A total of 872 players entered the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event on Saturday and, when the smoke cleared, 476 remained in the hunt for the $827,000 top prize.
Topping the leaderboard after Day 1 was Andy “BKiCe” Seth, an online poker pro who chipped up steadily throughout the day, even taking a break to play online poker at one point. By 5:00pm PT yesterday, he had amassed a stack of 120,000 chips and ended the day with 245,600. Seth is one of only four players, or 1% of the field, with more than 200,000 chips. In second place on the NAPT Venetian leaderboard is fellow online poker pro Phil “USCphildo” Collins, who holds a stack of 227,900 chips. Also near the top is 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, whose pile of 207,300 chips is good for fourth overall entering Day 2 on Sunday.
Moneymaker isn’t the only former WSOP Main Event champ making waves in Las Vegas. Registering the 14th largest total at the Venetian is 2004 Main Event winner Greg Raymer, who boasts a stack of 144,100. Raymer nearly recorded a second bracelet in 2009 after taking third in the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em event commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP; he banked $774,000 in that tournament. All told, Raymer owns nearly $6.5 million in career WSOP earnings and has made six final tables.
UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth’s stay in the $5,000 NAPT Venetian Main Event was short-lived. After much deliberation, including seeking the advice of fellow tournament pro Daniel Negreanu, Hellmuth raised all-in with pocket queens on a flop of 4-10-5. Eric Levesque made the call with pocket aces and Hellmuth was suddenly drawing to two outs. Neither hit on the turn or river, eliminating Hellmuth. Coverage found on the official website of PokerStars detailed his exit: “Needless to say, Hellmuth was not quiet or happy, but he was required to pack his things and leave the table.”
Also sent packing late in the day was Team PokerStars Pro’s Gavin Griffin. The acclaimed pro, who owns major titles on three poker circuits, shoved with K-Q on a board reading Q-10-4 with two clubs. An opponent made the call with 2-3 of clubs for a flush draw and ultimately spiked a third club. By the time the eighth level had been played out on Saturday, Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith and PokerStars’ Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan had also both hit the rails.
After seeing his stack crippled after his nut flush fell to a boat, Barry Greenstein doubled up at the expense of Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania. Greenstein held 6-8 and pushed all-in on a board of A-7-5-4 for the nuts, while Charania held pocket fives for a set. The board failed to pair on the river and Greenstein’s stack boomed to 49,000. He finished the day with 40,700 chips, the 291st largest tally in the room.
Here are the top 10 stacks headed into Day 2 of the PokerStars NAPT Venetian Main Event:
1. Andy “BKiCe” Seth – 245,600
2. Philip “USCphildo” Collins – 227,900
3. Mark Ketteringham – 211,000
4. Chris Moneymaker – 207,300
5. Yongli Jin – 160,800
6. Steven Tabb – 159,800
7. Daniel Schreiber – 157,600
8. Jason “TheMasterJ33” Dewitt – 154,000
9. Mark Mierkalns – 153,000
10. Samuel Stein – 151,500
Other players remaining in the top 50 on the leaderboard include:
13. Vanessa Rousso – 144,900
14. Greg Raymer – 144,100
23. Danny Wong – 123,100
27. Men “The Master” Nguyen – 118,400
28. Andrew “good2cu” Robl – 116,400
32. Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke – 112,600
35. “Miami” John Cernuto – 111,200
50. Montel Williams – 100,300
The top 128 players will finish in the money. The PokerStars NAPT Venetian Main Event crowns a champion on Wednesday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest NAPT Venetian coverage.
