February 09 2012, Brett Collson

The penultimate day of the 2012 World Poker Tour Venice Grand Prix began with nine players attempting to reach the televised six-handed final table. The rapid play during the first two days in Venice resulted in the 155-player field being whittled down to 27, and only nine survived a shortened Day 3. Simon Ravnsbaek held a slight chip lead over Alessandro Longobardi and Andrea Dato, and American poker pro Jason Wheeler wasn’t far behind the leaders.

Day 4 began with two short stacks hanging on with less than 20 big blinds. Massimo Mosele entered the day with 163,000 chips, just over 15 big blinds, but his afternoon at the table lasted just two hands. The WPT Live Updates team reported that Mosele’s stack was carved down to just 109,000 before he moved all-in with and was called by Dato, who tabled . The board came up empty for Mosele, and he exited in ninth place with “13,795.

The other short stack, Rinat Bogdanov, fared much better. After starting the day with 201,000, Bogdanov was able to increase his stack early on and then got involved in preflop battle with Jeremie Sochet. According to the WPT Live Updates team, Bogdanov opened to 27,000 in the cutoff (blinds 6,000/12,000) and Sochet moved all-in for 94,000 more from the small blind. Bogdanov made the call, and the cards went on their backs.

Sochet:
Bogdanov

Sochet was poised for a double up, but the board gave Bogdanov trip kings to send Sochet to the rail in eighth place for “19,055.

That left Wheeler as the short stack on the final table bubble. Despite adding some chips to his stack by moving all-in and putting pressure on the rest of the table, Wheeler’s impressive run ended at the flip of a coin in Level 22. With the blinds increased to 8,000/16,000, Dato raised to 33,000 from the hijack. Andrea Carini three-bet to 85,000 from the cutoff and Wheeler four-bet shoved for 436,000 from the blinds. Dato made the call, which prompted a fold from Carini, and Wheeler’s was left flipping against Dato’s . The board brought no help to Wheeler, who made a disappointing walk to the cashier to collect his “25,625 prize for seventh place.

Dato ended the day as the chip leader 1,591,000. What makes his accomplishment most impressive is that it marks his second straight final table at WPT Venice. He took fourth place at the WPT Venice event last December for $56,822, and will seek to improve on that result when the final table commences on Friday. First place in this event is worth “229,800, which includes a seat to the WPT World Championship at Bellagio in May.

Chasing Dato on Friday will be Ravnsbaek, who also reached his second career WPT televised final table – he made the final six at WPT Vienna last year. Ravnsbaek will take 922,000 chips to the final table and, fortunately for him, will have position on the chip leader for the remainder of the tournament.

The final is set to get under way at 1400 CET (0500 PST) on Friday as the final six play down to a champion. Here’s a look at the seat draw when play resumes:

World Poker Tour Venice Grand Prix Final Table Seat Draw

For more on the WPT Venice Grand Prix, be sure to visit the PartyPoker Blog to see what Tony G and Mike Sexton have to say from the Casino Di Venezia.

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*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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February 08 2012, Chad Holloway

For the past few days, the Casino Di Venezia, the oldest casino in the world, has played host to the World Poker Tour Venice Grand Prix, which continued on Wednesday with Day-3 action. At the start of play, only 27 of the 155-player field remained, each looking to make the top 18 and secure a payday. Not only did the bubble burst, but the field was reduced all the way down to the final nine. Simon Ravnsbaek leads with 795,000 in chips.

It didn’t take long for the first elimination of the day to occur. After losing a race with to Konstantin Streletskiy’s , which cost about half her stack, PartyPoker Pro Kara Scott shoved all-in for 17,500 from the cutoff and was called by Andrea Carini on the button.

Showdown

It was another race for Scott. The board ran out and Scott was eliminated in 27th place. Scott was followed out the door by Carla Solinas (26th), Zoltan Szabo (25th), Maurizio Saieva (24th), Dario De Paz (23rd), Guido Chiodo (22nd), Giacomo Fundaro (21st), and Viacheslav Goryachev (20th).

The field was on the money bubble. Action folded around to Lionel Tran and he moved all-in from the small blind for around 50,000. Marcel Bjerkmann, who began the day as the chip leader, was in the big blind and decided to gamble.

Showdown

Tran was in great shape and primed to double, though the paired Bjerkmann’s jack. Unfortunately for Tran, the turn gave Bjerkmann trips and the lead. The river was of no consequence and Tran was sent to the rail as the bubble boy, guaranteeing the remaining players at least “7,225.

Once the bubble was burst, the eliminations began to mount. Gianluca Speranza was the first to go in 18th place (“7,225), followed by Giacomo Valenti in 17th place (“7,225). After Streletskiy was dispatched in 16th place (“8,540) and Erion Islamay in 15th (“8,540), fan favorite James Akenhead met an unlikely end.

It happened after his were cracked by the of Bjerkmann on a flop. Akenhead was left with just 23,000, which he committed a short time later after Simon Ravnsbaek opened for 13,000. Bjerkmann made the call, but then folded to a four-bet from Ravnsbaek, who held . Akenhead held , but could not improve and was eliminated in 14th place (“8,540).

Marko Neumann was the next to go in 13th place (“8,540) after his failed to improve against the of Carini. Some time later, the boisterous Bjerkmann, who experienced an up-and-down day after starting with the biggest stack, opened for 21,000 from the button only to have Ravnsbaek move all-in. Bjerkmann called off and the cards were turned up:

Showdown

The flop was fairly uneventful, as was the turn. The river was no help to Bjerkmann, and he was eliminated in 12th place (“9,855). Gabriele Lepore (11th – “9,855) and Andrey Gulyy (10th – “9,855) were the last two to hit the rail before action was halted at just nine players.

Day 4 is set to get back under way at 1300 CET (0400 PST) on Thursday as the final nine play down to the final table of six. Here’s a look at the chip counts when play resumes:

World Poker Tour Venice Grand Prix Final Nine Chip Counts

For more on the WPT Venice Grand Prix, be sure to visit the Party Poker Blog to see what Tony G and Mike Sexton have to say from the Casino Di Venezia.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook today!

*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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