Linglin Zeng captures maiden victory at the $1600 buy-in MSPT Main Event

06/23/2019

It’s not all about winning WSOP bracelets in Las Vegas. Around the city, numerous poker events also offer juicy guarantees. From June 17 to 21, the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) held a $3,000,000 guaranteed Main Event at the Venetian. It drew a massive 2,472 entrants each one ponying up the $1,600 buy-in for a prize pool of $3,534,960. A large number of well known pros were in attendance, and many managed to grab a piece of the pot, however it was China’s Linglin Zeng who walked away with the title after a three-way ICM deal.

Zeng was awarded $393,506 and became the second female in history to win a MSPT Main Event.

Winner profile

Based on The Hendon Mob, Linglin Zeng began accumulating live tournament earnings in 2015, mostly at the WSOP. She reached the final table at various events but a title always eluded her. The MSPT 2019 Main Event was Zeng’s first live tournament victory and largest live score. She jumped from 59th to around 22nd in China’s All Time Money List. Prior to winning, she cashed 3 times at the 2019 WSOP with a 14th place finish at Event 16: $1500 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed.

Event recap

Out of the 2,472 entrants of the MSPT Main Event, only 329 players advanced to Day 2. It was during this heat that Linglin Zeng broke from the pack. In Level 18 she was steamrolling that by Level 20, she had amassed a stack of 225 big blinds. Day 2 closed with Zeng leading the final 32 players.

At Day 3, Zeng never relinquished command. After railing Gustavo Echevarri in 12th place, she soon entered the final table (10 players) with a stack that dwarfed the rest. Running very hot, she delivered the axe on Jiawei Liu (10th) to create an even bigger gap against her opponents.

When the field whittled to 6 players, she amassed half of the chips in play. She eliminated Oliver Price in 5th place with pocket sixes improving to quads to defeat pocket sevens. After several rounds at three-handed, Zeng, Alessio Sabatini, and Mike Shin opted on an ICM deal to wrap it up.

Final table payouts

1st Linglin Zeng – China – $393,506
2nd Alessio Sabatini – Italy – $356,000
3rd Mike Shin – USA – $334,000
4th Michael Tureniec – Sweden – $187,353
5th Oliver Price – UK – $143,519
6th Yilong Wang – China – $113,119
7th Javier Zarco – Spain – $88,374
8th Donis Agnelli – Italy – $68,932
9th Brady Osterman – USA – $54,792
10th Jiawei Liu – China – $42,420

Notable players in the money

Among the fallen players in the money were: Wilson Lim (16th), Jack Sinclair (21st), Andy Ying Kit Chan (26th), Tobias Peters (28th), Chen An Lin (60th), Anthony Marquez (62nd), Alexandru Papazian (79th), Yohwan Lim (86th), Darryll Fish (89th), Bertrand “ElKy” Grospellier (123rd), Wai Kiat Lee (152nd), Phachara Wongwichit (158th), Dong Chen (205th), Marvin Rettenmaier (221st), and Manig Loeser (245th).