MSPT Venetian Tournament Breaks Several Records

While the 48th World Series of Poker currently taking place at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is attracting all the headlines, just a couple of miles away a tournament recently took place at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino that largely flew under the radar, despite breaking several records.
The luxury Las Vegas Sands owned property was the latest stop on the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT), with its $1,100 Main Event and guaranteed prize pool of $2.5 million attracting a huge field of 3,273 players over three starting flights. This made the tournament the largest in the history of the Mid-States Poker Tour, beating the last MSPT record by a margin of 386 entrants, as well as being the biggest ever held at the 18 year-old casino situated along Las Vegas Boulevard South.
The records don’t stop there, though, and the $3,207,540 prize pool created by the $1,100 Main Event also was the largest ever featured since the MSPT was created back in 2009. The popularity of this particular tournament is further highlighted by the fact it coincided with WSOP Event #12: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em, which attracted a smaller sized field of 1,739 players for a $2,347,650 prize pool, with David ‘Dragon’ Pham eventually emerging the winner for a $391,960 payday.
At the Venetian, however, it was Russia’s Nader Kakhmazov who would claim the victory for $395,888, having first made his way through a field which was rich in poker talent. Amongst those booking a cash was 2001 WSOP Main Event champion Carlos Mortensen in 263rd ($2,887), 2011 WPT winner Taylor von Kriegenbergh in 27th ($12,830), and Joe Elpayaa in 11th ($35,283).
The final table proved an international affair, too, with players hailing from countries such as France, Ireland and Russia, with Nader Kakhmazov ultimately besting USA player Brayden Gazlay heads-up to claim the title. On the final hand of the tournament, Gazlay (Jh-2d) and Kakhmazov (9d-7d) went all-in on a Jd-8d-2h flop, and after a 10h and 3h arrived on turn and river, Kakhmazov’s straight was good enough to secure him the win.
Final Table Results:
1: Nader Kakhmazov $395,888
2: Brayden Gazlay $316,782
3: Maury Solano $205,283
4: Jake Balsiger $157,169
5: Chris O’Rourke $118,679
6: Wen Zhang $89,811
7: Jewook Oh $70,566
8: Ludovic Riehl $54,528
9: Max Havlish $41,698
10: Steve Malone $35,283