The second day of action in the World Series of Poker Main Event was so full of action that over 2,000 players were reached in the Main Event with plenty more Day 1s to come. Some of the biggest players in the world turned up to play the $10,000-entry Main Event, and with two other events in progress, there was all to play for at Bally’s and Paris cardrooms in Las Vegas on Day 35 of the 2022 WSOP.
Main Event Sees Bumper Crowd Play Day 1b
After 900 players arrived to play Day 1a, Day 1b of this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event saw 1,245 players play the $10,000-entry biggest event in the world. With just 634 survivors on Day 1b, almost half the field disappeared on a day of drama, as player such as Chance Kornuth, Alex Foxen, Kristen Foxen, Niall Farrell, Leo Margets, Robert Cowen and Julien Martini all exited the tournament without getting anywhere near the money places.
Many of those bust-outs, were unfortunate, but Niall Farrell’s sounds pretty much the worst.
I have lost AK vs AK and as a result I shall not be winning the main event.
I would commiserate my swaps but you all made your own dreadful decision and I can’t be held accountable for that I’m afraid.
— Niall Farrell (@Firaldo87poker) July 4, 2022
On a day of big bust-outs, it would be easy for the chip leader to be a footnote, but there’s no way Patrick Hagenlocher deserves anything less than top billing. The jovial American amounted 332,800 chips by the close of play and any cash at all would represent ten times the best live score of his life, so if there is to be a fairytale in his Main Event, it started with an amazing Day 1 as he took the overall lead in this year’s tournament.
Others who placed well included Matthias Kribben (268,100), Paul Michaelis (213,700), James Mitchell (171,700), Michael Gagliano (167,000), Roland Israelashvili (149,000), Lawrence Brandt (146,200), Andre Akkari (126,600), John Eames (120,500), Eugene Katchalov (106,300), Eric Afriat (100,500), David ‘ODB’ Baker (96,000), Dan Shak (96,000) and Ben Heath (89,500), all of whom posted considerable improvements on their starting stacks of 60,000.
WSOP 2022 Event #70 $10,000 Main Event Day 1b Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Patrick Hagenlocher – 332,800
- Matthias Kribben – 268,100
- Julien Loire – 254,100
- Daniel Zogman – 253,100
- Linglin Zeng – 239,900
- Ognjen Sekularec – 223,200
- Guilherme Garcia – 217,500
- Paul Michaelis – 213,700
- Caleb Henson – 213,000
- Phuoc Nguyen – 205,000
Dudani Decimates Day 3 in PLO Championship
The penultimate day of play in Event #69 saw Shiva Dudani top and tail the action by dealing the drama at the start and ending the day with a massive lead. With just five players remaining from the 39 who began play on Day 3 of this $10,000 buy-in PLO Championship event, Dudani’s stack of 15,650,000 looks down on everyone else’s chips from some height.
Closest to Dudani is Michael Duek (9,405,000), with Tom Hu (7,330,000), Sean Troha (5,045,000) and Joachim Haraldstad (3,580,000) all still in the hunt for gold, albeit from a distance behind.
With plenty of big names busting on the day, some of the biggest went before the final table of eight was reached, with popular podcast host Brandon Adams knocked out in 24th place, multiple bracelet winner Jeff Madsen losing out in 19th and well-known pro David Coleman exiting in 17th.
Once the final table began, English bracelet winner Toby Lewis left in 8th place for $124,611, while Nitesh Rawtani (7th for $162,542) and Thair Kallabat (6th for $215,326) made it a little further before play ended with five players till chasing the bracelet.
WSOP 2022 Event #69 $10,000 PLO Championship Final Table Chipcounts:
- Shiva Dudani – 15,650,000
- Michael Duek – 9,405,000
- Tom Hu – 7,330,000
- Sean Troha – 5,045,000
- Joachim Haraldstad – 3,580,000
Million Dollar Bounty Day1s End with Double Delight for Survivors
Two closing Day 1 flights took place in the $1,000-entry Million Dollar Bounty event, with a massive 6,603 competitors across Day 1c and Day 1d yielding 584 players who made the Day 2 seat draw.
Chip leader on Day 1c was Ismail Abou Sharkh (2,800,000), who was followed in those counts by Gabriel Schroeder (2,545,000) and Joseph Cheong (2,415,000), while Day 1d saw Michael Del Vecchio (1,750,000) bag the biggest stack. Across both flights, many big names made the cut, with
Christoph Vogelsang (1,075,000), Justin Bonomo (635,000), Barry Greenstein (625,000), Daniel Zack (485,000), Joey Weissman (340,000), Elio Fox (320,000), Craig McCorkell (170,500), Calvin Anderson (170,000), Steve Zolotow (165,000) and Vanessa Kade (153,000) all surviving to play down to the nitty-gritty on Day 2, where four opening flights will combine for a huge day of drawing bounties.
WSOP 2022 Event #68 $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty Day 1c Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Ismail Abou Sharkh – 2,800,000
- Gabriel Schroeder – 2,545,000
- Joseph Cheong – 2,415,000
- David McGowan – 2,265,000
- Cory Smith – 2,100,000
- Gennaro Proscia – 2,050,000
- Spencer Champlin – 1,890,000
- Jerry Fang – 1,820,000
- Benjamin Sim – 1,685,000
- Benjamin Steinwachs – 1,600,000
WSOP 2022 Event #68 $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty Day 1d Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Michael Del Vecchio – 1,750,000
- Padraig O’Neill – 1,500,000
- Jack Melki – 1,500,000
- Emily Nguyen – 1,150,000
- Lucas Kavanaugh – 800,000
- Sebastian Paraian – 665,000
- Justin Bonomo – 635,000
- Guang Chen – 595,000
- Dongwuk Moon – 455,000
- Jimmy D’Ambrosio – 365,000
Ronnie Bardah had some advice for those trying to ‘survive’ the news about Day 1s and Day 2s in the WSOP Main Event.
I see people crying about @wsop changing some day 2s around cause of potential record field, they can do whatever they want, it’s in the fine print. Stop crying
— Ronnie Bardah (@RonnieBardah) July 5, 2022
A row erupted between two old stagers of the WSOP as Greg Raymer and Allen Kessler duked it out on Twitter. What happens when a chainsaw meets a fossil?
Got coolered twice on my two bullets at @WynnPoker. Then moved to @PokerRoomRWLV to play cash. and got my AA cracked there on a bad beat, and then coolered set under set. NOT a good day of poker for me.
— Greg Raymer (@FossilMan) July 4, 2022
Fresh from his first bracelet last week, Patrick Leonard brought up the subject of which day is the best to play the Main.
Playing 1d is still the play imo. All regs changing to 1c whilst amateurs won’t care/plans already fixed. Sure day 1 will be 10 handed at times, but this will be the relative softest day 2 in history #cantwinonday1
— Patrick Leonard (@padspoker) July 5, 2022
PokerGO commentator and content creator Remko Rinkema gave everyone playing the Main Event a little free advice.
PSA to everyone playing the Main Event:
– They always have it.
– They never fold.— Remko Rinkema (@RemkoRinkema) July 4, 2022
Finally, restrictions that have never been seen before need to be put in place in 10-handed poker… according to bracelet winner Joe Cheong, anyway.
Maybe a width limit for players when 10handed. Like a rollercoaster
— Joseph Cheong (@subiime) July 5, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.