The World Series of Poker entered its third week at the felt at Bally’s and Paris as Day 15 saw one bracelet winner and six more events get closer to finding the latest champion. With the final table of five players reached in the $50,000 PLO High Roller event and a Monster Stack champion crowned, it was a day of drama in Las Vegas.
Mike Jukich Wins Monster Stack for $966k
Mike Jukich won the $1,500-entry Monster Stack, and in doing so, leapt upon the table in celebration! Jukich, who won his first WSOP gold in the process of taking the title, got the better of Mateusz Moolhuizen from the Netherlands heads up to win the top prize of $966,577.
The final table got underway with nine players in seats, but Ricardo Caridade lost his seat almost straight away. The Portuguese player busted with 
after Anthony Spinella’s 
held on with the chips going into the middle pre-flop. Caridade was followed from the felt by Jessica Tuesl, who cashed for the first six-figure sum of $120,455 at the final table, her 
unable to catch the eventual winner Jukich’s 
.
After Yoshita Agata busted in seventh place for $154,688 and David Zarrin left in sixth place for $199,995, Spinella found his luck was all gone when he busted in fifth place. Spinella was all-in with 
, but couldn’t top Francis Anderson’s pocket eights, an eight on the flop meaning a jack arriving there too was inconsequential by the river. Spinella left for $260,315 and he was followed by Joao Simao in fourth for $341,095.
Simao ran his 
into Moolhuizen’s 
and an ace on the flop sealed the former’s fate, and after Anderson left in third place for $449,912 it was a heads-up battle for the win. Jukich won in courtesy of a pivotal hand that saw him miracle a two-outer. The chips were all in the middle on a board showing 
with Moolhuizen two cards from victory with 
. Jukich had just 
, but he hit a miracle 
on the river to win the hand, catapulting himself into a 5:1 chip lead he rode to victry shortly after, whereupon he jumped onto the table in celebration.
WSOP 2022 Event #21 $1,500 Monster Stack Final Table Results:
- Mike Jukich – $966,577
- Mateusz Moolhuizen – $597,362
- Francis Anderson – $449,912
- Joao Simao – $341,095
- Anthony Spinella – $260,315
- David Zarrin – $199,995
- Yoshiya Agata – $154,688
- Jessica Teusl – $120,455
- Ricardo Caridade – $94,439
Ben Lamb Chasing Lead at Final Table of $50k PLO High Roller
Ben Lamb will head into the final day of Event #28, the $50,000 PLO High Roller second in chips as he bids to win his second WSOP bracelet. With just five players left in the hunt for the top prize of almost $1.4 million, it is the Bulgarian pro Veselin Karakitukov who will lead the field on 9,755,000 chips at the start of play.
It is the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year and WSOP bracelet winner Ben Lamb who will start closest in pursuit on 8,215,000. With British pro Robert Cowen on 7,935,000, Dash Dudley (4,185,000) and Jared Bleznick (1,690,000) all still in contention, players such as Josh Arieh and Brian Rast busted on a day that saw many favorities for the title slide out of contention.
WSOP 2022 Event #28 $50,000 PLO High Roller Final Table Chipcounts:
- Veselin Karakitukov – 9,755,000
- Ben Lamb – 8,215,000
- Robert Cowen – 7,935,000
- Dash Dudley – 4,185,000
- Jared Bleznick – 1,690,000
Kevin Song Sole Bracelet Winner to Reach Shootout Finale
With 100 players whittled to 10 over the course of Day 2, the $1,500-entry Shoutout NLHE Event #27 saw some of the biggest names in the game busted. On a day where all 10 players who made the final turned out to be American, there were runs to the final for Kevin Song, Tim McDermott and at the last, David Dowdy, who scraped into the final after an epic heads-up.
Of all the 10 who made the cut, there is no doubt who has the best fairytale story, that being Tim McDermott. He was down to just a single 5,000 chip at one point, losing to Dalibor Dula’s 2,475,000 chips. But an astonishing comeback by McDermott saw him secure the ninth spot at the final table.
Plenty of big names busted on the day, including Patrick Leonard, Landon Tice and Mustapha Kanit, all of whom missed out despite being favorites to emerge from their tables. Perhaps the hardest defeat of all was the one suffered by Eugene Katchalov, who was unfortunate to bust last of all to David Sudell in heads-up play. The Ukrainian, who is raising money for humanitarian aid back in his home country during his trip to Las Vegas, lost heads-up to Sudell to become one of the last few players to bust.
The final 10 players to make the last shootout table of the event will come back tomorrow to play for the bracelet and $240,480 top prize. They are as follows:
Ravi Raghavan, Roongsak Griffeth, Derek Sudell, David Yonnotti, Michael Simhai, Ariant Patel, Kevin Song, Timothy McDermott, Austin Peck and David Dowdy.
Another Delayed Heads Up in Event #26
Kyle Dilschneider (3,000,000) and Jonathan Cohen (2,570,000) will return to battle for the bracelet on Wednesday after the two men couldn’t be separated after two hours of duelling on Tuesday night. Event #26, the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship, saw 11 hours of action where overnight leader and 2022 WSOP bracelet winner Chad Eveslage was knocked out in sixth place, while Matthew Schreiber was the last player to depart before play ceased, cashing in third for $107,978. Who’ll win the $245,678 top prize tomorrow?
