Korey Payne is officially the latest champion of the Mid-Stakes Poker Tour, after topping the field of 1,239 entries and winning a total of $327,773. In other words, Payne managed to win the MSPT Venetian $1,600 Main Event, ending an event that lasted for five days and snatching the biggest prize of the prize pool that was $1,771,770.
When a total of 63 players returned on Day 3, Payne had approximately 605,000 in chips, and the blinds were at 8,000/16,000/16,000. In other words, Korey was just one BB above the average stack.
However, he managed to maintain this stack size as the field narrowed down to the top 30 players. Just before the two final tables were formed, Payne managed to double the stack size and gain a significant advantage over his opponents.
Casino At The Venetian: Horrible slot payout - See 2,857 traveler reviews, 919 candid photos, and great deals for Las Vegas, NV, at Tripadvisor. We like machines that have the best payouts on the lowest winning spins. These will keep you going longer between larger wins and not enact the ATM-In-Reverse principle seen at many of the larger joints (Venetian being the worst we've experienced). 100 or Nothing Red, White and Blue Slot Machine Jackpots Photo Gallery Wheel of Fortune Wild Cherry. Venetian offers two daily tournaments. The noon tournament dealt Monday through Thursday has a $150 buyin. On Friday, it has a $200 buyin with a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. The Saturday noon tournament has a $300 buyin with $100 going towards bounties.
He started his great run with a hand that set it all in motion. It was a hand against Jorden Helstern, who managed to flop a top pair of queens. However, that wasn’t enough for Payne, who had sixes in his hand and managed to find a third six on the turn, doubling over to two million.
After that, Korey eliminated Zachary Grech in 10th place with a set of queens, winning a three-way pot. Once the final table started, Korey had the second largest stack, which was a good position to start the final part of the event.
The Final Table Overview
Even though Payne had a huge chip stack, it was nowhere near that of Salim Admon, who had almost twice as much as they started the final table. The first player to hit the rail in the final table was Dale Eberle, who actually managed to double up against Admon early on but suffered a heavy blow right after that, leaving him with an earning a total of $28,343.
The next one in line to leave the game was Jorden Helstern, who managed to lose a coin flip against Randy Froelich. Helston, therefore, had to leave the game in the seventh place. His take-home prize was in the form of $37,207.
The action went on, and half a level later, it was time for another player to say goodbye to the final table. That was David Poces, who faced Satoshi Tanaka and won a total of $49,610 on the tournament.
About 30 minutes after that, Tanaka faced Martin Zamani, but wasn’t able to find a match for Zamani’s diamond flush with ace-five suited. Therefore, Zamani took almost all of Tanaka’s chips. Zamani managed to land another diamond flush after that, and Tanaka had to settle for the $65,555 purse payout.
Randy Froelich was the next player in line to hit the rail, earning a total of $100,991, and the last player to end their run before the heads-up play was Martin Zamani, who earned $148,829.
Salim Admon and Korey Payne entered the heads-up with Payne having a huge chip lead, but Admon didn’t give up easily, doubling-up several times before finally busting for $219,699.
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Table Of Contents
The Venetian Poker Room has been home to popular DeepStacks Series offering big guarantees that draw players from near and far.
Now, the Venetian is set to host a new series intended for a different crowd of poker players, and the regulars are up in arms over the capped prize pool found in the fine print.
In the Venetian's upcoming $225,000 Lucky Shot Poker Series & Drawing, scheduled for Oct. 21-27, there are seven poker events slated, highlighted by a $250 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament with six flights and $150,000 guaranteed. The series concludes with a drawing wherein $52,000 will be doled out to participants who earn one entry for each $250 they contribute in tournament buy-ins during the series.
Capped Prize Pool, Uncapped Rake
The fine print of the structure sheets for the series reveals a major difference that has poker players enraged on Twitter, and it involves an unprecedented rake and prize pool system.
