WPT Venetian: Chad Eveslage Wins $910,370

By Scott Bowen,
Editor at online-gambling.com

Scott Bowen Editor at online-gambling.com

Scott Bowen is a casino expert and editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He is one of the most valuable members of our team at online-gambling.com. Bowen specializes in writing on a variety of subjects, including roulette, blackjack, video poker, sports betting, and more.

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Last updated: July 21, 2021

Chad Eveslage has won the largest $5K WPT event in history. On the final day of the WPT Venetian, the American dominated by single-handedly showing four of his five opponents the door. The heads-up against Mike Liang started with big stacks for both players. But due to a big cooler, it took very little time. Eveslage wins a mighty $910,370, while the runner-up with $606,890 also burped great. No less than three ladies had played cards to the last six. Kyna England, Daniel Rodriguez, and Kitty Kuo finished third, fifth, and sixth respectively.

Day 3 was scheduled for Tuesday, with 39 contenders still in the race. The big goal was to make it to the final of the last six players at the end of the day. Things went awry early in the day for the likes of Keven Stammen (36th, $23,145), Robert Mizrachi (35th, $23,145), and Ben Palmer (30th, $27,210). Moments later, the curtain fell for John Hennigan (23rd, $32,355) and Jason Koon (18th, $38,920). The legendary Scotty Nguyen was supposed to get close to the FT, but it wasn’t to be. A-K lost it to Q-Q, stopping his run at the last eleven ($72,410). At the nine-player final table Michael Mizrachi (9th, $91,035) would be the first to go down. After Nacho Barbero (8th, $115,685) and Ari Oxman (7th, $148,580) also had to leave the battlefield, the lineup of the final six was announced.

Final Table Players

They came back on Wednesday for the fourth and all-deciding day of play. Mike Liang and Chad Eveslage had built up a big lead over the other four. Notably, half of the contenders were women, with Kitty Kuo, Daniela, and Kyna England. Kitty Kuo (6th, $192,855) unfortunately lost almost all of her chips to Rodriguez; before Eveslage gave the final push. The latter was also responsible for the bust of Daniela Rodriguez (5th, $252,945). The big stack continued to dominate: Liang knocked out Tim McDermott (4th, $335,200), while Eveslage got the last queen to the rail with Kyna England (3rd, $448,755).

That’s how it came to the heads-up that seemed to be in the stars for a long time: Liang versus Eveslage. With 240 big blinds in the middle, it looked like it was going to be a long battle, but nothing could be further from the truth. It had to do with a huge cooler that happened soon. Liang three-bet from the big blind to 1,850,000, and initial raiser Eveslage was in a position to make the call. At J-10-10 bet Liang 1.3 million, after which his opponent Eveslage. The one with initiative K crossed the line 3.5 million on the turn, and again the call followed. On river 8, Liang goes for the triple barrel. He puts Eveslage all-in for over 16 million, another quick call. Liang showed Q-10 for flopped trips, while Eveslage Q-9 turned with a straight. What a setup!

Winners Speak

Liang was left with ten big blinds, doubled up again, but not much later, it was over. With Q-Q, the big chip leader beat, A-9 his opponent’s. For example, Chad Eveslage shipped this beautiful tournament for a massive amount of $910.370. How much he has already collected a lot with $3.3 million. It is by far his biggest score ever. Mike Liang also had a dream run, which was awarded $606,890.