Day 2d of the biggest poker tournament in the world has concluded and with registrations closing for this year’s WSOP Main Event, the numbers game everyone loves to play saw a final total of 8,663 players registered. That means the 2006 record of 8,773 still stands as the biggest attendance in Main Event history. Elsewhere, three other events took place in Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, No Limit Hold’em and Razz as players across both Bally’s and Paris casinos battled for the bracelets.
Main Event Just Misses Record
Day 2d of the WSOP Main Event saw an incredible number of players descend on both Vegas WSOP cardrooms as Bally’s and Paris were packed to the walls with players hoping to seal a place in the Day 3 seat draw. When the dust settled, one of the biggest stacks in the room belonged to one Bryn Kenney, with the Long Islander bagging up 665,000 chips.
That fell some way short of the chip leader in the room, however, with that man being Muhammad Abdel-Rahim who ended play with 936,500 chips. With a prize pool of over $80 million now on offer, with a confirmed top prize of $10 million, just 1300 players will cash and with over 3,000 making Day 3, there is still a long way to go in this marathon event.
Abdel-Rahim has already won over half a million dollars in his poker career, but one man he clashed with six years ago may well end up being a great bet for a deep run, as David Peters was the man who outlasted Abdel-Rahim to win his first bracelet in 2016. Peters lurks dangerously with 552,500 chips, good for 11th in chips by the close of the action.
The 2021 Main Event winner Koray Aldemir also made it through the day, albeit with a slightly lower stack of 255,000 chips, but that still equates to over 100 big blinds and the reigning champion will feel encouraged after a day’s play included a stint on the feature ‘TV’ table. Other big names to stack up above average chips included 2022 bracelet winner Massoud Eskandari (475,000), John Juanda (374,500), Chino Rheem (366,000), Adrian Mateos (339,500), and the 2003 winner Chris Moneymaker (297,500).
While many superstars bagged up chips, others were not so fortunate, with the former WSOP Main Event champions Joe Hachem and Johnny Chan both making exits on the day. Also bidding the field a fond farewell outside the money places were triple WSOP bracelet winner Doug Polk, 2019 WSOP Player of the Year Robert Campbell, Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates, four-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus, Alex Livingston, David Tuchman, Dietrich Fast and Vanessa Kade among others.
WSOP 2022 Event #70 $10,000 Main Event Day 2d Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Muhammad Abdel Rahim – 936,500
- Marsel Backa – 738,000
- Ryan Torgersen – 738,000
- Bryn Kenney – 665,000
- Jared Hyman – 661,500
- Mathieu His – 646,000
- Shota Nakanishi – 643,000
- Michael Huynh – 640,500
- Florian Guimond – 595,000
- Carlos Leiva – 566,500
Day 1b of One More for One Drop Sees 500 Survive
Day 1b of the $1,111 buy-in One More for One Drop event saw a mammoth penultimate day’s field of 1,471 play down to just under 500 players on a dramatic day at the felt. It was Portuguese player Andre Cohen (456,000) who ended the night in the lead, but he will have close company on the leaderboard when play resumes on Day 2 on Sunday (after Saturday’s final Day 1 flight, Day 1c) as Dylan Cechowski (426,500) and Damian Kucharski (416,500) loom in his rear-view mirror.
With other big names such as Lilly Kiletto (290,000), Joao Simao (227,500), David Lappin (177,000), Christina Gollins (129,000), David Pham (119,500), Jason Wheeler (105,000), Michael Mizrachi (100,000) all present and correct, Day 2 is already looking like an extremely fun one to look forward to, with a variety of polished professionals, mixed game masters and No Limit ninjas ready to arm up and go to war.
Players who failed to make the end of the day with chips in the game included Czech double WSOP bracelet winner Martin Kabrhel, Andrew Mackenzie and Dominic Ricciardi.
WSOP 2022 Event #71 $1,111 One More for One Drop Day 1b Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Andre Cohen – 456,000
- Dylan Cechowski – 426,500
- Damian Kucharski – 416,500
- Don Mullis – 350,000
- Rupom Pal – 320,000
- Eric Fields – 313,000
- Alexander Gambino – 304,500
- Sye Hickey – 292,000
- Adam Walton – 287,000
- Lily Kiletto – 280,000
Boatman and Erickson Pushing in Mixed Omaha Event
There was a case of a deadly duo in Event #72, as the Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better event saw just 23 players survive from 223 Day 2 starters. Of those survivors, the two most impressive stacks came from players who had wildly different days at the felt, but both ended up streets ahead of the competition.
