Shega Leads The Final Sixteen in MSPT $1,100 Main event; Bazeley Still In Contention
After 12 hours and 15 levels of play, the start of the day field of 255 was brought down to the final 16 in The Mid-States Poker Tour $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event at Venetian Las Vegas Nevada. The final 16 players are all guaranteed $17,876, but all eyes remain on the first place prize of $294,327.
Robert Shega leads the pack with an impressive bag of 11,460,000 chips. The Ohio native has already guaranteed himself his best lifetime cash of at least $17,826, and he has put himself in a prime position for a shot at his first MSPT title. Shega found himself constantly knocking out players and raking in pots throughout the day and always remained one of the chip leaders. Of the 11 players that were eliminated before day's end after the redraw, Shega eliminated three of them, and many others throughout the day.
Top 10 Chip Counts Going Into the Final Day
| Position | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Shega | 11,460,000 | 95 |
| 2 | Valentin Oberhauser | 9,535,000 | 79 |
| 3 | Joshua Suyat | 8,160,000 | 68 |
| 4 | Federico Roberto | 4,090,000 | 34 |
| 5 | John Walker | 3,350,000 | 28 |
| 6 | Jimmy Lee | 2,825,000 | 23 |
| 7 | Quy Dao | 2,800,000 | 23 |
| 8 | James Gilbert | 2,675,000 | 22 |
| 9 | John Phan | 1,670,000 | 14 |
| 10 | Jake Bazeley | 1,590,000 | 13 |
Behind him is French player Valentin Oberhauser, who was the chip leader of Day 1a’s flight bagging 9,535,000. Oberhauser was on a rollercoaster of a day, with at one point being down to only 15 big blinds with six tables left. Towards the end of the day, he won a flip against Lukas Gunzel when his jacks held against ace-queen, and that put him right at the top once more.
Joshua Suyat went on a late night rush with him going from 2,100,000 with 27 left to 8,160,000 at night's end. He knocked out four players at the final three tables and saw his chip stack quadruple from his beginning run at the final three tables.
John Walker maintained a steady chip stack throughout the day and came in fourth with 3,350,000 at day’s end. Walker held the biggest rail of any of the remaining players, with many shouts and chants of support coming from his fellow Canadians Alex Livingston and Colin McHugh.
Jake Bazeley comes into the final day as the most decorated of all of the players left. With $4,508,456 in lifetime earnings, he will be coming in as one of the short stacks with 1,590,000. He has already secured himself his best MSPT finish and will be looking to add his name to the list of successful pros with MSPT titles.
A Bubble For The Books
With $2,078,610 up for grabs it took only one full level to come down to the bubble and it was quite a memorable one. Santiago Soriano raised in the hijack and Colten Yamagashi three-bet in the cutoff which Soriano responded to by moving all in for 80 big blinds effective and Yamagashi called it off. Soriano held eight-two offsuit, and Yamagashi held a pair of kings. The board ran out in a cruel fashion as the turn opened up a straight draw for Soriano and the river completed the straight to send Yamagashi out on the bubble and Soriano a massive pot.
Post Bubble Play
Players in the tournament continued to be eliminated at a rapid rate for quite a while after the bubble burst. Players such as 2019 WSOP Main Event seventh-place finisher Nicholas Marchington (216th - $2,079), Harry Lodge (186th - $2,390), Ralph Massey (156th - $2,702), Fehim Hajdari (109th - $3,222) and Stanley Lee (22nd - $12,368). The final two eliminations of the night were Brett Murray (18th - $17,876) and Lukas Grundel (17th - $17,876), the first of which had ran fours into the pocket nines of Robert Shega, the second lost a flip against Valentin Oberhauser.
The final sixteen will return to The Venetian Las Vegas, Nevada at 12 p.m. with blinds coming back at 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 big blind ante. Blinds will last 40 minutes each, and a 15-minute break will occur at the end of every three levels. Stay tuned to PokerNews for the updates on the tournament and the eventual winner.