Mai, Kural and Peterson became the champions of the Venetian Showdown Poker Series
In August, The Venetian, located in Las Vegas, hosted the Showdown Poker Series championship. There were 48 different events in this series. A total of 5,272 players participated in the series, and the prize pool was $1,828,049. Titles were won by players such as Steve Foutty ($600 NLH Monster Stack), Matthew Lui ($400 NLH Ultimate Stack), Kyle Brinkmann ($600 NLH Monster Stack), Gary Bolden ($400 PLO Bounty) and Kao Saechao, who won two titles ($300 NLH Bounty and $400 PLO).
Mai, Kural and Peterson became the champions of the Venetian Showdown Poker Series, winning the largest events. Tuan Mai won the opening tournament called the $400 NLH Ultimate Stack, which attracted 375 players. The event’s prize fund was equal to 123 750 USD, and 42 players shared this money.
The prize zone included: Kim Mikkelsen (11th place – 1975 USD), Mary Sturges (16th – 1450 USD), Tim West (23rd – 1100 USD), and Luke Vrabel (30th – 900 USD). In the heads-up, the regular Venetian player Tuan Mai beat Matthew Lui and won 23,920 USD. Final table:
- Tuan Mai — 23,920 USD
- Matthew Lui — 19,881 USD
- Ishak Noyan — 12,251 USD
- Cornel Cimpan — 8,663 USD
- Orez Mokedi — 6,497 USD
- Robert Frederick — 4,900 USD
- Baris Topuz — 3,713 USD
- Victor Wan — 2,825 USD
- Ross Lantzy — 2,300 USD
Mai won prizes five times in this championship and once almost won, becoming the second in the 17th event of the series and earning 27,571 USD. Now the career earnings of an American exceed 1.6 million.
By the end of the series, there were more players
The famous Turkish commentator Kaan Kural distinguished himself in the 4th tournament of the series, which collected 92 entries and a prize pool of 30,820 USD. Only 12 best poker players received money, including Mary Sturges (6th place – 1664 USD), Peter Segal (10th – 771 USD), and Peter Kim (12th – 616 USD). Final table:
- Kaan Kural — 6,684 USD
- Veronica Parker — 6,333 USD
- Peter Elmalis — 5,149 USD
- Adam Sanders — 3,779 USD
- Mackenzie Kraemer — 2,157 USD
- Mary Sturges — 1,664 USD
- Jason Reed — 1,294 USD
- Samuel Cho — 986 USD
- Koji Sakai — 771 USD
The last two players made a deal, as a result of which Veronica Parker received 6,333 USD, while Kaan Kural won the title and 6,684 USD as prize money. This is record earnings in his career. In total, Kural managed to win 33,913 USD.
Towards the end of the series, there were more players, and 1,040 entries were registered in the $400 NLH Ultimate Stack tournament. The prize pool was USD 343,200, paid to 116 poker players. The payout was received by: Matthew Waldt (10th place – 5450 USD), Cornell Cimpan (12th – 4250 USD), Kao Saechao (16th – 3000 USD), Troy Pitts (33rd – 1625 USD), Jeff Fielder (42nd – 1375 USD), Haile Kuo (49th – 1175 USD) and Eric Baldwin (69th – 925 USD).
- Nick Peterson — 53,475 USD
- George Long — 46,000 USD
- Leon Simmons — 30,000 USD
- Raul Esquivel — 21,500 USD
- Ross Lantzy — 16,000 USD
- Desmond Haynes — 12,000 USD
- Vadim Shlez — 9,000 USD
- Einay Shalom — 7,000 USD
- Stephen Lichtenberger — 5,450 USD
The final table was filled with many locals, but Canadian Nick Peterson eventually turned out to be on top, who won the trophy and 53,475 USD. The Canadian player won the largest prize money in the series.