Two WSOP bracelets were won and three more events moved close to the final table as Scott Seiver and Brad Ruben both claimed their fourth gold bracelets on the fourth day of this year’s World Series of Poker. With the $25,000-entry Heads Up Championship reaching the final four players too, stars of the felt such as Phil Ivey, Dan Smith, Dario Sammartino and the 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir were all in action.
Seiver Wraps Up First NLHE Bracelet in 14 Years
The final day of the $2,500-entry Freezeout NLHE Event #3 saw Scott Seiver claim his fourth WSOP bracelet after an epic seven hours at the felt. With the nine-handed final table playing out on PokerGO, Seiver managed to triumph when he beat Alexander Farahi heads-up to claim the $320,059 top prize.
The action was initially very quick, with Shawn Hood the unfortunate player to miss out on the final itself. He busted in 10th place for $18,645 when his all-in move for just under nine big blinds saw his 
overtaken by Farahi’s 
. The board of 
saw Farahi river a straight to take out his opponent and leap to second on the leaderboard behind Seiver.
Indian player Aditya Agarwal was the next to be eliminated after his 
couldn’t overtake David Goodman’s 
when a jack-high board sent the former home for $23,634. Chris Hunichen busted in seventh for $30,478 when his 
was no match for Goodman’s 
, as all the chips went in pre-flop and an eight-high board sent ‘Big Huni’ to the rail.
With seven players left, play slowed a little, but eventually, British player Lewis Spencer ran short and moved all in for seven big blinds with king-three, called by Seiver’s ace-deuce which survived the board to reduce the field and send Spencer home with $39,970. Not long later, Nick Schulman made it to sixth place in unlucky fashion, all-in with 
, his hand ousted by Sergio Aido’s 
after a board of 
skittled Schulman’s hopes on the turn.
Seiver’s march to ultimate victory owed a lot to a big hand he won from Sergio Aido which gave Seiver a big lead and left the Spanish player short. Not long after, Aido was out, all-in with 
and beaten by Steve Zolotow’s , which found an ace on the flop of a board showing 
by the river. Steve Zolotow was busted soon after, down to just nine bigs with 
, called and busted by Goodman with 
and drawing dead by the turn as the board came 
.
Three-handed was a long, drawn-out affair with all three men leading at various points. Eventually, Goodman’s 
couldn’t overtake Scott Seiver’s and heads-up was reached. Queens would prove a lucky hand for Seiver again half an hour later as Farahi, down to a third of Seiver’s stack, moved all-in with and Seiver held . The board of was all Seiver wanted to see and he ended the tournament with the title and his first bracelet in no limit hold’em since 2008.
WSOP 2022 Event #3 $2,500 Freezeout NLHE Final Table Results:
- Scott Seiver – $320,059
- Alexander Farahi – $197,806
- David Goodman – $139,193
- Steve Zolotow – $99,483
- Sergio Aido – $72,233
- Nick Schulman – $53,296
- Lewis Spencer – $39,970
- Chris Hunichen – $30,478
- Aditya Agarwal – $23,634
Smith and Sammartino on Collision Course in $25,000 Heads Up Championship
Just four men remain from the 64 players who took on the $25,000-entry Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship. When the dust settled, Dan ‘Cowboy’ Smith was on course for a match-up with WSOP Main Event runner-up Dario Sammartino, with both men battling to win their first bracelet in this event. With Kevin Rabichow facing German high roller Christoph Vogelsang in the other semifinal, there will be a debut bracelet winner no matter who wins the $509,717 top prize.
The Round of 16 took place at the start of the day, with the winners of each time putting themselves into the money places. There was no profit for players such as heads up specialist John Smith, 10-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey, reigning WSOP Main Event world champion Koray Aldemir, four-time bracelet winner Anthony Zinno or Alex Foxen in the money places as they all busted before the bubble burst to leave eight still in the hunt.
In the quarterfinals, Chance Kornuth lost out as he was beaten by Sammartino, with the entertaining match initially giving Kornuth a lead. The newly-crowned WPT winner and three-time WSOP bracelet winner could not make his experience count, however, as his Italian opponent retook the lead then won when pocket queens were too good for Kornuth’s pocket jacks with all the chips on the line.
ITM 25k HU, 8 left pic.twitter.com/2mJaBhlbFq
— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) June 3, 2022
Kevin Rabichow has perhaps enjoyed the highest-profile run to the final four, eliminating both Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey in Rounds 1 and 3 respectively. He took out Dylan Destefano in the last eight after Rabichow’s straight had bettered Destefan’s trips for a huge pot. Rabichow will play German pro Christoph Vogelsang for a place in the final after the latter beat countryman Aldemir in the Round of 16 then Sean Winter in the last semifinal to go into the books.
It is perhaps Dan Smith who will be the favorite heading into the final day’s action. Widely known as one of the best, if not the best, player never to win a WSOP bracelet, Smith, who sits in eight place on the all-time money list with $38.2 million in winnings, will overtake Jason Koon and move seventh on that list even if he loses in the semifinal. An outright win would leave him just a million short of Erik Seidel in 6th place. Smith has certainly earned the right to be this close, with wins over Jake Daniels, Laszlo Bujtas, Alex Foxen and Jonathan Jaffe on his way to the final four.
Each man may have sealed a decent slice of the $1.5m prizepool with $193,537 going to the beaten semifinalists and $315,029 the prospective prize for being runner-up, but having never done so before, each man will be dreaming of lifting that fabled gold bracelet for the cameras in the Thunderdome tomorrow.
