Event 67: $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000,000 Guarantee 

Level 16
Blinds: 1,500/3,000/500
Total Entrants: 1,032
Players Remaining: 120
Average Stack: 172,000

Less than two tables from the Event 67 money bubble, every pot becomes all the more important and two players below the chip average raked in a much-needed pot to better their chances at reaching the min-cash of $6,935.

Will Jaffe managed to take down a multi-way pot and is pushing his way toward the chip average.

Picking up the action on a flop of A♠10♦4♥, Jaffe checked from the small blind and David Malka checked in the big blind. Niall Farrell bet 8,500 from under the gun and his two opponents called. All three players checked the 8♣ turn and Jaffe bet 21,000 on the 8♠ river. Malka though momentarily and put in calling chips. Farrell folded and Jaffe showed 4♦4♠ for a full house to take in the pot. Malka and Farrell are plenty healthy with Farrell among the chip leaders with 350,000. Jaffe chips up to 130,000.

Ryan Phan put his short stack to the test but emerged unscathed to stay above 20 big blinds.

Paul Hoefer opened in early position to 7,000 and Phan three-bet to 16,000, leaving himself with 30,000 behind. Hoefer called and the two players managed to check down the full 7♣3♠3♥6♠Q♥, with each decision taking at least 20 seconds.

Hoefer rolled over J♠10♠ but Phan’s A♥9♥ was enough to take the pot. A qualifier via satellite, Phan is close to fulfilling his initial investment of only $400. Hoefer is hanging in there with 165,000.

Event 67: $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000,000 Guarantee 

Level 16
Blinds: 1,500/3,000/500
Total Entrants: 1,032
Players Remaining: 131
Average Stack: 157,500

Four levels into Day 2, Jordan Young is fourth in chips and in the process of moving over the 400,000 mark. 

Less than 30 players from the money bubble, the first group of players to pass the 500,000 checkpoint are appearing on the leaderboard. Currently leading the first wave of players is Christopher Brammer, who hit a rush in the last two levels as has 510,000 sitting in front of him. Brammer obviously has his eye set on a much larger goal than just making the money and is stacking toward a deep run.

As mentioned a few times today, this field is full of some poker’s best and as Day 2 pushes past the money bubble, they and their big stacks will become more of a factor with the blinds progressively getting higher.

The race to Day 3 is officially on and below is a look at the biggest stacks among the 131 players still in the tournament.

Chris Brammer – 510,000
Georgios Karakousis – 450,000
Pavel Plesuv – 440,000
Jordan Young – 400,000
Eric Baldwin – 360,000
Daniel Tang – 355,000
Lucas Blanco – 350,000
Danny Fuhs – 350,000
Nick Petrangelo – 330,000
Iverson Snuffer – 320,000
Robert Spano – 315,000
Chris Klodnicki – 310,000
Guiseppe Pontaleo – 300,000
Rem Net – 300,000
Daniel Wilson – 290,000
Rafael Morales – 280,000
Vojtech Ruzicka – 275,000
Jorge Rios – 270,000
Niall Farrell – 260,000
Sergio Aido – 240,000

Event 67: $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000,000 Guarantee 

Level 15
Blinds: 1,200/2,400/400
Total Entrants: 1,032
Players Remaining: 138
Average Stack: 149,500

The 138 remaining players in Event 67 are on their second break of the day as the money bubble approaches. The rush of Day 2 entries has subsided and the 1,032 have put over $3,300,000 up for grabs. The first of that prize money will be handed out once the field narrows to 108 players, which should be over the course of the next two levels.

A min-cash in this event is worth $6,935 but the $610,941 reserved for first place is impossible to ignore. Play will resume shortly and the field will play two more levels before taking a 45-minute dinner break at the end of Level 17. As play picks back up, the Venetian Poker Blog will return with another look at the leaderboard.

Event 67: $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000,000 Guarantee 

Level 15
Blinds: 1,200/2,400/400
Total Entrants: 1,032
Players Remaining: 141
Average Stack: 146,400

With so many tournaments available in Las Vegas this week, the elites of the game had their pick of the litter but ended up in Event 67 and are closing in on a payout slip but have their eyes much wider than that.

Nick Petrangelo started Day 2 in the top-10 and remains there near the second break of the day. The current #1 player on the Global Poker Index has destroyed every field in his path over the last two years and is a legitimate favorite in all tournaments he enters. The 1,032 entrants in Event 67 are a few more than Petrangelo is accustomed to competing against but like so many of the game’s best, he will find a way to adjust and excel. 

Paul Newey is the “Top Dollar Man” for a reason as the frequent High Roller participant has cashes in events ranging all the way up to the buy-in size of $1,000,000. Newey is grinding his way through Day 2 with a below-average stack but is not to be counted out by any stretch. Should Newey start to catch heat, his late stage tournament experience will serve him plenty well. 