Mark Erickson (2,580,000) bagged the chip lead after one huge hand doubled him into the lead with virtually the final hand of the day, and certainly the most meaningful in terms of the event’s narrative. The American is just a three-bet ahead of British WSOP star Barny Boatman. The Hendon Mob co-founder totalled 2,480,000 after a day where he relentlessly chipped up, cutting a swathe through the field and helping reduce its numbers along the way.
Boatman, going for what would be a hat-trick of gold trinkets in his glittering career, will be confident of finishing the job tomorrow, having played mixed games in both cash and tournament format for years. He is humble enough to respect all of his opponents though, and many of them command that respect due to huge results.
Men ‘The Master’ Nguyen may be some way back on 1,630,000 chips, but ended the night third on the leaderboard and he is joined by Adam Friedman (1,190,000) and Scott Abrams (890,000) in a high-quality top 10. With other bracelet winners Mel Judah (815,000) and Rami Boukai (385,000) also still in contention, it really could be anyone’s bracelet on the third and final day of the event.
Players such as overnight chip leader Kate Krickl (95th for $2,639), two-time WSOP event winner Brandon Shack-Harris (72nd for $3,016), three-time bracelet winner and WPT champion Chance Kornuth (45th for $4,113), and the amazingly named double WSOP winner Nathan Gamble (38th for $4,713) all came close to the final day without making the final day cut.
WSOP 2022 Event #72 $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Mark Erickson – 2,580,000
- Barny Boatman – 2,480,000
- Men Nguyen – 1,630,000
- Stanley Krimerman – 1,620,000
- William Slaght – 1,565,000
- Jarod Minghini – 1,515,000
- Adam Friedman – 1,190,000
- Scott Abrams – 890,000
- Anthony Nguyen – 855,000
- Mel Judah – 815,000
Calvin Anderson Leading Razz Race
Former Razz Championship WSOP bracelet winner Calvin Anderson leads the way in Event #73, the $1,500-entry Razz event, with 336,000 chips at the close of Day 1. With Nicolas Milgrom (283,500) and Vincent Griboski (223,000) his nearest challengers, there are also top 10 spots for Andres Korn (196,000), Daniel Strelitz (177,000) and Yuri Dzivielevski (160,000).
Others to survive included Ismael Bojang (150,000), Frank Kassela (119,000) and Patrick Leonard (82,000), with stars such as Daniel Negreanu, Shaun Deeb, Phil Hellmuth, and the current WSOP Player of the Year leader Daniel Zack all failing to make the Day 2 seat draw.
WSOP 2022 Event #73 $1,500 Razz Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Calvin Anderson – 336,000
- Nicolas Milgrom – 283,500
- Vincent Griboski – 223,000
- Daniel Tafur – 202,500
- Andres Korn – 196,000
- Ismael Bojang – 192,500
- Arthur Morris – 179,000
- Daniel Strelitz – 177,000
- Matt Savage – 175,000
- Loren Adam – 174,000
The action in the WSOP Main Event is crazy, but this really takes the prize. Ever found your hole cards… in your wallet?
Late register guy walked up showed his ID to dealer and was dealt into big blind. He called a raise and it was a threesome to the flop. After flop small blind asks new guy where his cards are. He says he doesn’t know and found them in his wallet with his ID! #WSOPMainevent
— Uncle Ron (@UncleRonAA) July 9, 2022
After yesterday’s Main Event entrance for Phil Hellmuth went full dark side, an item on sale in Bally’s caught bracelet winner Stoyan Madanzhiev’s eye.
for sale in a game room on the ground floor at Bally’s ? pic.twitter.com/zHELHVOhtV
— Stoyan Madanzhiev (@Stoyan_Mad) July 9, 2022
PokerGO presenter and award-winning broadcaster Jeff Platt raised the point that a big stack in the Main Event wasn’t exactly looking that big.
This represents 200 big blinds in The Main. We need more chips! pic.twitter.com/cRx6DeYD0l
— Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) July 9, 2022
Matt Glantz didn’t believe that Scotty Nguyen was doing anything other than cheating by pocketing his Main Event stack on Day 2d.
For the record…
If I ever late reg the main event, put the chips in my pocket, and then ask for my starting stack at a later point, I am cheating.
I am not drunk. I am not on drugs. I am not overtired.
I am just cheating.— Matt Glantz (@MattGlantz) July 8, 2022
And finally, if there’s a player to follow at the Main Event, it’s often Cliff ‘JohnnyBax’ Josephy. He’s seen it all…. mostly this year!
This is what I've seen so far today @WSOP Main Event. Royal Flush over quads, quads over quads(both hands at adjacent table), and then a guy at my table tossing his chip in the pot and it landing on its side pic.twitter.com/Hp9CsKdTfK
— Cliff Josephy (@JohnnyBaxPoker) July 9, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
