Eric Baldwin is a force to be reckoned with at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas.
The two-time bracelet winner based out of Sin City has more than $1.6 million in career poker tournament earnings at the venue, placing him in a virtual tie with Qing Liu for the most of any player. Of his 38 career wins, 15 have come at The Venetian.
Baldwin’s latest big score saw him defeat a field of 550 entries in the Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian main event at the DeepStack Extravaganza (NYE) festival to earn his second MSPT title of the year and third of his career. Baldwin earned $90,692 as the last player standing in the $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament.
Just over a month before this win, Baldwin took down another $1,100 MSPT Venetian tournament, outlasting 274 entries for $55,261. He is now a three-time MSPT champion, with all three victories taking place at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. His first came back in 2019, which saw him earn $80,872 after overcoming a 377-entry field.
In addition to the title and the money, Baldwin was also awarded 840 Card Player Player of the Year points for his latest win. This was his 14th final-table finish of the year, with 4,217 total points and more than $613,000 in POY earnings accrued across those scores. As a result, he now sits in 40th place in the 2023 POY standings presented by Global Poker.
The top 61 finishers earned a share of the $530,750 prize pool in this event. After two starting flights, the 550-entry field had been narrowed to the 61 contenders that cashed. With the elimination of two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr in 10th place ($8,823), the final table was set. Baldwin held the lead, with Bogdan Chornyy hot on his heels.
World Poker Tour champion Ky Nguyen was the first to fall (9th – $10,933), running pocket sixes into the pocket tens of bracelet winner and Card Player Poker Tour Venetian champion Ankush Mandavia. Despite scoring that knockout and a couple of others in the early going, Mandavia was ultimately eliminated in fifth place when his A-8 was unable to outrun the pocket sixes of Baldwin. He earned $28,688 for his efforts.
Chornyy busted Victorino Torres in fourth place ($37,604) to take a healthy lead into three-handed play. He then won a flip with ADiamond Suit10Heart Suit against the 4Heart Suit4Diamond Suit of bracelet winner Darren Rabinowitz (3rd – $49,861) to set up a heads-up showdown with Baldwin.
Chornyy held 9,570,000 to Baldwin’s 4,180,000 to start. Baldwin was able to battle his way into the lead in time for the final hand of the tournament. Chornyy shoved with AHeart Suit2Club Suit and Baldwin called with KClub Suit8Diamond Suit. The board ran out 8Spade Suit6Heart Suit3Spade Suit10Spade SuitQDiamond Suit to give Baldwin a winning pair of eights. Chornyy took home $66,870 as the runner-up.
MSPT Venetian Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Baldwin | Las Vegas, NV | $90,692 |
| 2 | Bogdan Chornyy | Paterson, NJ | $66,870 |
| 3 | Darren Rabinowitz | Las Vegas, NV | $49,861 |
| 4 | Victorino Torres | Boise, ID | $37,604 |
| 5 | Ankush Mandavia | Richmond, TX | $28,688 |
