Bob Whalen Wins MSPT Venetian Poker Bowl IV For $140,152

Bob Whalen Wins MSPT Venetian Poker Bowl IV For $140,152
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  • RUPAM THAKUR February 2, 2020
  • 2 Minutes Read

The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) and The Venetian in Las Vegas joined forces to offer the $1,100 buy-in Poker Bowl IV $1 Million GTD over the NFL’s Super Bowl Weekend. On February 1, the day before the NFL Super Bowl LIV match between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, Bob Whalen (cover image) came out on top to win the $140,152 first-place cash prize after a five-way deal.

Last year the event drew 1,022 runners, and it was Brian Wilson who cashed $143,929 in first-place prize money after locking in a three-way deal.

This year, the event broke all attendance records with 1,093 total entries (Day 1A – 141, Day 1B – 361, and Day 1C – 591) across the three starting flights.

Winning the MSPT Venetian Poker Bowl IV title brought Bob Whalen (formerly from Wisconsin but living in Vegas for the past three and a half years) his best live score to-date, pushing his lifetime earnings to $734,116. His previous best was $129,967, which he won back in 2009 after taking down the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Main Event. However, his first taste of victory at the Venetian was ten years ago when he had won three DeepStack tournaments. His other standout score was his 79th place finish in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event for $77,200.

Out of the 150 players (Day 1A – 18, Day 1B – 43, and Day 1C – 89) that returned on Day 2, only 117 were guaranteed a share of the massive $1,060,210 prize pool. A min-cash was worth $2,014, while the winner was slated to receive $193,477.

Daniel Watton and Nicholas Kapla were among the unfortunates who hit the rail empty-handed on Day 2; before Michael Zulker and Ronnie Abro busted on the bubble to split the 117th place cash, taking home $1,007 each.

Others who fell out before the final table included Terry Fleischer (14th for $11,662), Marko Pantelic (20th for $8,588), Poker Bowl II champion Kfir Nahum (22nd for $7,209), Kathy Liebert (23rd for $7,209), Sorel Mizzi (31st for $4,559), Brett Halan (41st for $3,499), Ashley Sleeth (47th for $3,181), Kenna James (60th for $2,863), Chipp Jett (66th for $2,757), Eric Wasylenko (70th for $2,757), MSPT Season 1 Running Aces champion Joe Matheson (77th – $2,651) and WSOP bracelet winners Ryan Laplante (107th for $2,120), Joseph Cheong (115th for $2,014).

Kou Yang was eliminated in 10th place for $14,843, and that got the final table action going.

Eyal Al Revah entered the final table as the chip leader with a stack of 4,900,000 ahead of Justin Young (4,350,000) and Bob Whalen (4,300,000). John Dennehey (1,100,000) and Vadim Shlez (645,000) were sporting the shortest two stacks at the start of the final table.

MSPT Poker Bowl IV Finalists
MSPT Poker Bowl IV Finalists


Final Table Chip Counts

  1. Eyal Al Revah – 4,900,000
  2. Justin Young – 4,350,000
  3. Bob Whalen – 4,300,000
  4. George Brady – 4,200,000
  5. Grachia Minasian – 3,025,000
  6. Thomas Lust – 2,635,000
  7. Oluwashola Akindele – 1,950,000
  8. John Dennehey – 1,100,000
  9. Vadim Shlez – 645,000

 

Final Table Recap

The start of final table chip leader Eyal Al Revah was the first to exit after a couple of crushing defeats.

Short-stacked Vadim Shlez soon followed Revah out in eight-place.

Next to join the rail was Justin Young in seventh-place, when his ran into George Brady’s .

John Dennehey was the next one out in sixth-place. Grachia Minasian’s improved to a straight on the river against Dennehey’s .

The final five players agreed to upon a deal. The chip leader Bob Whalen was declared the winner and received $140,152 along with the trophy.

Grachia Minasian (runner-up for $100,682), George Brady (3rd for $96,839), Thomas Lust (4th for $94,376), and Oluwashola Akindele (5th for $85,004) were the other beneficiaries of the deal.

Bob Whalen
Bob Whalen


Final Table Results

  1. Bob Whalen – $140,152*
  2. Grachia Minasian – $100,682*
  3. George Brady – $96,839*
  4. Thomas Lust – $94,376*
  5. Oluwashola Akindele – $85,004*
  6. John Dennehey – $38,168
  7. Justin Young – $29,686
  8. Vadim Shlez – $23,325
  9. Eyal Al Revah – $19,084
    *denotes a five-way deal

 

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerNews

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