On a busy day of World Series of Poker action, Chance Kornuth bagged a huge lead to take into the final day of the $100,000-entry High Roller Bounty event. With three other bracelet events taking place too, there was a first winner of the series, as Katie Kopp not only won the $500 Casino Employees Event, but started the ball rolling as the first female winner of the series at the first opportunity.
Kornuth Holds Huge Lead in High Roller Bounty Event
Chance Kornuth is aiming to win his fourth WSOP bracelet just weeks after claiming a first World Poker Tour victory and in this form, he is going to be difficult to stop. Heading into the final day, Kornuth’s stack of 14,265,000 was way bigger than anyone else’s stack. With just five players remaining in the hunt for the $1.1 million top prize, David Peters sits in second place on 8,920,000. He is the only player with a stack anywhere near Kornuth’s, however, with Ali Imsirovic (1,815,000), Dario Sammartino (1,740,000) and 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir (860,000) all with less than 20 big blinds.
In a day of fast action, the eliminations came thick and fast after relative unknown Matthew Steinberg was the only player to register the event on Day 2. With just seven of the remaining 16 players being paid, Hungarian Lazslo Bujtas was on the rail in the first orbit. He was joined by two players at the same time as Frank Crivello on one table and Erik Seidel on another both lost their seats. Seidel shoved for 1.4 million chips with 
but was ousted by Dario Sammartino with 
after a jack-high board sent the nine-time WSOP winner to the rail.
After the eliminations of Bill Klein, Sergio Aido, overnight chip leader Justin Young and Cary Katz, play moved to a single table. Daniel Negreanu lost his stack in extremely unfortunate circumstances when his all-in with 
was called by Kornuth with 
. The flop of 
looked safe enough for Kid Poker, but after the 
turn opened up the flush draw, it was a devastating 
on the river which sent Negreanu to the rail, dropping the video blog camera fixed on the action on the way.
Down to eight players, it was Nick Petrangelo who bubbled the money when he fell to Phil Ivey, only for Ivey himself to min-cash. The 10-time WSOP bracelet winner was all-in with 
and called by Peters with 
. The board of 
sent Ivey to the rail for $133,127.
Play ended for the night when Steinberg won the biggest cash of his live poker career to date in sixth place for $180,872. On a board showing 
, Kornuth had flopped a set with 
, which ended the hand way ahead of Steinberg’s . That hand propelled Kornuth into a massive lead with just five players remaining.
WSOP 2022 Event #2 $100,000 High Roller Bounty Final Table Chipcounts:
- Chance Kornuth – 14,265,000
- David Peters – 8,920,000
- Ali Imsirovic – 1,815,000
- Dario Sammartino – 1,740,000
- Koray Aldemir – 860,000
Katie Kopps the Lot in Casino Employees Event Victory
After a lengthy final table, Katie Kopp went from having five big blinds with four players remaining to winning her first-ever bracelet and the first jewelry of the 2022 World Series. With reigning champion Jimmy Barnett, a former dealer and floor manager at Caesar’s Palace, busting before the final few tables, many thought Kenny Hallaert would seal his first bracelet win. That didn’t happen, however, as he left in 15th place for $2,483 when he couldn’t win a flip with king-eight, Gonzalo Gonzalez’ pocket sixes holding up.
When the final table began, Gonzalez led the field, but it didn’t last long. Kyle Dempsey (9th for $4,813) and Arturo Jimenez (8th for $6,210) both busted in short order, but Gonzalez dropped down the leaderboard gradually before busting with 
against Vikram Vijay’s 
on a board that played out 
as his fellow American made a better pair on the turn to send Gonzalez home with $8,147.
It was a crazy few hands for Vijay that saw him bust a short stack just a couple of orbits later for $10,865, and he was followed from the felt by Joe Chang, who busted for $14,725 in fifth place with his pocket kings shot down by Wyatt Frost’s ac-queen after an ace-high flop. That was when play tightened up, however, and Kopp – down to just a handful of big blinds, managed her incredible ascent up what looked like a mountain to climb at one stage.
Kopp doubled up through Shaun Colquhoun to survive after her held against his 
, then got there on the river when at risk against Brandon West with Kopp’s rivering a straight against West’s 
on a board of 
.
After winning another flip against Colquhoun to send the former chip leader home in fourth place and $20,275, Kopp’s coronation seemed on the cards, and her subsequent elimination of West in third place for $28,356 was the second bust-out in a row where all the chips had gone in pre-flop with Kopp’s small pair holding against two overcards.