“100% of all funds collected will go to meet the $150,000 Total Prize Pool. Any funds collected above and beyond the total prize pool will be the sole property of The Venetian Poker Room.”
“The $225,000 Lucky Shot Poker Series and Drawing is a new poker series catering to a player who likes promotions and drawings.'
The stipulation appears to indicate that the posted guarantee is not to be exceeded. That is, whether they get 600 or 900 total entries, the prize pool remains the same. At 600 entries, there would be a $150,000 rake-free prize pool.
As poker player and vlogger Jeff 'Boski' Sluzinski pointed out on Twitter, 750 entries would equate to Venetian’s typical $200+$50 rake while the rake percentage would go up from there. At 900 entries, the rake from each entry would equate to 33% and if they got up to 1,200 entries, half of the buy-ins would be going to the house.
'Catering to a Player Who Likes Promotions'
The new series appears to be modeled off of promotional slot and table game tournaments, where there is a set prize pool put up by the house. PokerNews reached out to the Venetian Poker Room for comment and received the following from a Venetian spokesperson:
“The $225,000 Lucky Shot Poker Series and Drawing is a new poker series catering to a player who likes promotions and drawings. It is designed to have a lower buy in, but still guarantees $225,000 in total prizes that includes a drawing, providing two ways to win.”
The drawing portion moreover reduces the skill needed to be a winner in the event, thus clearly catering to the more amateur and recreational player. For these players, the idea of being entered into a drawing for $52,000 in cash may be a more than fair consolation for any additional rake collected. Venetian's PR spokesperson compared the series to table and slot tournaments, which are generally run as freerolls.
“100% of all funds collected will go to meet the $150,000 Total Prize Pool. Any funds collected above and beyond the total prize pool will be the sole property of The Venetian Poker Room.”
“The tournament [series] is designed so that the Venetian funds $225,000 in total prizes, regardless of how many players join. This is similar to how other table and slot tournaments are conducted.”
The big difference between say blackjack or slot tournaments and the Lucky Shot poker tournament is the former are generally invite-only freerolls with set prizes for top finishers, a kind of “rakeback,” if you will, that doubles as a method to get high-value customers in the door.
In the poker tournament, however, players still put up the traditional buy-in to participate, knowing that the prize pool will not be more than $150,000 no matter how many entries are collected.
The worry among poker players, even those planning not to participate, is that most will register without knowing what percentage of their buy-in will go to the prize pool and what percent will be going to the house.
For Venetian's target customer, this may be of little concern.
Venetian Slot Tournament Payout Prizes
Players Respond
Venetian Slot Tournament Payouts
In the TwoPlusTwo forum regarding the event, players joined in on rebuking such an event structure, with some players calling for a boycott or some way to assure no rake is paid.
Top poker content creator Doug Polk has been among those leading the charge, calling out Venetian in a recent video and spreading the hashtag 'BoycottTheVenetian' on Twitter.
Will it have any effect? Considering that the event is not being marketed to the professionals and serious recreational who typically frequent poker forums, it's an open question.
Additionally, there was some confusion in the thread due to the posting that Venetian was applying the new 'uncapped rake structure' to their DeepStack Series, which is not the case, according to Venetian officials.
“This new format is in addition to our other successful poker tournaments which are geared to a more seasoned player, like our DeepStack Poker Series.”
Sluzinski's Twitter post similarly yielded plenty of criticism launched toward the Venetian. Run It Once Poker founder Phil Galfond joked, 'I suggest @VenetianPoker market this innovative tournament format as a 'Super Guarantee.'
Venetian, for its part, assures players that the format is not intended to be reproduced in their more traditional established series.
“This new format is in addition to our other successful poker tournaments which are geared to a more seasoned player, like our DeepStack Poker Series,” a Venetian spokesperson told PokerNews.
Just how the experiment will play out is to be seen. As Polk pointed out, the market will speak. Be sure to check back here at PokerNews for more on how the Lucky Shot goes, and how the poker community responds.
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