip leader, one of two women at the table. Fehim Hajdari was second in chips and Shea Quintin (Day 1A chipleader) in third.
The shorter stacks started making moves quickly. That gave Lisichkina the chance to bust Hien Nguyen in tenth place. That set the official final table of nine.
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Two bigger stacks battled next, as former MSPT Venetian champion Angelina Rich moved all-in against Quintin, and the latter’s flopped flush ousted Rich in ninth place.
Matthew Sabia then ousted Rickey Evans in eighth and Kevin Ayow in seventh, followed by Rohan Dhuper in sixth. Lisichkina still had the lead, though, soon busting Sabia himself in fifth place. She then eliminated Jack O’Neill in fourth, but it was Quintin who took out Hajdari in third.
Lisichkina maintained the chip lead for some time, but Quintin stayed patient and took over. They exchanged that lead, but it was Quintin in front when Lisichkina moved all-in with T-3 on a K-J-Q-Q board. Quintin showed Q-6, which held for the win.
The 26-year-old Quintin scored his biggest win ever – by far – and did it during his first trip to Las Vegas and with his father on his rail.
The second MSPT Main Event at Venetian did well with its lower buy-in. The field of entries totaled 2,154 and the prize pool $2,078,610. That was well beyond the $1.5M promised for the prize pool.
By Day 3, there were still 16 players left, and Robert Shega had the overall lead, followed by Valentin Oberhauser and Joshua Suyat. Federico Roberto was fourth in chips.
Shorter stacks busted rather quickly. And the tenth-place elimination of John Walker set the unofficial final table of ten. The top four on the leaderboard remained the same, though Suyat moved up by eliminating James Gilbert in tenth place.
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Things began to change from there. Jake Bazeley doubled through Shega, and Jimmy Setna did the same through Oberhauser. Suyat eliminated James Gilbert in ninth place and Richard Kirsch in eighth. Roberto busted Quy Dao in seventh, while Bazeley sent Setna out in sixth. Robert took care of Suyat while also assuming the chip lead. Shega busted Oberhauser in fourth and then Bazeley in third.
Shega took a two-to-one lead into heads-up, but Roberto waited for the right moment and doubled into the lead. Soon after, Roberto’s A-8 took on the K-2 of Shega pre-flop. Though a king flopped, the board ran out into a straight for which Roberto had the ace.
Roberto shared the winning moment with his family on the rail.
The Mid-States Poker Tour could have taken a break for the month of July, but that gives no options to poker players who can’t make it to Las Vegas or afford the $10K buy-in WSOP Main Event. So, the tour heads to Colorado and Iowa in July, South Dakota in August, and even back to Nevada in September.
