Linglin Zeng Second Woman to Claim MSPT Main Event Title; Wins at Venetian for $393K
Table Of Contents
This past week, The Venetian hosted the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) for a $1,600 buy-in Main Event. The tournament attracted 2,472 entries over three starting flights, and on Friday it concluded with Linglin Zeng claiming the title and $393,506 in prize money after a three-way deal.
Zeng, a former nurse, follows in the footsteps of Angelina Rich, who back in 2015 won the $1,100 MSPT Venetian – also via a three-way deal – for $215,815 in prize money.
“I’m super loose, I usually play cash; tournaments aren’t really my thing.”
“I’m very aggressive, loose and aggressive,” Zeng said after the win. “I’m super loose, I usually play cash; tournaments aren’t really my thing.”
Prior to the win, Zeng had just over $500K in live tournament earnings including six-figure scores in two World Series of Poker final table appearances. In 2016, she won a career-high $130,191 for finishing fifth in Event #52: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em, and the following year placed third in Event #3: $3,000 NLH Shootout for $103,449.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linglin Zeng | China | $393,506* |
| 2 | Alessio Sabatini | Italy | $356,000* |
| 3 | Mike Shin | United States | $334,000* |
| 4 | Michael Tureniec | Sweden | $187,353 |
| 5 | Oliver Prize | United Kingdom | $143,519 |
| 6 | Yilong Wang | China | $113,119 |
| 7 | Javier Zarco | Spain | $88,374 |
| 8 | Donis Agnelli | Italy | $68,932 |
| 9 | Brady Osterman | United States | $54,792 |
| 10 | Jiawei Liu | China | $42,420 |
*Denotes three-handed deal
Others to cash the tournament included Nikolai Sears (14th - $33,582), Lokesh Garg (18th - $31,461), 2018 WSOP Europe champ Jack Sinclair (21st - $26,159), MSPT Season 7 Player of the Year Rich Alsup (56th - $7,777), Elio Fox (68th - $7,070), former MSPT Venetian champ Thomas Boivin (74th - $6,363), CSOP founder Matt Stout (81st - $6,363), and Sheddy Siddiqui (94th - $5,656), who two weeks early was part of a final table deal in the $1,100 MSPT Venetian Mid-Season Championship.
Final Table Action
The third and final day saw 32 players return to action, which meant 20 of them fell short of making the final table, which was represented by players from six different countries.
Zeng began the final table with a monster chip lead and got to work straight away eliminating Jiawei Liu in 10th place with her pocket tens holding against ace-jack.
After Brady Osterman and Donis Agnelli bowed out in ninth and eighth place respectively, poker pro Javier Zarco moved all in from the small blind holding queen-three only to have Oliver Price wake up with ace-king in the big blind. Big Slick held and Zarco was ousted in seventh place for $88,374.
Yilong Wang was then done in by Italy’s Alessio Sabatini – the result of ace-eight failing to get there against pocket kings – and then Price followed him out the door when his pocket sevens were cracked by Zeng’s sixes all in preflop when the final two boxcars appeared on the board.
Michael Tureneic took his leave after failing to get lucky with ace-jack against Sabatini’s ace-queen, and the final three players jostled for a bit before opting to discuss a deal. They eventually settled on a modified ICM chop to end the tournament.
Mike Shin Takes Over POY Lead
While he didn’t win and officially finished in third place for $334,000, Mike Shin did manage to take the lead in the MSPT Season 10 Hayvin Poker Player of the Year race ahead of Brian Wilson, who won the MSPT Venetian Poker Bowl III back in February.
Back in January, Shin won the MSPT Majestic Star in the Chicagoland area for $68,593 and then notched two more cashes at other stops between his victory and big score in Las Vegas.
Here’s a look at the current MSPT Season 10 POY standings midway through the year:
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Shin | 3,675 |
| 2 | Brian Wilson | 3,250 |
| 3 | Brian Hou | 2,250 |
| 4 | Rudy Sawa | 2,200 |
| 5 | Jeremy Brown | 2,100 |
| 6 | Chris Moon | 2,050 |
| 7 | [Removed:460] | 2,000 |
| 8 | Linglin Zeng | 2,000 |
| 9 | Sheddy Siddiqui | 1,850 |
| 10 | Scott Vetter | 1,800 |