Event 67: $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000,000 Guarantee 

Level 15
Blinds: 1,200/2,400/400
Total Entrants: 1,032
Players Remaining: 153
Average Stack: 134,800

The number of seven-figure guarantees on the Venetian DSE III schedule is enough to make anyone drool and with $3,300,000 set to be handed out in Event 67, a few players are looking to get their hands on a piece of another huge Venetian prize pool.

Heidi May navigated her way through a field of over 3,200 and finished 23rd in the largest MSPT event in history for a $16,000 score. May hails from Australia and has done her fair share of damage in the United States this summer with her fifth cash on the horizon in Event 67. 

Paul Volpe is normally accustomed to mashing his way through WSOP field but has been crushing the DSE III in 2017. Volpe finished third in the High Roller and then made the money in Event 56 ($1,600 buy-in/$2,000,000 guaranteed). Coming off of a deep run in the Monster Stack, Volpe is nearing his third cash within a two-week span in a four-figure field.

With his familiar sunglasses and hat keeping guard, Harsukhpaul Sangha is attempting to reach his second consecutive DSE III final table. Sangha took fourth in the Event 56 chop and earned over $300,000 for three great days of poker. Sometimes you have to ride the rush and that is what Sangha is looking to do in Event 67 after cashing in the MSPT event, as well. 

Event 67: $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000,000 Guarantee 

Event; $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em
Guarantee: $3,000,000
Entries: 1,032
Prize Pool: $3,302,400
Places Paid: 108
1st Place: $610,941

Payouts 

Event 67: $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000,000 Guarantee 

Level 15
Blinds: 1,200/2,400/400
Total Entrants: 1,032
Players Remaining: 175
Average Stack: 117,900

With the end of Level 14, the registration period for Event 67 has concluded. A total of 68 players exercised their option to enter today, bringing the total field size up to 1,032 players. The prize pool is currently being calculated and once it is finalized, it will be posted on the Venetian Poker Blog. Approximately 108 players will be paid in this event, meaning we are a few levels from reaching the money bubble as plays rolls on in this $3,000,000 guaranteed event.

Event 67: $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000,000 Guarantee 

Level 14
Blinds: 1,000/2,000/300
Total Entrants: 1,012
Players Remaining: 175
Average Stack: 116,800

In just a few levels, players who started Day 2 have built themselves from the below-average stack they pulled out of the bag. It doesn’t take much to get the ball rolling for some and this trio of players is hoping the early momentum will take them through at least the money bubble.

Paul Hoefer put 79,000 into play when Day 2 opened and is sitting behind a stack of roughly double that size in Level 14. The German-born Hoefer has won tournaments around the world and it attempting to win his first at The Venetian, which would be his second in Las Vegas following his 2015 Little One for One Drop win. 

One of the hardest of grinders on the High Roller circuit, Sergio Aido is plenty comfortable in a tournament of this buy-in size. The resurgence of Spanish poker has been led, in part, by Aido, who has quickly become one of the top players in his realm. Aido is playing a little over 200,000 and focused on earning another major title. 

The porkpie hat and beard might look familiar but that is not Walter White sitting behind that stack, it is Iverson Snuffer. Snuffer came into Day 2 with only 28,500 and has spun that up to over 175,000. Mostly known on the East Coast, Snuffer is looking to make players at The Venetian “Say His Name” as he knocks on the door of his first Venetian cash.

Event 67: $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em $3,000,000 Guarantee 

Level 14
Blinds: 1,000/2,000/300
Total Entrants: 1,012
Players Remaining: 185

Daniel Wilson started Day 2 with 217,000 and has seen that stack grow to 350,000 in the first two levels of the day. 

The Event 67 field is under 200 players and the stacks are starting to rise as we near the money bubble. The list of players over 200,000 is over a dozen deep with a mix of new and familiar faces on there. Georgios Karakousis started the day as the chip leader but has since been surpassed by a few players, including new chip leader Daniel Wilson. Wilson has 350,000 but has fellow big stack Pavel Plesuv on his direct left until their table breaks.

As the money bubble comes closer into view, the leaderboard will shift even more but for now, having a larger stack is a great advantage to have. Below is a look at the current chip leaders.

Daniel Wilson – 350,000
Alan Wentz – 330,000
Heidi May – 300,000
Daniel Tang – 280,000
Georgios Karakousis – 270,000
John Moore – 270,000
Sergio Aido – 260,000
Jorge Rios – 260,000
Eric Baldwin – 250,000
Pavel Plesuv – 245,000
Danny Fuhs – 220,000
Fedor Truntsev – 200,000
Stephen Graner – 200,000
Kenny Hallaert – 190,000