Heads-up began with Kopp holding the lead and her 
turned out to be the winning hand when Frost shoved for over 22 big blinds with and Kopp snap-called. The board of 
saw Kopp embraced by her friend as ‘Can’t Stop Kopp!’ rang around the room from her vociferous rail.
WSOP 22 Event #1 $500 Casino Employees Final Table Results:
- Katie Kopp – $65,168
- Wyatt Frost – $40,273
- Brandon West – $28,356
- Shaun Colquhoun – $20,275
- Joe Chang – $14,725
- Vikram Vijay – $10,865
- Gonzalo Gonzalez – $8,147
- Arturo Jimenez – $6,210
- Kyle Dempsey – $4,813
Two More Events Reach Day 2
In two more events, there were eventful Day 1s, with the $2,500 Freezeout, also known as Event #3 on the 2022 WSOP schedule providing plenty of action. Only 113 players survived from 732 entries, with Jesse Kertland ending Day 1 on top with 941,000 chips.
That stack wasn’t too far clear of both Michael Moncek (873,000) and Casey Hatmaker (849,000) in the other ‘podium’ places, with players with big reputations making the cut. Shannon Shorr (670,000), Chris Hunichen (543,000), David Benyamine (520,000) and Dylan Linde (495,000) all survived, with Adrian Mateos (423,000), Scott Seiver (340,000) and Shaun Deeb (292,000) doing likewise.
Others were not so lucky, with Paulina Loeliger, Nick Pupilo, Upeshka De Silva, Maria Konnikova, Joe Cheong, Jesse Lonis, Kathy Liebert, Niall Farrell, Matt Affleck, Darren Elias, Byron Kaverman, Maria Ho, Jake Schindler and Landon Tice all exiting the event on the day.
WSOP 2022 Event #3 $2,500 Freezeout Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Jesse Kertland – 941,000
- Michael Moncek – 873,000
- Casey Hatmaker – 849,000
- Jan Bednar – 829,000
- Shannon Shorr – 670,000
- Andrew Kelsall – 604,000
- Wojciech Barzantny – 568,000
- Chris Hunichen – 543,000
- David Benyamine – 520,000
- Dylan Linde – 495,000
In Event #4, the $1,500-entry Dealer’s Choice event saw just 123 players of the 460 to register make the Day 2 cut. Chip leader was Dennis Eichhorn, who bagged up 276,000, just ahead of Mitul Sheera (245,500) and the popular pro Brett Richey (220,500), the only other player to make it over 200,000 chips being John Monnette (213,500).
Elsewhere, players such as Ben Yu (192,000), Brian Rast (169,500), Adam Friedman (142,000), Brandon Cantu (132,500), Nathan Gamble (97,000) and Norman Chad (93,500) all made the Day 2 seat draw, with stars such as David ODB Baker, Scott Clements, Rep Porter, Robert Campbell, Kevin Gerhart, Eli Elezra and Benny Glaser all missing out.
WSOP 2022 Event #4 $1,500 Dealers Choice Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Dennis Eichhorn – 276,000
- Mitul Sheera – 245,500
- Brett Richey – 220,500
- John Monnette – 213,500
- Ben Yu – 192,000
- Qinghai Pan – 185,500
- Marco Johnson – 183,500
- Scott Bohlman – 179,000
- Brian Rast – 169,500
- Travis Pearson – 165,500
Everyone seems to have fallen in love with the Paris Ballroom. Ryan Riess contacted us overnight just to declare how wrong his prediction was that the Rio would be missed, stating instead that the new locations for the World Series were “100 times better”. Tana Karn utilized a popular meme to sum up the feelings of how most are dealing with the move.
WSOP 2022. pic.twitter.com/7f8049wx4K
— Tana Karn (@tkarn421) June 2, 2022
Will Jaffe may be infamous on Twitter for bringing up ‘tough conversations’, but this week, he’s taken to the popular social media site to share his advice for changing up fitness and health routines when your grind begins… kind of.
With the WSOP starting up and some talk of routines I thought I would share mine with you guys. Hope it can be some of help/inspiration to you pic.twitter.com/p46C0yDTrl
— WIll jaffe (@dankness3) June 1, 2022
Landon Tice stoked the fire further for his prop bet against Player of the Year hopeful Shaun Deeb on Twitter.
Teaching boomers social media, with @shaundeeb pic.twitter.com/rCzHZ41AjR
— Landon (@LandonTice) June 1, 2022
Finally, Phil Galfond is known for his popularity across the poker industry. How long will that last, however, if he’s channelling ‘another’ Phil?
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
