Boris Kolev Leads Final 8 of MSPT Venetian $1,100 Main Event
Day 2 began with 199 hopefuls looking to make a deep run in the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Venetian $1,100 Main Event.
By the end, just eight players remained — with Boris Kolev leading the pack once again with nearly 10 million in chips.
He was seen riding a roller coaster throughout the day but caught some steam towards the end of the night and takes the top stack into Saturday's Day 3.
MSPT Venetian $1,100 Main Event Final Table Chip Count/Draw
| Seat | Player | Chip Count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boris Kolev | 9,575,000 | |
| 2 | Ethan Yau | 6,600,000 | |
| 3 | Ilyas Muradi | 6,150,000 | |
| 4 | Nick Ahmadi | 975,000 | |
| 5 | Thuy Nguyen | 2,350,000 | |
| 6 | Jeremy Felicetti | 3,975,000 | |
| 7 | Robert Clark | 7,200,000 | |
| 8 | Mickey Ma | 6,775,000 |
With 189 slated to get paid, only ten players needed to exit before racing the money. The players dropped quickly as the money bubble was reached before the first level was even over.
With players scavenging to gather chips, two players found themselves without any on the bubble but that meant, neither player took the title of "bubble boy" as both Edward Recchion and Giorgii Skhulukhiia were eliminated at the same time meaning, they split the $2,184 min-cash taking home $1,092 apiece, but afterward, a slew of eliminations began.
Among those to fall albeit with a payday, were Bradley Beetz (9th - $26,881), James Heath (10th - $21,421),Taylor Howard (11th - $21,421), Matt Affleck (48th - $4,704), Ebony Kenney (126th - $2,688), and MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang (155th - $2,352).
Beetz was the final elimination of the night meaning eight players will be returning tomorrow for the final day and each of them has secured $33,601, but all eyes will be on the $260,008 first-place prize that the eventual champion will be taking home, along with the MSPT Venetian title.
MSPT Venetian $1,100 Main Event Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize | MSPT POY Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $260,008 | 1,900 |
| 2 | $168,007 | 1,700 |
| 3 | $126,005 | 1,600 |
| 4 | $94,084 | 1,500 |
| 5 | $72,243 | 1,400 |
| 6 | $55,442 | 1,300 |
| 7 | $43,682 | 1,200 |
| 8 | $33,601 | 1,100 |
Cards will be in the air at 11 a.m. local time with action picking up from level 31 where blinds are 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 big blind ante. Blinds will remain 40-minutes in length and PokerNews will be back on hand for tomorrow for Day 3, so make sure to come back and see who is crowned Champion!