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Steve Sung Leads Final 13 Players In Card Player Poker Tour Venetian Main Event

Two-Time WSOP Bracelet Winner Finished The Day With A Commanding Chip Lead

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After another nine levels of play, the $3,500 Card Player Poker Tour Venetian no-limit hold’em main event is down to its final 13 players and two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Steve Sung is leading the way.

Sung used a late surge to propel himself into the lead. The money bubble broke early in level 18, the final level of Day 2 with the final 18 players securing an in-the-money finish. Sung was aggressive on the bubble and eliminated the first three players who busted in the money to finish the day with 1.014 million in chips.

Leo Song-Carrillo was chip leader for most of the day and won a massive pot to burst the bubble when he picked up pocket aces against Patrick Uzan’s pocket kings. All the money went in preflop and Song-Carrillo moved over the million mark himself, but a rough finish to the day left him fourth in chips with 685,000.

George WolffGeorge Wolff finished the day second in chips with 733,000, just ahead of WSOP bracelet winner Jack Duong, who finished third with 716,000. Hiroaki Harada rounds out the top five chip counts with 679,000. Other notables still in the hunt for the $136,080 first-place prize include Tanya Kirk (567,000), Dylan Wilkerson (442,000), Damjan Radanov (285,000), Mike Shin (203,000) and WPT Champion Ben Palmer (117,000), who comes into Monday as the short stack.

The day started with 52 players returning, but there was still four levels to play before registration closed. By the time level 14 started and registration was officially closed, the field had grown to 160 entries, generating a prize pool of $504,000 and paid the top 18 spots.

Michael Rossitto started the day with the chip lead, but busted shortly after the money bubble. He finished in 17th place for $7,056. Gary Hansen, Samuel Spiwak and Kent Buckingham also busted before the day was over, but not without a cash. Hansen finished in 18th and Spiwak in 16th for the same payout as Hansen.

Steven Firestone busted in 15th place, earning $8,064, and Ravi Raghavan busted in 14th place on the last hand of the day when his pocket kings ran into Duong’s pocket aces.

The Day 2 field was loaded with talent, but lady luck wasn’t on everyone’s side, with many talented pros hitting the rail. World Poker Tour Champion Aaron Van Blarcum, poker’s all-time money leader Bryn Kenney, Ian O’Hara, WSOP bracelet winner Anuj Agarwal, Joe Cheong, Zachary Donovan, WPT Champion Tony Sinishtaj, Ben Yu, Tony Dunst, Alex Rocha, Farid Jattin and Sam Soverel were among the many pros who busted before the end of Sunday’s action.

The final 13 players will return on Monday at 1 p.m. to play down to a winner. Everybody is guaranteed a cash of at least $8,064.

Here is a look at the seat draw for the final day:

Table 28

Seat 1: EMPTY
Seat 2: Jack Duong – 716,000
Seat 3: Steve Sung – 1,014,000
Seat 4: Damjan Radanov – 285,000
Seat 5: EMPTY
Seat 6: Tanya Kirk – 567,000
Seat 7: George Wolff – 733,000
Seat 8: Nitis Udornpim – 345,000
Seat 9: Mike Shin – 203,000

Table 27

Seat 1: EMPTY
Seat 2: Leo Song-Carrillo – 685,000
Seat 3: Dylan Wilkerson – 442,000
Seat 4: Hiroaki Harada – 679,000
Seat 5: EMPTY
Seat 6: Ekrem Bozkurt – 262,000
Seat 7: Ben Palmer – 117,000
Seat 8: EMPTY
Seat 9: Valentyn Shabelnyk – 354,000