Brad Ruben Wins Fourth Bracelet in Two Years
Brad Ruben won his fourth bracelet in a breathless 22 months as he added a second live WSOP win to two online victories since August 2020. Ruben’s win came at the expense of Jaswinder Lally heads up as the Canadian missed out on winning back-to-back bracelets in the same event by one agonizing place.
Ruben’s win came after the final day began with 14 players, but two big names busted early on, with WSOP commentary legend Norman Chad (13th for $5,993) and Brian Rast (12th for $5,993) both exiting stage left before the final table. After Marco Johnson busted in eighth place for $9,875, the final seven were reached and played down to a winner in style.
At that stage, four-time WSOP winner Ben Yu was in a solid lead, but that changed as second-in-chips Ruben would fly past his opponents. By the time the final four players were reached, Yu was short and busted to Ruben in Stud Hi-Lo Regular to give his opponent a marginal lead over the determined Lally. As Japanese player Naoya Kihara departed in third place for $52,282, the heads-up battle was sealed.
It was in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better that Lally was eventually defeated, as Ruben’s turned flush beat Lally’s pocket queens to give the American the title and his fourth WSOP gold bracelet in less than two years.
WSOP 2022 Event #4 $1,500 Dealer’s Choice Final Table Results:
- Brad Ruben – $126,288
- Jaswinder Lally – $78,048
- Naoya Kihara – $52,282
- Ben Yu – $35,793
- Jorge Walker – $25,056
- Charles Bransford – $17,944
- Alfred Atamian – $13,153
Gianluca Sets the Pace on Day 1b of The Housewarming
An incredible turnout saw Day 1b of the $500-entry The Housewarming event whittle 3,931 entries down to just 162 survivors. Gianluca Pace (4,085,000) was the chip leader when play ended, with Yavine Brewer (3,705,000) and Will Failla (3,700,000) closest to the top. WSOP bracelet winner Justin Lapka (3,000,000) was not far behind, with other big names Spencer Champlin (2,910,000), Joao Simao (1,385,000) and Ashley Frank (2,300,000) all making the Day 2 cut.
Big names to fall on the day included Anatoliy Zyrin, Barny Boatman, Men Nguyen, Eric Baldwin, Kathy Liebert, Daniel Bugzon and Joe Cada, as the field was narrowed down to just 5% of those who took seats during the day.
WSOP 2022 Event #5 $500 The Housewarming Final Table Results:
- Gianluca Pace – 4,085,000
- Yavine Brewer – 3,705,000
- Will Failla – 3,700,000
- Justin Lapka – 3,000,000
- Riley Stahley – 2,995,000
- Spencer Champlin – 2,916,000
- Kyle Shigano – 2,900,030
- Lisa Taylor – 2,505,000
- Chad Yurkin – 2,500,000
- Daniel Weinman – 2,315,000
Hellmuth Makes Day 2 Cut in Record-Breaking Omaha Day
Phil Hellmuth has been recovering from a recent bout of travel sickness by schmoozing with the stars as he ran into old friend Jay Z in Vegas at a Golden State Warriors game. Once the Poker Brat arrived at the Paris Ballroom to play, he couldn’t believe the numbers taking on the tables in the Omaha 8 or Better event.
WTF?!? HELLO @WSOP!! 1100 players (that’s ELEVEN HUNDRED!!) in an Omaha 8/B tourney. Poker is alive and well ↗️↗️↗️??????? #WSOP2022 #POSITIVITY pic.twitter.com/JjEzzP7z1U
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) June 4, 2022
Once in his chair, Hellmuth bagged up 100,500 chips in what he calls his “favorite event”. The chip leader on the day was Yehuda Buchalter (261,500), closely followed by Amnon Filippi (205,000) and Robert Tanita (187,500). Other big names to survive from the record-breaking event field of 1,067 entries included Benny Glaser (158,000), who bounced back from next to no chips to build an above-average stack by the close of play.
WSOP 2022 Event #7 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Yehuda Buchalter – 261,500
- Amnon Filippi – 205,000
- Robert Tanita – 187,500
- David Flores – 182,500
- Van Law – 180,500
- Carol Fuchs – 166,500
- Nathan Gamble – 166,000
- Christopher Logue – 163,500
- Bradley Smith – 161,000
- Anil Jivani – 161,000
Team PocketFives co-manager Donnie Peters was quietly pleased that Scott Seiver sealed victory in Event #3. OK, he was pleased.
.@SCOTT_SEIVER DOES IT FOR TEAM @POCKETFIVES IN @25KFANTASY!!!
LET'S GO!!!
— Donnie Peters ? (@Donnie_Peters) June 4, 2022
Joey Ingram was quick to spot some soft seats in the cash games in Las Vegas, as a quick walkthrough at the World Series was enough to get Chicago Joey excited.
Just walked by the WSOP cash games, never seen such soft looking games in my life ???
— Joey Ingram ?? (@Joeingram1) June 3, 2022
Finally, while The Housewarming was a fun event for everyone to play on Day 1b, for one gentleman, it was a birthday he’ll never forget.
Hey babe, remember that one time all of WSOP wished you happy birthday? ??? @czar1818 @PokerNews @WSOP #housewarming #wsop pic.twitter.com/qBzVoFsupM
— Christina Gollins (@bbshark888) June 3, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
