The Venetian Poker Room officially opened on Sunday evening with a star studded Invitational Grand Opening Tournament. 284 players took their seats for an opportunity to drive home in a new dazzling yellow Lotus.

Kathy Redman, Tim Mix and winner Beatric Stranzixger

Expecting about 200 players and having closer to 300 show up proved to be no problem for this inaugural event. The shuffle up and deal command went out a little after 9:00 PM and 7 hours later Beatric Stranzixger scooped the remainder of Carlos Mortensen's chips to claim the keys to the exotic sports car.



This crowd of players included some of the top names in professional poker gathering for the upcoming major tournaments. Beatric outlasted a blue ribbon field to lay claim to the first ever tournament at the Venetian's new poker room. Carlos Mortensen finished in second place after the two went heads up and traded chips. Beatric overcame almost going out when she had four chips left and was all-in. She won the pot and then went on an unanswered run to amass enough checks to become a contender, eliminating two players in one hand after eliminating another final table player on the hand before. Two hands dealt three players headed for the door. Carlos went into the heads up match with an approximate 3-1 chip lead, then dominated table and collected the blinds when Beatric folded hand after hand to his raise. The momentum turned when Beatric moved all-in and doubled through Carlos, then a few hands later she doubled through again to pull almost even. A few hands later Beatric moved into the lead after Carlos folded hands to her raises. Carlos didn't go down without a good fight forcing Beatric to win the chips.



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