Jesse Lonis Leads 17 Surviving Players From Day 1a of the $1,600 MSPT Venetian Main Event
Day 1a of the $1,600 MSPT Venetian Main Event has come to an end and Jesse Lonis is the chip leader after play came to an end with 32 minutes left in Level 16.
The first of three flights in the $750,000 guarantee attracted 153 entries and 17 players made the money by surviving to see Day 2.
Lonis is the chip leader with 816,000 thanks to a late run that included a big pot against Michael Rossitto and the elimination of Steve Wilkie to end the evening. Lonis is followed on the leaderboard by Jared Jaffee with 688,000, who made a big jump up the leaderboard with the late elimination of Francis Anderson.
Michael Wang finished in the third spot with 526,000 and Alexander Nachtwey is fourth with 523,000. Jared Strauss rounds out the top five with 326,000.
$1,600 MSPT Venetian Main Event Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jesse Lonis | 816,000 | 136 |
| 2 | Jared Jaffee | 688,000 | 115 |
| 3 | Michael Wang | 526,000 | 88 |
| 4 | Alexander Nachtwey | 523,000 | 87 |
| 5 | Jared Strauss | 326,000 | 54 |
| 6 | Darren Rabinowitz | 262,000 | 44 |
| 7 | Peter Lynn | 216,000 | 36 |
| 8 | Connor Stuewe | 178,000 | 30 |
| 9 | Dan Bekavac | 168,000 | 28 |
| 10 | Spencer Champlin | 167,000 | 28 |
Also bagging for Day 2 was Dan Bekavac after battling adversity throughout the day. Bekavac clashed with Nachtwey several times over the late levels, including a pot where the former lost with aces full to the latter's four of a kind. He ultimately ended with a healthy stack of 168,000 and he will return tomorrow to continue his quest for the MSPT Player of the Year title.
Also in the hunt for the Season 13 points race is CJ Peake. Peake bagged just 53,000, but he will return on Sunday with the opportunity to catch some points and catch Bekavac, who sits in second behind Josh Reichard on the season-long leaderboard.
Joining Peake and Bekavac with a bag were Darren Rabinowitz, Peter Lynn, Connor Stuewe, Hyo Joo, John Riordan, and Michael Rossitto. Rossitto ended the night with 131,000 after running up a stack in the middle levels, but he clashed with Lonis late and lost a lot of chips.
Several players made their second appearance of the week after playing in the $1,100 MSPT Main Event that started on Tuesday. Among those that stopped by for Day 1a but didn��t survive were Landon Tice, Angela Jordison, Kenny Huynh, Jim Collopy, Tyler Patterson, Eric Baldwin, Jesse Yaginuma, Jordan Cristos, and MSPT regulars Rob Wazwaz and Justin Barnum.
All 17 surviving players are in the money and they will return for the Sunday finale at 11:00 a.m. local time to play down to a winner. Day 1b kicks off on Friday at 11:10 a.m. and Day 1c will follow on Saturday at the same time.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team all weekend long for live updates from the floor of the $1,600 MSPT Main Event at Venetian Las Vegas.