Dan Stavila Rides One Outer Straight Flush To Card Player Poker Tour Venetian Main Event Title

The final table of the 2025 Card Player Poker Tour Venetian $1,000,000 guaranteed $1,600 no-limit hold’em main event was full of several wild hands and plenty of rollercoaster runouts, including a pot that saw Dan Stavila hit a one-outer to make a straight flush for an early knockout.

Stavila went on to close out the title, earning $167,076 as the champion. The Moldovan poker pro was the last player standing from a field of 588 total entries in the tournament. This was the second-largest career payday for Stavila, trailing only the $205,520 he was awarded for a runner-up showing in the 2024 World Poker Tour Montreal main event. This victory grew his lifetime earnings to nearly $987,000.

The triumph also came with 840 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was Stavila’s third final table of the year. With 922 total points, he now sits just outside the top 30 in the 2025 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.

This event featured three starting flights. The 588-entry turnout resulted in an overlay of over $160,000 in this $1 million guaranteed tournament. A total of 75 players made the money by moving on to day 2, with plenty of notables among those that cashed, such as five-time bracelet winner and three-time WPT champion Anthony Zinno (41st), bracelet winner Nicholas Pupillo (31st), WPT champion James Romero (25th), bracelet winner and WPT champion Ryan Tosoc (22nd), three-time bracelet winner Nipun Java (18th), Darren Rabinowitz (15th), bracelet winner Mitchell Halverson (14th), Michael Rossitto (11th), and bracelet winner Francis Anderson (8th).

The final table of this tournament was one part of a double-header of $1,000,000 guaranteed events helped launch Venetian Poker Live from inside the venue’s new Poker Studio, with production and distribution by PokerGO. You can watch a replay of the entire final table below:

The final day began with six contenders remaining and Stavila atop the chip counts. The first knockout saw short stack Paul Lozano Martin get all-in with A7 trailing the AJ of bracelet winner Ryan Laplante. The board came down J9893 and Lozano Martin was sent home with $36,561 for his efforts. The Spanish player now has more than $920,000 in recorded cashes to his name.

First Elimination! Lozano Martin All-In Dominated by Ryan Laplante. pic.twitter.com/SDCvBBQmEv

— Venetian Poker Room (@VenetianPoker) February 16, 2025

Another big hand arose shortly after that, with Cody Wiegmann turning a set of eights against the top pair of Stavila. Wiegmann’s hefty bet on the end went uncalled, but he still took down a sizable pot to close the gap between him and the top of the counts.

Stavila fell out of the lead briefly, but managed to pick up back-to-back pots without showdown holding premium starting cards to move back in front. He then scored a knockout in dramatic fashion, hitting the previously mentioned one-outer on the river to eliminate two-time bracelet winner Evan Sandberg.

Stavila raised just to 225,000 from the under the gun with A10 and Sandberg defended his big blind with Q3. The flop came down 876 and Sandberg checked with his flopped queen-high flush. Stavila bet enough to put Sandberg all-in. Sandberg quickly called off his remaining five big blinds. The turn brought the 8, making Sandberg a 98 percent favorite to win the hand with one card to come. The 9 rolled off on the end, giving Stavila a straight flush and the pot.

Sandberg was eliminated in fifth place, taking home $48,232 after that brutal beat. He now has nearly $2 million in recorded earnings after this, his 150th in-the-money finish.

One-Out Straight Flush Knockout for Dan Stavila! pic.twitter.com/sNhxqULO9w

— Venetian Poker Room (@VenetianPoker) February 16, 2025

The big hands kept on coming. Roughly ten minutes after Sandberg was sent packing, Laplante and Wiegmann got embroiled in a battle of the blinds. Wiegmann had opened to a larger sizing with AJ from the small blind. Laplante then three-bet with QQ from the big blind. Wiegmann four-bet shoved and Laplante called with the covering stack. The A6610K runout saw Wiegmann double into the chip lead while Laplante was left with just a few big blinds.

Laplante got all-in with Q-J facing the pocket eights of Wiegmann. An eight-high flop seemed to be the end, but Laplante caught running cards to make a queen-high straight, nailing a three-outer on the river to get a bit of breathing room.

Despite that exciting runout, Laplante was ultimately the next to fall. He committed most of his stack preflop with KJ and then got his remaining chips in with top pair on a K103 flop. Stavila called the flop shove of less than a full big blind with A4. The turn was the A to give Stavila a flush and a lock on the hand. The 9 on the end narrowed the field to three. Laplante earned $64,499 to grow his lifetime earnings to nearly $4.1 million.

Stavila remained in front after the first hour of three-handed play, but gave up a bit of his lead when Wiegmann pulled off a multi-street bluff that concluded with a river shove holding air. Victor Shih managed to chop after getting all-in with A-5 trailing the A-10 of Stavila, but soon ran 66 into JJ to find himself at risk once again. Stavila’s larger pair held up through a 53257 board to eliminate Shih in third place ($87,416). This was the largest score yet for Shih, growing his career earnings to more than $535,000.

Heads-up play began with Stavila holding roughly a 2:1 chip advantage over Wiegmann. That lead was narrowed a bit before the fittingly wild final hand of the tournament was dealt. Wiegmann limped in for 250,000 total with 53 from the button and Stavila checked his option with KJ from the big blind. The flop came down Q42 and Stavila checked. Wiegmann bet 250,000 with his open-ended straight draw and Stavila called.

The turn brought the A to give Wiegmann the wheel. Stavila checked and Wiegmann bet 700,000 into the pot of 1,250,000 with his straight. Stavila check-called with his gutshot and the river brought the 10, giving him broadway. He checked and Wiegmann fired a sizable bet of 2,400,000 into the pot of 2,650,000. Stavila thought it over for a while before moving all-in. Wiegmann quickly called and was shown the cooler.

Congratulations to Dan Stavila! Card Player Poker Tour Main Event Champion for $167K! pic.twitter.com/6yI3yWW8D2

— Venetian Poker Room (@VenetianPoker) February 17, 2025

Wiegmann walked away with a career-best payday of $120,054 as the runner-up. He now has more than $942,000 in total cashes under his belt.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo provided by Venetian Poker Room.