The biggest day of action so far in the 2022 WSOP saw four bracelets and five other events take place in the Bally’s and Paris cardrooms as millions were won on the World Series of Poker. With bracelet wins for big names such as Joao Simao and debutant winners such as Simeon Spasov, it was a great day of action at the felt.
Simao Makes it Two to Tango
Brazilian superstar Joao Simao won his second WSOP bracelet as he outlasted a strong field and an even stronger final table to win the $686,242 top prize in Las Vegas. At the eight-handed final table, Simao had to see off the challenges of some terrific players in order to claim the second bracelet of his career.
Before the final table began, several big names busted, with WSOP 2022 bracelet winner Ben Diebold (48th for $12,977), Mustapha Kanit (28th for $19,650), Brian Rast (22nd for $23,327), and David Williams (18th for $23,327) all going close but not reaching the last eight.
Once the final table was reached, Cody Rich and Fred Goldberg both busted in PLO hands before Joshua McSwiney got his last 14 big blinds into the middle 
but couldn’t overtake Marius Gierse’s 
, especially after a seven appeared on the flop. McSwiney cashed for the first five-figure prize of the event, $120,165, before Aden Salazar followed him from the felt in fifth for $161,239, his 
unable to catch Simao’s 
with a nine on the flop cancelled out by a jack on the river.
After Dante Goya left in fourth for $219,472, three-handed play began with a trio of talented players battling for victory. Former WSOP Main Event winner Ryan Riess had laddered superbly throughout the final table, but eventually missed out on heads-up, busting to Gierse in third place for $302,980. Despite winning that pot, Gierse remained well behind Simao with only 8.6 million chips to the leader’s 30.8m.
A short time later, Simao took gold when his hand of aces and fives was good enough to send Gierse out in second for $424,122. Simao won his second WSOP gold bracelet and $686,242 to send his Brazilian rail into raptures.
WSOP 2022 Event #53 $5,000 Mixed NLE/PLO Final Table Results:
- Joao Simao – $686,242
- Marius Gierse – $424,122
- Ryan Riess – $302,980
- Dante Goya – $219,472
- Aden Salazar – $161,239
- Joshua McSwiney – $120,165
- Fred Goldberg – $90,864
- Cody Rich – $69,727
Watson Whiffs Maiden Bracelet as Spasov Wins Heads Up
Simeon Spasov spoiled Mike Watson’s party, denying him his first bracelet after winning his own maiden gold heads-up in Event #49. The $2,000-entry NLHE event saw just seven players return on the final day in an attempt to claim the half-million top prize and it was the Bulgarian who managed to do it in thrilling circumstances.
It was Even Sandberg who busted first, the American earning $76,912 when his 
couldn’t overtake Daniel Custodio’s 
. The board of 
had Sandberg ahead until that dirty river did him out of the chance to battle for glory, Custodio rocketing up the leaderboard in the process.
Six-handed, German player Christopher Frank became Spasov’s first victim. The Bulgarian needed help to eliminate Frank, who went into the pre-flop all-in ahead with 
. But Spasov’s hit on the turn of a board that came 
to send Frank home with $100,688 and give Spasov almost as many chips as Custodio. Walter Ripper would fall to Spasov too after getting extremely short, cashing for $133,129 in fifth place.
With four players remaining, Watson was still in the lead and it was a decent one too. He did most of the damage to Greek player Ioannis Angelous Konstas’s stack, so when Spasov took him out in the next hand to send the Greek player home with $177,761, Watson still maintained his lead.
Spasov had been lucky to do so, with Konstas well ahead pre-flop, calling off his stack with after Spasov had shoved with 
. The flop of looked beautiful for the Greek player, but after the 
turn, a nine would give Spasov the straight and that is exactly what happened when he went runner-runner on the river.
The chips were flying around the table three-handed for some time, but when the carousel ground to a halt, Spasov had a huge amount of the chips. With 39.5 million to Watson’s 13 million and Custodio’s 6.2 million, Watson knew that he needed to do something to get some control over proceedings back. Taking out Custodio with a rivered straight himself was exactly that, and the Portuguese player left for a third-place result worth $239,679.
