David Prociak Won Three Titles At Venetian Showdown Series

The Venetian Las Vegas, which a few months ago debuted its new 50-table, 14,000 square foot poker room (the largest on the Las Vegas Strip), just wrapped up its latest DeepStack Showdown Series, which ran from October 11 through November 24.

Through 79 events, the festival catered to a combined 8,997 entries and awarded $2,247,495 in prize money (not including satellites). They also forked over $31,665 in overlays.

Among those to win titles were Paul Balzano (Event #10: $400 Seniors for $6,248), Landon Brown (Event #21: $400 NLH Ultimate Stack for $10,253), Gary Bolden (Event #24: $300 Big O Bounty for $2,119), Xiang Qun Lin (Event #40: $600 NLH Ultimate Stack for $35,026), and Michael Milne (Event #67: $300 NLH Monster Stack for $13,028).

There were also some two-time winners including Andrew Rodgers (Event #57: $400 NLH Ultimate Stack for $6,182 and Event #65: $400 NLH Ultimate Stack for $10,343) and Portugal’s Jose Demeyere (Event #41: $200 NLH Bounty for $2,417 and Event #52: $200 NLH Bounty for $1,752). Likewise, Canada’s Doug Lee actually took down two of the final three tournaments – Event #77: $200 NLH Raceday Stack for $1,731 and Event #79: $200 NLH Raceday Stack for $1,713.

Doing one better than all of them was poker pro David Prociak, who laid claim to a trio of titles. On Nov. 6, he won Event #53: $200 NLH Bounty for $2,203, and quickly followed that up by winning the 2024 NAPT $550 Cardplayer Lifestyle H.E.R.O.S. for $10,100. Three days later, he won the Venetian Event #58: $200 NLH Bounty for $4,549, and on Nov. 19 added a third title by taking down Event #74: $200 NLH Bounty for $2,660.

Prociak wasn’t the only three-time winner as Sergei Saakian also accomplished the feat. He first won Event #20: $200 NLH Bounty for $2,300 on Oct. 18 and then on Nov. 1 won Event #45: $200 NLH Bounty for $1,677. He then took down the same tournament – Event #66: $200 NLH Bounty – for a third time on Nov. 14, good for $2,000.

Here’s a look at two other winners from the Venetian DeepStack Showdown Series.

JJ Lui Nabs a Title

On Oct. 12, Event #8: $400 NLH Ultimate Bounty attracted 100 entries and awarded a $33,500 prize pool, of which $14,700 came in the form of bounties. The top 13 finishers made the money and among those to cash but fell short of the final table were Wing Yam (10th – $497), Samy Dighlawi (11th – $497), Yolanda Scott (12th – $470), and Richard Lanes (13th – $470).

In the end, it was poker legend JJ Liu defeating David Taylor in heads-up play to win the title and $4,182 first-place prize. A month later, Liu nearly captured a second title finishing fourth in Event #59: $400 NLH Seniors for $2,997.

Event #8 Final Table Results

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Wisconsin’s Julie Vanguilder Wins Ultimate Bounty

On Oct. 22, Event #28: $400 NLH Ultimate Bounty attracted 82 players and awarded a $27,470 prize pool to the top 11 finishers. Of that, $12,100 was awarded in the form of bounties. Some familiar names made the final table including Arizona’s Ryan Stiner (5th – $1,069) and Christopher Marshall (3rd – $2,018), but ultimately it was Wisconsin’s Julie Vanguilder defeating Switzerland’s Erdener Koyun in heads-up play to win the tournament for $4,437.

Event #28 Final Table Results

Venetian Showdown Series Winners

_{*Images courtesy of Venetian Poker.}

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