Featured Women in Poker: Angelina Rich & Yulia Lisichkina Reach MSPT Venetian Final Table
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As PokerNews continues our summer of featuring the most talented and influential women in poker, we step outside the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) to the Venetian, where we live reported the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) $1,600 Main Event.
The tournament, won by Shea Quintin for $324,946 on Friday, featured two skilled women — Yulia Lisichkina and Angelina Rich — at the final table. They are the focus of our latest edition of Featured Women in Poker.
Last week, we shared with you the story about Katie Kopp, the champion of WSOP Event #1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em. This week, we focus on two impressive performances at the Venetian.
Lisichkina's Aggressive Play Pays Off
The $1,600 buy-in MSPT Venetian attracted 1,644 players, creating a prize pool of $2 million. With life-changing money at stake at the final table — $324,946 to first place — Lisichkina wasn't afraid to pull the trigger on a crucial, massive bluff.
The Russian poker player, who was in the small blind, was facing a raise to 500,000 (blinds at 125,000/250,000) from the button — Matthew Sabia. She three-bet to 1,300,000 before Sabia popped it up to 3,000,000. Lisichkina went for another raise this time to 11,000,000, which convinced her opponent to fold, and then she flashed the 2♣ before sending her hand into the muck.
That brilliant play was a key in what turned out to be a runner-up finish and a $284,050 payday, the largest of her career. She then agreed to an ICM chop with Quintin, who ended up winning the trophy and a slightly higher payout following heads-up play. Lisichkina now has over $420,000 in live tournament cashes, according to Hendon Mob.
Getting Rich at Venetian
Angelina Rich didn't make it quite as far as Lisichkina, but she came close. The poker player from Seattle finished in ninth place for $36,780, which was far from her biggest score ever at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
In 2015, she won her first major poker tournament in the same casino. Rich scooped the $1,100 Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Venetian Main Event for $304,386, beating out another talented player, Keven Stammen, heads-up for the title.
Seven years later and she was up to her old tricks at Venetian and came within nine spots of taking down another victory inside the Las Vegas Strip card room. Her final hand of the tournament at the final table on Friday was quite a brutal cooler.
Rich raised to 450,000 in the hijack with K♦J♥ and Quintin defended his big blind with 4♦3♦. The action flop came out J♦9♦5♦ and the preflop raiser continued for 300,000. Her opponent called and they both then saw a turn card of K♠, putting Rich and her two pair up against a flush. All the money went in on the turn and the river Q♠ didn't change the outcome.
Rich now has nearly $700,000 in live tournament cashes. Despite the cooler, she finished off with a strong performance and was one of two women to reach the nine-player final table.
