Malaysia’s Michael Soyza Wins $1,600 MSPT Venetian for $588,249
On Friday, the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) wrapped up its latest event over at the Venetian Deepstack Championship Poker Series. The $1,600 buy-in Main Event blew past its $3 million guarantee by attracting 2,877 entries over three flights.
Malaysia’s Michael Soyza, who was playing in Vegas for just the second time, ended up taking it down outright for $588,249, which was the richest first-place prize in the tour’s history. With the win, the 28-year-old Soyza leapfrogged 2013 Aussie Millions champ Mervin Chan into third place on the Malaysian all-time money list.
“Very long day, I started in the middle of the pack but ran really hot the first level,” said Soyza, who last September won the Macau Poker Cup 27 High Roller for $260,552. “I had aces against kings, jacks against nines, and tens against eights. I just played my game and ran pretty damn well at the end as well.”
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Soyza | Malaysia | $588,249 |
| 2 | Jeremy Saderne | France | $364,573 |
| 3 | Rich Alsup | United States | $273,430 |
| 4 | Glen Nguyen | United States | $215,430 |
| 5 | Hye Park | United States | $165,715 |
| 6 | David Chen | United States | $132,572 |
| 7 | Peter Vitantonio | United States | $103,572 |
| 8 | Ivaylo Sivinov | Bulgaria | $78,300 |
| 9 | Ryan Yu | Canada | $62,143 |
| 10 | Paul Fisher | United States | $49,715 |
Paul Fisher was the first to fall from the final table after getting his chips in with jacks against Hye Park’s ace-five suited. An ace on the flop sent Fisher to the rail in ninth place. From there, start-of-the-day chip leader Ryan Yu, the man who chopped the WPT Fallsview with Mike Leah, got his short stack in with ace-five and ran it into the Rich Alsup’s Big Slick.
After Bulgaria’s Ivaylo Sivinov bowed out in eighth – the result of three-bet jamming ace-eight into Soyza’s ace-queen – three-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner Peter Vitantonio followed him out the door in seventh place. It happened when Vitantonio shoved the button with king-five suited and Soyza called out of the big blind with ace-four. An ace on the flop sent Vitantonio home in seventh place for $103,572.
Soyza then won two flips to eliminate David Chen and Park in sixth and fifth place respectively. He then got lucky when his pocket sixes spiked a set to crack sevens and send Glen Nguyen to the rail.
Alsup, the MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year, was the last MSPT regular remaining and he took his leave in third place after he got his stack in with queen-jack suited against Jeremy Saderne’s ace-queen. Alsup didn’t improve and headed to the payout desk to collect a career-high $273,430. That brought is tour earnings up to $611,460 putting him first on the MSPT’s all-time money list.
Soyza and Saderne began heads-up play fairly even but the former soon pulled out to a big lead. In the final hand, Saderne jammed with ten-nine and Soyza called with queen-jack. Saderne failed to catch and took $364,573 back to France for his runner-up finish.
Others to cash the tournament were two-time MSPT champ Greg Himmelbrand (19th - $29,829), Jeremy Ausmus (57th - $8,700), Darryll Fish (61s - $8,700), Marvin Rettenmaier (64th - $8,079), Elio Fox (73rd - $7,457) and Phil Laak (81st - $7,457).
The MSPT will wrap up its summer schedule next week with a $3,500 buy-in, $3.5 million GTD tournament at The Venetian.
Photos courtesy of MSPT
Editor's Note: Chad Holloway serves as Media Director for the MSPT.
