| Buy-In: | $1,600 |
|---|---|
| Prize Pool: | $798,000 |
| Entrants: | 560 |
The $1,600 buy-in Card Player Poker Tour main event, part of the DeepStack Extravaganza series at The Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip, drew a field of 560 entries. The turnout helped the prize pool easily top the $500,000 guarantee, coming in at $798,000.
The biggest slice of that prize pool went to Reno, Nevada’s Alan Mastic, who banked a personal-best $131,746.
“It was just steady playing,” the 69-year-old said. “I got lucky one time at the final table, and it went well from there.”
The computer programmer has been playing poker for the last 25 years. This was the second Venetian title for Mastic in the last week. On New Year’s Eve, he beat out 95 players in the $400 buy-in MonsterStack event to earn $9,546.
Mastic’s previous best score came in the 2022 World Series of Poker main event when he finished 200th for $53,900.
In order to claim the title, he had to overcome a tough final table that featured accomplished tournament player Khoa Nguyen (8th), three-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen (7th), WSOP.com Player of the Year Mike Holtz (5th), recent Poker Hall of Fame nominee Kathy Liebert (4th), and WPT champion and bracelet winner Jared Jaffee (3rd).
It was another deep run for Liebert, who has been on a tear recently. This summer she final tabled the WSOP senior’s event, banking $186,541 for fifth place and in November she won a WSOP Circuit ring online. She cashed four times at the WPT World Championship, including a fifth-place finish in the Ladies Championship.
Foxen, nee Bicknell, had a good chance at the win but had her pocket aces cracked by Jaffee’s A-10. It was Jaffee’s second big suckout, having also beaten pocket kings with K-Q to bust Adam Walton in 13th place.
Jaffee’s good fortune finally ran out after running a dominated ace into Mastic during three-handed play.
With that, Mastic took a 4:3 chip lead over Marquis Waters to start heads-up play. After Waters asked for a chop, however, the two decided to pause the clock.
After breaking down the chip stacks and running the numbers, the two agreed to end the tournament with a deal. Waters took home $128,500, with Mastic signing for $131,746.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY |
| 1 | Alan Mastic | $131,746 | 840 |
| 2 | Marquis Waters | $128,500 | 700 |
| 3 | Jared Jaffee | $74,104 | 560 |
| 4 | Kathy Liebert | $52,723 | 420 |
| 5 | Michael Holtz | $38,185 | 350 |
| 6 | Mark Koeln | $28,162 | 280 |
| 7 | Kristen Foxen | $21,157 | 210 |
| 8 | Khoa Nguyen | $16,196 | 140 |
| 9 | Pierce McKellar | $12,638 | 70 |
The final two players decided to chop up the remaining prize pool to crown a champion in the Card Player Poker Tour Venetian main event.
Alan Mastic took home $131,746 in prize money as the winner of the tournament, along with the title and the trophy, while Waters was awarded the second-largest portion of the prize pool to the tune of $128,500.
Jared Jaffee was all in preflop for 3.3 million from the button, and Alan Mastic thought for a minute before calling to cover on the big blind. The two players then flipped over their cards.
Mastic: A
8
Jaffee: A
5
Board: Q72
610
Jaffee was eliminated in third place, good for $74,104, and Mastic stacked up 12.7 million after collecting the pot. He will take that stack into the heads-up final against Marquis Waters, who holds 9.7 million.
Alan Mastic – 12,700,000 (63 bb)
Here are the chip counts for three-handed play.
| Player | Chip Count |
| JARED JAFFEE | 6,200,000 |
| MARQUIS WATERS | 9,600,000 |
| ALAN MASTIC | 6,600,000 |
Kathy Liebert shoved on the button for 1,250,000 and Alan Mastic eventually made the call in the big blind with A6.
Liebert held K9, but couldn’t catch up on a board reading AJ1089.
Liebert earns $52,723 for her latest deep run.
2021 WSOP.com Player of the Year Mike Holtz was all in for a little less than 2 million with K9 in the hole, and Jared Jaffee had him covered holding A6.
The final board read A53AJ, and Holtz was eliminated in fifth place, good for $38,185. Jaffee stacked up 6.65 million after collecting the pot.
Jared Jaffee – 6,650,000 (33 bb)
Play continues as the blinds increase to 100,000-200,000 with a 200,000 ante.
The average stack is currently 4,500,000, for an average of just over 22 big blinds.
There was 2.9 million in the pot, and the board read K92A when Mark Koeln got all in for 3.2 million. Marquis Waters thought for a minute before calling all in for 3.15 million. The two players then flipped over their cards.
Waters: K2
Koeln: 76
The river delivered the 5, and Waters doubled up to survive with 9.2 million. Koeln held just 75,000 after the hand.
Koeln got that 75,000 into the middle immediately on the next hand of play, and Waters was once again his opponent. This time around Koeln held Q7 against the 77 of Waters.
The board ran out 1065210, and Koeln was eliminated in sixth place, good for $28,162 in prize money.
Marquis Waters – 9,275,000 (77 bb)
Mark Koeln – Eliminated in Sixth Place ($28,162)
Here are the chip counts during the short color-up break that just occurred.
| Seat | Player | Chip Count |
| 1 | MARK KOELN | 4,675,000 |
| 2 | JARED JAFFEE | 5,100,000 |
| 3 | KRISTEN FOXEN | 7th ($21,157) |
| 4 | KATHY LIEBERT | 2,550,000 |
| 5 | MARQUIS WATERS | 4,225,000 |
| 6 | KHOA NGUYEN | 8th ($16,196) |
| 7 | PIERCE MCKELLAR | 9th ($12,638) |
| 8 | MIKE HOLTZ | 1,500,000 |
| 9 | ALAN MASTIC | 4,400,000 |
Play continues as the blinds increase to 75,000-150,000 with a 150,000 big blind ante.
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