Buy-In: | $1,600 |
---|---|
Prize Pool: | $650,360 |
Entrants: | 458 |
The 2024 Card Player Poker Tour Venetian $1,600 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event attracted a field of 458 entries, blowing away the $400,00 guarantee to create a final prize pool of $650,360. After three starting flights and one day of combined-field action, it was Andrew Rodgers who emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $103,936. He struck a heads-up deal with 2021 CPPT Venetian champion Ankush Mandavia to lock up the win.
“It was a chop, so I didn’t exactly get to close it out, but yeah, it feels good,” said Rodgers after coming out on top.
The 40-year-old poker player based out of Henderson, Nevada moved to the lower 48 from his home state of Alaska to pursue the game. This was his largest live tournament payday, topping the $62,319 he earned for a runner-up showing in a DeepStack Extravaganza $600 buy-in event here at The Venetian® Resort Las Vegas in 2022. He now has $598,000 in career lifetime tournament earnings.
In addition to the title and the money, Rodgers was also awarded 720 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his first POY-qualified score of the year, but this alone was enough to catapult him into 77th place in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.
This event played down to the money on each of its three starting flights, which ran from Feb. 15-17. A total of 59 players advanced to day 2, all having locked up at least $3,391. Plenty of big names fell as day 2 marched on, including Farah Galfond (41st), bracelet winner Ryan Laplante (39th), World Poker Tour champion James Romero (35th), bracelet winner Mitch Halverson (31st), 2019 CPPT Venetian champion Valentyn Shabelnyk (29th), WPT champion Lee Markholt (19th), two-time bracelet winner Scott Ball (17th), 2022 CPPT Venetian champion and two-time bracelet winner John Riordan (16th), 2021 CPPT Venetian runner-up Anselmo Villareal (13th), bracelet winner Evan Sandberg (12th), and Aaron Massey (11th).
The final table began with reigning WPT World Championship winner Dan Sepiol in the lead, with Rodgers in seventh chip position when cards got back in the air. Edward Holstein (9th – $11,790) and Dan Ciltan were the first to fall, with Rodgers scoring the knockout against Ciltan to kickstart his climb up the leaderboard.
Rodgers then made a big hero call with pocket eights on a board with two overcards acing a big river bet from Zichuan Huang, who was one of the largest stacks at the time. That hand shot Rodgers up the leaderboard even further, and led to him choosing pocket eights for his winner photo.
Jeremy Becker
Jeremy Becker’s run in this event came to an end in sixth place ($24,788). He ran 108
into the pocket jacks of Sepiol and failed to connect with a king-high runout. Becker is now the 12th-ranked player in the 2024 POY standings, with six final-table finishes and one POY-qualified title won already this year. He now has more than $1.1 million in recorded earnings after this latest score.
A classic race spelled the end of Zichuan Huang’s quest for the title in this tournament. He was awarded $32,766 as the fifth-place finisher when his A-10 was unable to outrun the pocket eights of a surging Collins.
Rodgers halted that momentum a bit when he won a big pot off Collins with a rivered set of deuces to overtake the chip lead. Rodgers pulled even further ahead when his KK
held up against the A
K
of Sepiol in a massive preflop clash. The board ran out 10
6
2
9
4
and Rodgers’ kings held to see him surpass 10,400,000.
Daniel Sepiol
The next big confrontation saw all the chips get in the middle after an A9
2
flop. Collins got all in with pocket deuces in the hole and found himself up against the 9
6
of Rodgers. The 3
gave Rodgers a flush, and the 4
river kept him ahead to send Collins to the rail with a career-best payday of $59,914.
The final two players paused the action to discuss a deal, with Rodgers holding 11,580,000 to Ankush Mandavia’s 6,755,000. They ultimately came to an agreement that saw Rodgers secure the win and the aforementioned payout of $103,936. Mandavia earned $95,149 as the runner-up. The bracelet winner and former champion of this event now has more than $6.6 million in lifetime scores to his name.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
1 | Andrew Rodgers | $103,936 | 720 |
2 | Ankush Mandavia | $95,149 | 600 |
3 | Richard Collins | $59,914 | 480 |
4 | Daniel Sepiol | $43,976 | 360 |
5 | Zichuan Huang | $32,766 | 300 |
6 | Jeremy Becker | $24,788 | 240 |
7 | Zachary Donovan | $19,046 | 180 |
8 | Dan Ciltan | $14,865 | 120 |
9 | Edward Holstein | $11,790 | 60 |
Ankush Mandavia
Andrew Rodgers – 11,580,000 (96 bb)
Ankush Mandavia – 6,755,000 (56 bb)
Mandavia, the 2021 CPPT Venetian main event winner, earned $95,149 as the runner-up. Andrew Rodgers took home $103,936 as the champion.
A recap of the day will be posted shortly.
Here is a look at the chip counts before the start of heads-up play. The final two players appear to be agreeing to a chop at the moment, so the tournament might have reached a conclusion.
Andrew Rodgers – 11,580,000 (96 bb)
Ankush Mandavia – 6,755,000 (56 bb)
Richard Collins
Collins was eliminated in third place for a payday worth $59,914, and Rodgers stacked up more than 11.5 million. The clock was paused after the hand as the final two players are discussing a chop.
Andrew Rodgers – 11,580,000 (96 bb)
Richard Collins – Eliminated in Third Place ($59,914)
The blinds are up to 60,000-120,000 with a 120,000 big blind ante for level 29.
The final three paused the clock to talk a potential deal. The chip counts at the time were as follows:
Andrew Rodgers – 9,085,0000
Richard Collins – 3,950,000
Ankush Mandavia – 5,300,000
The final three did not come to a deal after a brief discussion and resumed play.
Daniel Sepiol
The final board read J6
3
7
9
, and Sepiol was eliminated in third place for a payout worth $43,976. Collins stacked up 4.57 million after collecting the pot.
Richard Collins – 4,570,000 (45 bb)
Daniel Sepiol – Eliminated in Fourth Place ($43,976)
Andrew Rodgers raised to 225,000 from under the gun. Dan Sepiol three-bet to 725,000. Rodgers moved all-in for 5,180,000 and Sepiol called with AK
.
Rodgers held KK
. The board ran out 10
6
2
9
4
and Rodgers’ kings held to see him surpass 10,400,000.
Sepiol was left with 950,000 after the hand.
Ankush Mandavia
The board hit the table A4
3
4
K
, and Mandavia doubled up to survive with 2.2 million. Collins was at 4.23 million after the hand.
Ankush Mandavia – 2,200,000 (22 bb)
Richard Collins – 4,230,000 (42 bb)
Andrew Rodgers
Collins checked. Rodgers bet 1,100,000. Collins called and Rodgers showed 22
for a rivered set of deuces. Collins flashed Q
Q
and the pot was sent to Rodgers.
He now sits with 5,830,000, good for the chip lead. Collins slid to 5,250,000.
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Career Winnings | Titles | Cashes | Final Tables |
1 |
David Coleman $115,989 |
---|---|
2 |
Andrew Rodgers $103,936 |
3 |
Ankush Mandavia $95,149 |
4 |
James Leonard $87,820 |
5 |
Louis Cheffy $82,666 |
6 |
Baurzhan Akimov $63,943 |
7 |
Richard Collins $59,914 |
8 |
Michael Rossitto $59,784 |
9 |
Gourg Khanchat $58,530 |
10 |
Terry Fleischer $45,598 |