Heads up, Spasov had the lead with 38 million playing Watson’s 21m. Victory was ‘elementary’ for the Bulgarian, as after a short break, Watson’s ran into Spasov’s 
and the board of 
never looked like saving the Canadian. Watson cashed for $326,296, with Spasov taking home the gold and a top prize $527,944, one his fans celebrated wildly with him.
WSOP 2022 Event #49 $2,000 NLHE Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Simeon Spasov – $527,944
- Mike Watson – $326,296
- Daniel Custodio – $239,679
- Ioannis Angelous Konstas – $177,761
- Walter Ripper – $133,129
- Christopher Frank – $100,688
- Evan Sandberg – $76,912
Park Wins Debut Bracelet, Denies Akkari Second Brazilian Win on the Day
American player KT Park won his first WSOP bracelet as he crushed a final table full of stars to bank $219,799 in Event #52, along with his first WSOP bracelet. A lot of the biggest names to return on the last day were long gone by the time the six-handed final table started, with the $2,500-entry Nine Game Mix event saying goodbye to legends like Phil Hellmuth (24th), Scott Seiver (22nd) and Daniel Negreanu (13th) in short order at the start of the day’s play.
Once play reached the final six, David Bach busted Michael Chow for $30,713 in Stud 8 before Taylor Paur got all his chips into the middle in no limit hold’em with 
only to run into Andre Akkari’s 
which held across a board of 
.
Paur had cashed for $42,965, and he was followed from the felt by Bach himself, who earned $61,588 when he lost in PLO to the eventual winner Park, who had a huge lead over his two remaining opponents. Shortly after that bust-out, Philip Long was on the rail with $90,411 after losing in Limit Hold’em, his 
being all-in pre-flop and ahead of Park’s 
, but only until the board of 
put Park into an unassailable lead of 14.6 million chips to Akkari’s 1.3 million.
Minutes later, it was all over, Park’s triumph mopping up the last chips in Limit Hold’em as the Brazilian Akkari cashed for $135,848 in second place, leaving Park to celebrate by far the biggest win of his career after a stunning performance at the final table.
WSOP 2022 Event #52 $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-Max Final Table Results:
- KT Park – $219,799
- Andre Akkari – $135,848
- Phil Long – $90,411
- David Bach – $61,588
- Taylor Paur – $42,965
- Michael Chow – $30,713
Luke Schwartz Leading Field in $50k Poker Players Championship
In a thrilling day of action in the $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship, eight former event winners and five former WSOP Player of the Year champions met at the felt as 90 players registered on Day 1 of this legendary event. With registration still open for the first five levels on Day 2, the field could yet surpass 100 players, and they will be chasing Luke Schwartz if they sit down for the start of tomorrow’s play.
British poker legend Luke Schwartz is a man with one WSOP bracelett already, but that is next to nothing of the story of a true enigma of the game, and indeed life, Schwartz is held in extremely high regard by mixed game players and while he has enjoyed a successful career as a poker professional, is arguably one of the players who might be accused of not achieving all that his skill could gain. Put simply, he doesn’t play much live poker, so when ‘Full Flush’ turns up at the felt, it’s a special time and he proved that yet again on Day 1, piling up a chip-leading total of 893,000 chips. With plenty of his nearest challengers being all-time legends of the game such as all-time money list leader Bryn Kenney (802,000), five-time WSOP winner Shaun Deeb (718,500) and last year’s event winner Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates’ (617,000), the 2021 WSOP Main Event winner Koray Aldemir (546,000) also made the top 10 in good shape.
With others such as Phil Hui (501,000), Brian Hastings (468,000), Daniel Negreanu (429,000), and Phil Ivey (362,000) all looking strong, it will be the toughest field of the WSOP so far on a Day 2, which is saying something as WSOP POY for 2021 Josh Arieh, 2022 bracelet winner, Ben Diebold, 2021 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Eli Elezra and current WSOP Player of the Year leader Dan Zack all failed to make the cut for the next day’s play.
