Jacob Perry Wins MSPT Venetian Main Event for $100,000

Another big tournament has been won in Las Vegas this week, and it is Jacob Perry who can claim glory as his own after triumphing in the Mid Stakes Poker Tour Venetian Main Event for $99,084. With a heads-up deal done as the tournament closed out, there were final table appearances from players such as Angela Jordison, Peter Mullin and Ezequiel Waigel.

Early Levels Leave Leandvai on the Rail

The race to win the MSPT Venetian Main Event wasn’t solely for the title of champion and the glittering gold trophy that came with the near six-figure win. The race to be the Global Poker Index Player of the Year was also on the line and with stars of the felt such as Jeremy Ausmus and Adam Hendrix in pursuit of Stephen Song at the top of that leaderboard, a final table appearance for either man would have seen them leapfrog their fellow WSOP bracelet winner.

Both Ausmus and Hendrix failed to make the final nine, however, and with that their hope of GPI glory disappeared. They weren’t the only luminaries of the poker world that missed out on the final table, with others such as Joao Simao, Barry Shulman, Roland Israelashvili, Ryan Laplante and Mitchell Halverson all failing to reach the last table of the tournament.

First to bust once play got underway was Peter Mullin, with the American – one of eight at the final table – skittled in ninth place for $10,548. Mullin had pocket sixes, but they were some way behind Tama Lendvai’s two pair. Lendvai’s hopes of using those newly gained chips as a platform to success evaporated when his king-queen fell to Abhisek Panda’s dominating ace-king. Lendvai lost out for $13,341 in eighth place and everyone else moved one step closer to glory.

Jordison Jolted in Fifth

As the field narrowed and the blinds became shallower, so too did the play. Less hands went to showdown, there were more raise and takes, and no-one wanted to be the next to fall. Richard Alati was the unfortunate player to go next, busting in seventh place for $17,064 when Angela Jordison’s pocket kings reduced the field to six players.

Kenny Huynh left the party in sixth place, as he got it in with his shorter stack with king-ten. Panda was again the caller, electing to look up his opponent with ace-queen and the better hand held through the board to send Hunyh home with $23,269 and memories of what might have been as the cards he chased failed to come in.

It was Jordison who busted in fifth place, cashing for $31,335 just four places short of glory. Jordison, who has become a hugely popular player on the live poker circuit, was full of thanks for everyone’s support on the back of her fifth-place finish.

Perry and Panda Chop It Up

With four players left, it was still anyone’s tournament. That hope didn’t belong to Nipun Java any longer when he missed out in fourth place, however, as he cashed for $41,573 after being eliminated by the Argentinian player Ezequiel Waigel. Java was all-in with pocket sevens only to lose a flip to Waigel’s ace-queen, the Argentine player flopping a pair to reduce play to three-handed action.

Despite winning that hand, Waigel’s event lasted only one place longer. The Argentina poker professional managed to lose a big chip lead when three-handed to slide out of contention and miss out on what turned out to be a crucial heads-up position. Waigel’s ace-queen lost to Panda’s pocket queens and saw the former bust out for $58,016 in third place.

That elimination saw the chipstacks giving Panda a 2:1 lead, but when Jacob Perry won an early pot with a flopped flush, making great value against Panda’s rivered straight, talk soon turned to a deal. With Perry marginally ahead after a second flush soon after the first, he took the trophy due to his chip advantage, and Panda was very happy to lock up a score of $97,612, only marginally less than the top prize of $99,084 that was claimed by Perry.