Anselmo Villareal Leads 19 Day 1B Survivors With 669,000
Feb 16, '24
A total of 152 entries jumped into the mix on day 1B of the $400,000 guaranteed Card Player Poker Tour main event at The Venetian® Resort Las Vegas, putting the total field size at 241 with the prize pool up to $342,220. The $1,600 buy-in tournament sports three starting flights, with 12.5% of the field making the money. In the end tonight, 19 players advanced to join the 12 players that had already made day 2 from the day 1A contenders, and all of them are guaranteed at least a min-cash on Sunday.
Each player began with 40,000 in chips to play with as 40-minute blind levels played throughout the flight that clocked in at 12 hours. Late registration and re-entry were available through the start of level 13. The final hand saw both the money bubble and end-of-day bubble burst simultaneously when Aaron Massey took out Hal Rotholz to end play for the night.
The player at the top of the counts to end play was previous CPPT Venetian runner-up Anselmo Villareal, who held 669,000 at the end of play. That stack makes him the overall chip leader heading into Day 2 at this point in the tournament. His previous second-place finish here in the Venetian Poker Room came back in 2021 when he cashed for a nice payday worth $253,441.
.jpeg "Scott Ball")
Other big stacks near the top at the end of play include two-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Scott Ball with 632,000, and Yaron Malki rounds out the top three with a stack of 506,000. There are just four players in the tournament that advanced above the half-million mark in chips now along with Day 1A leader Evan Sandberg (571,000).
Jeremy Becker, who was the talk of poker social media today due to a cross-booking bet made by Daniel Negreanu pitting Becker against Landon Tice, bagged up the fourth-largest stack on day 1B with 493,000. Becker is currently ranked inside the top 25 in the Card Player Player of the Year race thanks to a strong start to 2024, with one POY-qualified title and five such final-table finishes.
Notables who took a seat on day 1B, but were unable to bag included all-time Venetian money leader Eric Baldwin, Shannon Shorr, Dylan Linde, Matt Affleck, and WPT champion Qing Liu.
There was 13:45 left remaining in level 17 (4,000-8,000 with a big blind ante of 8,000) when play concluded.
Tournament play continues with Day 1C beginning Saturday, Feb. 17 at 11:10 AM local time. Day 2 will begin Sunday at 11:00 AM.
| Rank |
Player |
Chips |
| 1 |
Anselmo Villareal |
669,000 |
| 2 |
Scott Ball |
632,000 |
| 3 |
Yaron Malki |
506,000 |
| 4 |
Jeremy Becker |
493,000 |
| 5 |
Harvey Alegado |
449,000 |
| 6 |
Patrick Truong |
431,000 |
| 7 |
Rommel Liscano |
410,000 |
| 8 |
Charlie Tang |
386,000 |
| 9 |
Peter Hengsakul |
319,000 |
| 10 |
Tim Reilly |
242,000 |
| 11 |
Michael Khan |
227,000 |
| 12 |
Chance Walker |
215,000 |
| 13 |
Graham Matthews |
212,000 |
| 14 |
Brian Battistone |
197,000 |
| 15 |
Lee Markholt |
188,000 |
| 16 |
Aaron Massey |
176,000 |
| 17 |
Esther Kim |
145,000 |
| 18 |
James Romero |
120,000 |
| 19 |
Farah Galfond |
115,000 |
Player Tags: Anselmo Villarreal
Anselmo Villareal vs. Scott Ball
Feb 16, '24
With a flop of J
10
4
, Anselmo Villareal bet 65,000. Scott Ball called and the 7 hit the turn.
Villareal bet 77,000. Ball called and the 4 paired the board. Villareal checked and Ball checked behind. Villareal revealed the AJ for jacks and fours with an ace kicker and Ball mucked to slide to 250,000.
Villareal now sits with 670,000 for the largest stack in the field.
Player Tags: Anselmo Villarreal, Scott Ball
Anselmo Villareal Takes One Out
Feb 16, '24
.jpeg "Anselmo Villareal")
There was over 100,000 in the pot, and the board read Q105
4A when the small blind was all in for his last 120,000 holding 65. Anselmo Villareal had him more than covered with KJ in the hole for a better flush. Villareal took out his opponent to stack up 520,000 after collecting the pot.
Anselmo Villareal – 520,000 (86 bb)
Player Tags: Anselmo Villarreal
Anselmo Villareal Busts One
Feb 16, '24
The small blind was all in short with A2 in the hole, and Anselmo Villareal had him covered holding pocket aces.
The board was dealt QJ638, and Villareal took out his opponent to stack up 148,000 after collecting the pot.
Anselmo Villareal – 148,000 (74 bb)
Player Tags: Anselmo Villarreal
Anselmo Villareal Doubles Up
Feb 16, '24
Anselmo Villareal was all in short with pocket tens from the cutoff, and the hijack had him covered holding pocket sixes.
The final board read 4225A, and Villareal scored a doubled up to survive with a stack worth 39,500.
Anselmo Villareal – 39,500 (19 bb)
Player Tags: Anselmo Villarreal
Anselmo Villareal Eliminated in 13th Place ($7,788)
Feb 18, '24
.jpeg "Anselmo Villareal")
Anselmo Villareal was all in for 650,000 under the gun holding A3, and Ankush Mandavia had him covered holding pocket tens.
The final board read 10945Q, and Villareal was eliminated in 13th place for a payout of $7,788. Mandavia was up to 1.45 million after the hand.
Ankush Mandavia – 1,450,000 (29 bb)
Anselmo Villareal Eliminated in 13th Place ($7,788)
Player Tags: Anselmo Villarreal, Ankush Mandavia
Kristen Derdorff Eliminated In 33rd Place ($4,746)
Feb 18, '24
Kristen Deardorff was all in for a few hundred thousand with AK in the hole UTG+1, and Anselmo Villareal had her covered holding pocket kings.
The final board read A7452, and Deardorff was eliminated in 33rd place for a payday of $4,746. Villareal was up close to 2 million after the hand.
Anselmo Villareal – 1,900,000 (126 bb)
Kristean Deardorff – Eliminated in 33rd Place ($4,746)
Player Tags: Anselmo Villarreal, Kristen Deardorff
Ivan Ruban Eliminated in 34th Place ($4,746)
Feb 18, '24
All the cards were out on the table when Anselmo Villareal had Ivan Ruban were involved in a set-over-set situation with Villareal holding pocket queens against Ruban’s pocket sixes on a final board reading Q681010. Ruban was eliminated in 34th place for a payday worth $4,746, and Villareal crossed the million threshold after collecting the pot.
Anselmo Villareal – 1,150,000 (76 bb)
Ivan Ruban – Eliminated in 34th Place ($4,746)
Player Tags: Anselmo Villarreal, Ivan Ruban
The final two players agreed on a deal that saw Ankush Mandavia lock up $260,000 while Anselmo Villarreal took home $253,441. Stay tuned for a complete recap of the day’s action.
There was about 870,000 in the middle on the turn with a board of 10