WSOP 2022 Event #56 $50,000 Poker Players Championship Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Luke Schwartz – 893,000
- Bryn Kenney – 802,000
- Shaun Deeb – 718,500
- Bryce Yockey – 715,000
- Aaron Katz – 695,500
- David Benyamine – 651,000
- Dan Cates – 617,000
- Andrew Kelsall – 583,000
- Benny Glaser – 547,000
- Koray Aldemir – 546,000
Seniors Championship Down to Five in Final
Just five players remain from the 18 that started play on Day 4 of the $1,000-entry Seniors Championship, and it is Ben Sarnoff who will begin play in the final with the chip lead. Sarnoff’s stack of 55 million chips is a fair amount more than Eric Smidinger (32.8m) and Kathy Liebert (29.1m), who had begun play on the penultimate day with the most chips.
With other players Biagio Morciano (19m) and Charles Mitchell (7.9m) both fairly short in chips, the $694,909 top prize will be keenly fought for tomorrow, with Liebert the headline maker. It is not since 2004 that the Women’s Hall of Fame member took a bracelet home in a WSOP event, and she is now just four opponents from glory.
Players such as Domenico Scalamogna (10th for $53,324), Andres Korn (7th for $110,662) and Jan Pettersson (6th for $143,189) all lost their tournament lives along the way as just five players made the final – tomorrow one of them will win gold, with only Liebert having done so before.
WSOP 2022 Event #47 $1,000 Seniors Championship Final Table Chipcounts:
- Ben Sarnoff – 55,000,000
- Eric Smidinger – 32,800,000
- Kathy Liebert – 29,100,000
- Biagio Morciano – 19,000,000
- Charles Mitchell – 7,900,000
Day 2 of Colossus Sees French Duo Lead
With 1,695 players starting Day 2 of the $400-entry Colossus, it is after 15 levels that a field of 68 remain, with the top two players on that leaderboard both French. Chip leader after a tumultuous Day 2 is Jordan Pelon, who totalled 30,350,000 chips by the close of play. While his nearest challenger is also French, that is perhaps not the most astounding fact, as Francklin Flory bagged up 17,375,000 chips, a clear 13 million less than the runaway chip leader.
Elsewhere, players such as Ari Oxman (17,200,000), Raymond Downing (17,025,000), Frank Jamrow (15,975,000) and Gabriel Andrade (15,525,000) all finished strongly, and with David Jackson (4,600,000) the only former bracelet winner still in the field, everyone without gold already to their name will be dreaming of debut glory.
WSOP 2022 Event #51 $400 Colossus Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Jordan Pelon – 30,350,000
- Francklin Flory – 17,375,000
- Ari Oxman – 17,200,000
- Raymond Downing – 17,025,000
- Frank Jamrow – 15,975,000
- Alon Butcher Guttman – 14,800,000
- Hartt Stearns – 14,125,000
- Anthony Ruttler – 13,850,000
- Gabriel Andrade – 13,525,000
- Jeffrey Loiacono – 13,175,000
Team Phan Dominate Day 1 of Tag Team Event
A great turnout of 913 teams saw the $1,000 Tag Team event begin in style, with 183 of those pairs (or solo entries) make the next day. The money bubble has not yet burst, but chip leaders Peter Phan and Jeffrey Trina of Team Phan, who totalled 435,500, are unlikely to have any issues negotiating that stickiest of periods after building a humungous lead over the field.
With other pairs such as Nick Yunis and Reynel Hernandez (268,000), Dennis Toms and Jose Giordani (246,500), Brandon Nguyen and Ben Spragg (152,000) and David ‘ODB’ Baker and Cord Garcia (143,000) all bagging up big stacks, there is all to play for on Day 2.
Linda McCabe and Christian Soto (66,500) and Dara O’Kearney and Jason Tompkins (51,000) were two teams that made Day 2, while Team Brill, the combination of Veronica Brill and K.L. Cleeton, survived the day but with a short stack of 45,500. Dedicated duos Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme (41,000) and Marle Spragg and Gary Cordeiro (40,000) ended the day fairly short too.
