Samuel Bifarella topped the field in the second MAJOR Series of Poker: The Tour main event hosted in a week at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, Nevada. The event concluded on June 12, with Bifarella claiming $141,905 as the champion.
This was the second-largest recorded score yet for the Frenchman, trailing only the $225,506 that came in a runner-up showing in the 2022 World Series of Poker $1,500 freezeout.
“It feels really good to win, this was the first tournament I’ve played here so far, so it’s a good way to start,” Bifarella told MSPT reporters on the scene after the win.
Thinning The Ranks
The $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament drew 1,171 entries across three starting flights to build the prize pool to $1,142,896, topping $1 million guarantee in the process. The top 129 players all grabbed at least $2,353 in prize money for their efforts.
The playdown day saw all of those players that made the money return for the march down to the final seven who would play things out under the bright lights of the Venetian live-streamed stageon Day 3. Notables that made a deep run but just missed that stage included Dathan Kuppin (11th), MSPT champion Greg Himmelbrand (17th), Spencer Champlin (25th), and Javier Zarco (27th).
When cards got into the air on the final day, Bifarella was the runaway chip leader with nearly double the stack of his closest contender for the crown. Andre Rieder was the first to be eliminated in seventh place, with Robert Nemeskeri-Kiss following in sixth shortly thereafter.
The hits kept on coming as tournament professional Brett Bader took his leave in fifth place, and Bifarella continued to avoid the elimination hands. Baurzhan Akimov was then eliminated in fourth place, and through it all, the Frenchman maintained his lead atop the chip counts.
Surging Across The Finish Line
Claudiu Burlacu took out Hrachya Ohanyan in third place, but that still wasn’t enough to give him the chip advantage over Bifarella. That deficit was overturned though when Burlacu held A♦7♠ against the pocket threes of Bifarella on a board dealt J♠J♥2♣7♦8♠ to score a double up and the chip lead.
Bifarella then took a dominant chip lead in a hand that saw two-pair for the Frenchman top a pair of jacks for Burlacu. That tipped the stacks to more than 6:1 in favor of Bifarella. Burlacu did not go down without a fight, and he found another double up with 10♦9♥ topping the A♣2♥ of Bifarella on a board reading 5♥3♦2♠9♠9♦ after all the chips went into the middle preflop.
The subsequent all-in finally brought the tournament to a close. Burlacu got all in for about nine million with A♣6♣, but he was called, covered, and dominated by the A♦Q♥ of Bifarella. The final board of the tournament was dealt A♥9♦10♥2♥10♣. That gave Bifarella the tournament win, and Burlacu was awarded $131,905 for the runner-up finish. That six-figure score was the largest ever for the Romanian poker player.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Samuel Bifarella | $141,905 | 960 |
| 2 | Claudiu Burlacu | $131,905 | 800 |
| 3 | Hrachya Ohanyan | $88,850 | 640 |
| 4 | Baurzhan Akimov | $67,896 | 480 |
| 5 | Brett Bader | $52,366 | 400 |
| 6 | Robert Nemeskeri-Kiss | $40,769 | 320 |
| 7 | Andre Rieder | $32,039 | 240 |
| 8 | Alexander Tafesh | $25,421 | 160 |
| 9 | Brad Sailor | $20,365 | 80 |
Photo credit: MSPT.