WSOP 2022 Event #26 $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship Final Table:
- TBC – 3,000,000
- TBC – 2,570,000
- Matthew Schreiber – $107,978
- Matthew Gonzales – $78,435
- Joey Couden – $58,226
- Chad Eveslage – $44,194
- Matt Woodward – $34,314
- Amir Shayesteh – $27,269
- David Litt – $22,192
Dzivielevski Leads, Hellmuth Skittled in Lowball
With an unprecedented 437 entries in Event #29, the $1,500-entry No-Limit 2-7 Lowball tournament’s Day 2 began with 122 players. By the close of play, 103 of those were watching from the rail as the final 19 were asked to come back on the following day, such has been the demand to play in this record-break iteration of the event.
With a top prize of $127,809 up for grabs, the 2021 event winner Phil Hellmuth was unable to make the money, losing his stack to comparatively inexperienced Lowball player Ryan Depaulo, he of the winning-a-bracelet-in-a-Walmart-car-park fame. Depaulo himself would scrape into the money places for a min-cash, but others shared the Poker Brat’s fate such as Nick Schulman, who bubbled the event to just miss making a profit.
Plenty of named players made the money, with stars such as Mike Matusow, Brandon Shack-Harris, and Alex Livingston, who has already won a WSOP bracelet this summer, busting inside the money places but nowhere near the final table.
Both Yuri Dzivielevski and Jonathan McGowan share the lead, the two men each piling up 1.1 million chips, with Roland Israelashvili (1,105,000) just behind them.
WSOP 2022 Event #29 $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Yuri Dzivielevski – 1,110,000
- Jonathan McGowan – 1,110,000
- Roland Israelashvili – 1,105,000
- Maxx Coleman – 970,000
- Yosif Nawabi – 960,000
- Drew Scott – 785,000
- Tomas Szwarcberg – 550,000
- Gabe Paul – 545,000
- Kane Kalas – 540,000
- Kenneth Po – 485,000
Other WSOP Event Day 1s
In Event #30, the $1,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed event, 1,891 players took to the felt, almost double the turnout in 2021’s corresponding event, with Stephen Song top of the 108 survivors on 1,404,000 chips. A little further back, Pedro Arroyos (1,365,000), William Kopp (1,163,000), Chino Rheem (1,100,000), Dylan Weisman (623,000), Maurice Hawkins (422,000), Ryan Laplante (378,000), James Dempsey (292,000), Barny Boatman (263,000), and Kevin MacPhee (234,000) will all be keen to win their first bracelets of the 2022 World Series.
WSOP 2022 Event #30 $1,000 PLO 8-Max Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Stephen Song – 1,404,000
- Pedro Arroyos – 1,365,000
- William Kopp – 1,163,000
- Chino Rheem – 1,100,000
- Jerold Saeman – 950,000
- Thomas Taylor – 820,000
- Joseph Bernthold – 798,000
- Jeffrey Trudeau Jr – 794,000
- Manuel Stojanovic – 787,000
- Johann Ibanez – 712,000
Lastly, Event #31 concluded with the 102 players who began the $10,000-entry Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship reduced to just 43 survivors by the close of play. That number could yet increase with the chance of entering right up to the first card hitting the deck on Day 2, but after Day 1, it is Swedish player Oscar Johansson (293,000) who leads the field.
Elsewhere in the chipcounts, Brian Hastings (292,000) is second in chips, Shaun Deeb third (286,000), and Jeremy Ausmus fourth (250,000), while Phil Hellmuth (132,000) also made the Day 2 seat draw. Another Phil – Ivey – among those who could not achieve that goal. Others to hit the rail included last year’s event winner Brian Yoon, six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu and four-time champ Scott Seiver.
WSOP 2022 Event #31 $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Oscar Johansson – 293,000
- Brian Hastings – 292,000
- Shaun Deeb – 286,000
- Jeremy Ausmus – 250,000
- Matthew Edgar – 248,000
- William O’Neil – 229,000
- Vladislac Denisov – 204,000
- Peter Gelencser – 202,000
- Hal Rotholz – 192,000
- Erik Sagstrom – 183,000
Phil Hellmuth loves to rub shoulders with the stars and they don’t get much bigger than Brazilian soccer icon Neymar, who popped to the Poker Brat’s side for a selfie.
The Legendary @neymarjr in da house! Soccer legend! Good guy. Luckily, I am invited to play in the game w Neymar (it’s fun to play w the greats), BUT had to decline because I am in @WSOP mode! Instead: a lonely meal (by myself) in my room. But, I’ll be fresh for Weds! #POSITIVITY pic.twitter.com/Iy28q2KsM7
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) June 15, 2022
Mike Matusow turned back the clock to celebrate bumping into an old friend at the felt in Triple Draw.
Just like old times! Me and @philivey playing a little tripledraw! pic.twitter.com/tUeQa8eiZG
— Mike Matusow (@themouthmatusow) June 15, 2022
And finally, a gauntlet was well and truly thrown down as Kyle Julius, Jason Mercier and Michael McNeil wondered if any poker pros fancy shooting some hoops.
the three of us in ? vs any 3 poker pros. any time, any place, any amount. @KJulius10 @JasonMercier pic.twitter.com/4hLNymcQSq
— Michael McNeil (@potodds3) June 14, 2022