Warriors Crowd Battle on Epic Day 1
Day 1 of the ever-popular Salute to Warriors event took place overnight, with an excellent turn-out of 3,209 players each putting up the $500 entry. Just 498 players survived a brutal day of action, but the money bubble will not burst until there are just 482 players left, so a tense opening to Day 2 is guaranteed.
With Event #54 having a prize pool of over $1.3 million, the top prize is an eye-watering $161,256, with Brazilian player Aryan Oliveira (1,328,000) holding the lead after Day 1. He was followed in the counts by Jackson Traub (1,077,000), Patrick Pilko (1,057,000), and Gerry Harris (1,024,000), with former bracelet winners Steve Zolotow (462,000), Long Ma (433,000), Perry Friedman (364,000) and Barry Greenstein (299,000) all surviving to the second day of action too.
Others weren’t so lucky, with Daniel Zack playing this and then every other event on the day in an attempt to bulk his WSOP Player of the Year lead but failing to do so here.
WSOP 2022 Event #54 $500 Salute to Warriors Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Aryan Oliveira – 1,328,000
- Jackson Traub – 1,077,000
- Patrick Pilko – 1,057,000
- Gerry Harris – 1,024,000
- Susan Faber – 990,000
- Samitti Eksarunchai – 987,000
- Manuel Machado – 930,000
- Robert Fauver – 904,000
- Wilbert Chun – 886,000
- Austin Srur – 883,000
Corvino Seals Online Bracelet Win
In the latest online WSOP event, there were deep runs for Pavel Plesuv and Jeremiah Williams, but it was William Corvino who got the job done to win the Online Deepstack bracelet and top prize of $149,319.
WSOP 2022 $600 Online Deepstack Championship Event Final Table Results:
- William ‘swaggyb’ Corvino – $149,319
- Pavel ‘easygame1’ Plesuv – $92,350
- Alex ‘SunDSolar’ Soares – $67,104
- Nicolas ‘Zskrrrrt’ Zolofra – $49,178
- Yudhishter ‘yud10’ Jaswal – $36,415
- Jesse ‘Patient0’ Yaginuma – $27,217
- Jeremiah ‘freestylerr’ Williams – $20,554
- Taylor ‘ReadyGambo’ Black – $15,673
- Dan ‘bashpup1961’ Schmiech – $12,107
The 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Josh Arieh is always pitting his wits against the best in the business, but the reigning Poker Players Championship winner took his outfit to another level on Day 1 of the famous event.
Just me and one of the best poker players in the world hanging out pic.twitter.com/SVjA1DtGbx
— Joshua Arieh (@golferjosh) June 27, 2022
David Peters took it upon himself to defuse the Daniel Negreanu bust-out situation as he brought a little sarcasm to the party. OK, a lot of sarcasm!
Just wanted to say that the Dnegs situation made me feel very unsafe. Maybe next time he grabs me by my turtleneck and it’s my head that’s going into the wall? It’s a slippery slope and you never know
— David Peters (@dpeterspoker17) June 26, 2022
It’s impossible not to love Scotty Nguyen and in this video shared by our friends at PokerNews, the 1998 WSOP Main Event champion performs a magic trick for his adoring fans.
You may not take a #WSOP bracelet home with you this summer but you have to ask @TheScottyNguyen to show you his favorite magic trick.pic.twitter.com/s3KPv4y56M
— PokerNews (@PokerNews) June 25, 2022
Courtesy of ‘Scriptdude’, a summary of Alex Foxen’s ‘boss’ performance at the final table of the $250,000 Super High Roller event was spot on.
If @WAFoxen's performance at the #WSOP was a ? game:
— Guy from ?? binging the WSOP (@_scriptdude) June 26, 2022
Finally, Tony G has been absent from this year’s World Series of Poker and the Lithuanian legend explained why that’s likely to remain the case.
Enjoying the summer – loving poker but no @WSOP for me this year – wouldn’t it be good if it moved to autumn or another season. pic.twitter.com/yGevN9ZFUQ
— Tony G (@TonyGuoga) June 26, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
